Back to School
Is your child feeling anxious or sad about starting / going back to school?
Our children are feeling the same! Here is how we are supporting our children emotionally with starting school.
Avoiding certain terms!
We are avoiding terms like 'big school' and 'you're a big boy now that you are starting school.'
Those words can make primary school sound daunting, scary and very grown up. That first year of school is all about play!
Books
Books have been our saviour when talking about going to school. These books have been fantastic for us:
- The Colour Monster Goes to School by Anna Llenas
- Under the Love Umbrella by Davina Bell
- Super Milly and the Super School day by Stephanie Clarkson
- The Magic Moment by Niall Breslin
Visual story
I have written a simple visual story to remind my son of his classroom, who is teacher will be and what he can expect from his day.
We read this together when needed and it's always out so he can look at it independently.
what will be the same
Change is always tricky but some things about going to school will be the same as when they were at preschool. Reassure them of the things that will be the same. For example:
- the same person will take them to and from school
- there will be loads of opportunities to play at school
- there will be lots of time spent outside
Going to the toilet
This may sound strange but some children will be worried about when they can use the toilet.
Reassure them that they can use the toilet by asking the teacher and the teacher will remind them to go! Help them to remember this by adding it to their visual story.
patience
When we get anxious, angry, frightened or sad our ability to communicate plummets. Our children are the same.
If, like us, you are experiencing some intense emotions from your children, remind yourself 'They are not giving me a hard time. This is hard for them.'
Read our top tips on making school uniform more comfortable.