Stress Less This School Year

  Starting a new school year although  exciting can also be filled with anxiety and stress. The following is a short list to help you and your children ease back into the school year. Get On A Schedule The week prior to school is a good time to get back to a regular schedule with your children. If your wake up and night time routines changed over the summer go back to what worked or discuss the upcoming school and home schedule. Get your kids involved so they can begin to take responsibility of their needs and get in tune with their bodies.  Meet The Teacher Every year one of the biggest challenges for our children and ourselves is becoming comfortable with their new teacher. Take some time to go to open house and stay in contact throughout the year so your child feels supported and you are aware of how they are doing in the classroom.  Find Familiar Faces Having a friend or student from the prior year can help ease your child’s fears. If you child’s school posts a class list take a trip to read in prior to school starting.  In addition, help them to reflect on how they met friends last year.  Homework If homework becomes overwhelming help your child learn to take a break to learn to manage feeling overwhelmed. Some break ideas can be a healthy snack, a walk, taking time with their pet or just talking our their frustration.  Extra Curricular Activities A lot of stress during the school year for both parents and kids has to do with extracurricular activities. When discussing these activities it is important to make it fit in your child’s schedule without adding stress. Things to think about when discussing extracurricular activities is how often practice is, how late in the day and if it will hinder your child’s schoolwork or sleep.