Back to School Blues

                                       
 
                                             

 The sales, the supplies, the first day of school--the tears?

 For many children, parents, and teachers back to school is a time for tears. It can be very stressful for everyone involved. 

Take a deep breath, all of you will get through this. Trust me, I taught for 20 years and my students, their parents, and I survived. It wasn't always easy, but we made it work.
It's all about communicating with each other and working together to ensure each parent, child, and teacher is successful.

     A few things parents can do to help ease the transition:

• To prepare your little one for their first day of school spend time preparing them for what's to come. Talk about how the daily schedule will change when school starts.
• Visit the school. Even if it's closed, take a walk through the school yard and try to guess where your child will line up on their very first day.
• Start a bedtime routine a week or so before school starts. Read a book together and try to have your child in bed by 8:30. A good night sleep goes a long way in keeping stress levels low.
• Give your child a family photo to keep in their book bag or hang in their cubby. Sometimes being able to look at a picture of their loved ones throughout the school day provides comfort to children who are homesick. 
• Make sure your child eats a healthy breakfast each morning. Hungry students don't learn as well. 
• Dress your child in comfortable shoes that are made for school work and recess. (No open-toed shoes or sandals. Sneakers or the school recommended shoe are best.) For safety reasons, I had to exclude children from playing in the school yard when  they wore the wrong shoes. Talk about tears!  
• Let the teacher know about any difficulty that is occurring in your family. When a teacher knows about a hardship affecting a student, he can better understand the child and prepare a plan-of-action to use if the need arises. 
• When school is over ask your child specific questions about how their day was. Ask them what they ate for lunch, what books the teacher read, if they made new friends and what their names are, what was their favorite/least favorite part of the day and why.

Books about back to school: