Preparing kids for going back to school is important to their success.
We spoke to Dr. Jennifer Katzenstein, Co-Director of the Center of Behavioral Health at Johns Hopkins All Children's Hospital, about the best ways to get your child ready.
She suggested the following:
1. Get on a good sleep schedule. Click here for more advice on that.
2. Have a morning routine. Brush your teeth, eat breakfast, and get ready for the day.
3. Preparing kids for what the day will look like.
We also talked about how the pandemic has changed the lives of kids.
"We are seeing more anxiety and stress in our kids than ever before. The social, political climate has changed dramatically. And our own mindset surrounding what is normal has evolved as well," Dr. Katzenstein said. "I think it's made our kids have a greater openness to the cultures of the world, a greater ability to navigate the electronic world that they live in."
She added, "But also a lot of stressors and a lot of anxiety that we don't always have the coping skills both as teenagers and as parents to be able to manage. So, the biggest thing that I can continue to recommend is working on those strong coping strategies together. And as parents, recognizing when we're feeling stressed and upset and showing our kids what we're doing to calm ourselves down."
Advice for Elementary School Age
Dr. Katzenstein said that at this age, parents and kids can have the first-day jitters. So, getting those three back-to-school recommendations done is incredibly important.
"Can we go and find out where the bathrooms are? How do we navigate the school? Taking a tour so we can start to meet some people, have some familiar faces on those first couple days, and have a good understanding of the layout. The more we can set up that transition for success, the better," she said.
If your child is struggling to get into the classroom or out of the car, Dr. Katzenstein said remember to breathe.
"First thing I want parents to do is take a deep breath, calm ourselves down first. Because if our kids see us getting worked up and upset, they might worry that there is something that they should be worried about," she said. "Remaining calm, reminding them that they're going into a safe place, they're going to school, the teachers are going to help them get into the classroom."
She continued, "And as much as we can, actively ignore the crying and upset behavior as long as it's not becoming aggressive. And then really praising them when they get out of the car, when they move into the classroom. Even if they're still crying. 'I really appreciate the way you're doing this. I love the way that you're getting out of the car to go to school.' And then slowly but surely, that behavior of calming down and moving into the classroom will follow."
Advice for Middle School Age
"Middle school is a huge time for the organizational skills to be relied upon more independently. So whenever possible, helping our kids get an organizational system in place that makes sense notebooks for each class," Dr. Katzenstein said. "Making sure they're comfortable with the device that they're using during the school day, ways that they can organize themselves and take notes with all of the different software platforms they may need to use at school. Math online can also be a challenge for many kids, so helping them to get used to it on the electronic device or also using pen and paper, if that's helpful."
She continued, "Social times are a huge concern when it comes wants to our middle schoolers as well. So beginning those conversations surrounding bullying and cyber-bullying, also social media safety and electronic device safety, are really important for parents during those middle school years."
Also, watch out for drastic changes in your child's friend group, no longer finding joy in activities or taking less care of themselves.
"Also, any changes in sleep or appetite. We also don't want our kids sitting in their rooms and the dark on their devices. So pulling them back out and getting that individualized time with them every day, maybe there's that five minutes or 10 minutes, where we as parents and caregivers put our devices down and have our kids put their devices down, turn off any distractions and just check-in," Dr. Katzenstein said. "If you can do that daily check-in, you can start to see a pattern of who they're hanging out with, what they're doing, what they're reporting to you. You also are telling them that there's a safe place where they can share anything."
"That will help you look for anything that feels off. As a parent, I want you to trust your intuition. So if something feels like it's changed, it's a great opportunity to talk to the school or a trusted counselor, psychologist, or your pediatrician about if this is a normal piece of adolescent development, which can be the tough part to tell."
Advice for High School Age
"One of the pros are the electronic devices we have is that you can track them and watch them very closely. So I do like to see parents taking that opportunity to watch our kids a little bit more closely. Definitely checking out their devices, making sure that you're following them and other trusted adults are following them on any social media platform they're on," Dr. Katzenstein said. "Also utilizing some of those family-based tracking apps and opportunities to know where they are, how fast their car is going if they're driving, putting those alerts on so that you know if they're going significantly over the speed limit or doing some unsafe behaviors. And then again, maintaining that open conversation, if you can spend five to 10 minutes every day checking in without a device, that's going to pay off in the long run in terms of being able to know what's going on. And also supporting them with roles and responsibilities of being a part of our family."