Back-to-school time can be stressful for many students and families, so we need to be mentally flexible during this period, to help students overcome some of the challenges they may face at the start of the new academic year.
Some challenges that students may face at the beginning of the school year:
Fear of the coming school year of new classmates, teachers, new classes, or thinking about the difficulty of the new academic stage. Thinking about all these fears can put exhaustion and psychological pressure on students at the beginning of the school time.
Fortunately, children are able to adapt to change and parents can help them in this process by providing an environment that fosters resilience and encourages them to share and express their feelings about returning to school.
Guidelines for psychological preparation of the student before the start of the study:
- Talk to him about his fears about returning to school and ways to overcome them and try to be flexible about possible changes. A time can be set up to talk about problems that he may face while studying.
- Prepare the school routine for the family a week or two before school starts, by adjusting sleeping times and making the child sleep and wake up early, prepare school bags and study tools, as well as eating healthy meals.
- Show sympathy for the child by letting him know that you are aware of what he is going through, and that you will always be there to support him when facing any challenges or concerns.
- Talk to the child about change and that it may be difficult, but it is not necessarily bad, and it may carry many positive and beneficial experiences.
- Encourage the child to face his fears by praising him for overcoming stressful situations.
- Meet with some teachers and school specialists when facing any difficulties in overcoming the child’s academic fears in order to obtain their support and correct guidance.
- Communicate with parents who have children in the same classroom to exchange experiences and information, and also discuss how to support students in this period.
Psychological preparation for the first day of school:
- When facing any concerns or questions for the parents or the child, you should not wait for the first school day. The best time to get help may be a week or two before the start of the study.
- The child can be taken to visit the school before the first day, especially when moving to a new school or a new class to adapt and train to face the situation without stress or fear.
- Remind the child that teachers know in advance how nervous the students are on the first day of school, and that they will try to make sure everyone is as comfortable as possible.
- Talk with the child about the positive aspects of starting school (such as: how they feel when seeing their old friends and making new friends) to help them look forward to the first day of school.
- Go with the child on the first day of school when parents feel the need to do so, they can go early to help him reduce stress.
- Talk to teachers about the best way to leave a child on the first day of school, often in the form of a short farewell.
- Try to remain calm and reassured when leaving the child at school, and use a calm voice and a relaxed face to tell the child not to leave him if he is not safe inside the school.
- Remind the child that building new relationships is at this stage, and it is a skill that the child acquires, as he will soon gain a trusting relationship with his new teacher and feel more secure.
- Begin to adjust the child’s sleep schedule a week or two before the start of school; So that the time change is not an additional factor for more exhaustion and stress.
