7 Tips to Ease Back to School Anxiety for your Child:
- Get back into routines before school starts, including bedtime, morning, meals, and limiting screen time a few weeks before the first day of school.
- Check in with stress levels – parents and children alike because back to school is stressful for parents and caregivers too.
- Listen to your children and validate their thoughts and feelings; just saying ‘don’t worry’ will cause more anxiety and possibly deter kids from expressing themselves comfortably.
- Prepare for what you can – anxiety thrives in uncertainty – so do a test run for school, go to open houses or school community events offered before the beginning of school and even in the first few weeks of the start of school.
- Create a “cope ahead” plan: think of ways for the child to envision how they can act or react to something that makes them anxious at school and then rehearse the plan for different scenarios.
- Talk to school mental health professionals; this is particularly important if a child has significant anxiety or a mental health diagnosis. Contact with the school-based mental health team can facilitate creating a response plan, communicating with school staff and outside providers, and dealing with any social, emotional or behavioral issues.
- Blend back to school with fun activities so transition is less sudden. For example, plan a water or amusement park trip, a shopping or movie outing, camping, or whatever your child has enjoyed over the summer. These can be done on weekends or on days off of school at the beginning.