It’s that time of year again! Summer is coming to an end, and we are transitioning back to school. Your child may be entering school for the first time or going to a new school, and most likely meeting a new teacher! This time can be filled with a wide range of emotions, including excitement, joy, nervousness, and even fear. So how can we prepare for the new school year?

Regulating Emotions

With all of those feelings surfacing, a lot of energy is created, and children (and you) will need to do something with said energy and emotions! The first thing you can do is simply talk about it. Acknowledging that a new school year can come with a lot of change and unknowns can take a lot of pressure off both you and your child. You can take a big sigh together and acknowledge any feeling that comes up, including conflicting emotions such as feeling both excited and nervous, both scared and safe. 

To provide comfort, you can practice mindfulness at home. Brainstorm with your child some situations that might feel scary, overwhelming, or nerve-wracking. How might they feel that in their body? Would their hearts race? Would their palms sweat? Would their face feel hot? Share an example of a time you may have felt this way when you were in school or at work. Now that we’ve identified and normalized how we might feel, think of some things you could do in those moments and practice them! This might be taking five deep breaths, tapping your thumb to each finger, tensing your muscles, and releasing, or, my personal favorite, identifying one thing you can see, hear, feel, smell, and taste. The goal of these is to bring you into the present moment and out of your thoughts about what could go wrong in the future or what has happened in the past. Remind your child that they can use these skills when they notice they start to feel nervous or uncomfortable. 

Another way to provide comfort to your child may be playing out a scenario or practicing what it might be like to go to school. If you’re able to physically go to the school and walk through it prior to the first day, great! If not, you can use a type of doll or action figure to play out what it looks like to get ready for and go to school. Feel free to get creative! 

Offering Choices

As you get your school supplies and wardrobe ready for the year, allow your child to be involved where you can. This can mean allowing your child to choose a new shirt for the first day of school, picking out their backpack, choosing which pencil bag they will use for the year, or even which color pencils/pencil sharpener they would like to have. When offering choices, it’s important to keep in mind the age of your child. In the words of Garry Landreth, offer little choices to little kids and big choices to big kids.  The number of times they get to choose will be more impactful than the number of items they get to choose from. Offering more opportunities for choices, even between 2-4 items, will empower your child and increase their confidence for the school year. 

Another hot tip: only offer choices that you are comfortable with! Whether the deciding factors include price, usability, personal beliefs, or preference, you get to set the choices your child can make. For example, you can offer two pencil bags you approve of that your child can choose from or pick one thing from a section of the school supplies aisle if that is acceptable for you.  

Supporting your Child

Lastly, if your child is experiencing significant fear or nervousness, seek out help! You can request to meet with your child’s school counselor or teacher so your child will have someone they know and who can connect you to more resources as needed. If you notice changes in your child throughout the year, don’t be afraid to ask for help then too. Whether at your school, through Mommies in Need, or other support you have in place, there is always someone willing and able to help. You got this!