Support Your Child’s Mental Wellness

As your child prepares for back-to-school, they may be feeling anxious or uncertain about what the school year will bring. This can leave a child feeling helpless and discouraged. A helpful way to deal with this is to help your child to identify areas where they have some control.

Look for ways to give your child the opportunity to make choices. It could be something as simple as deciding what they might like to wear on the first day of school or what foods they’d like to bring for lunch that first week. 

Children find routines reassuring. They provide a comforting and predictable rhythm to daily living. Give your child an opportunity to become familiar with their new routine before school actually begins. Some ideas to incorporate into your child’s routine include getting up at a particular time, getting washed and dressed for school, and eating breakfast.

TIP 2.

Recognize the comforting rhythm of routine.

Information is power. The more your child understands about the policies and procedures that will be in place in the classroom, or what to expect during the upcoming year, the more confident they will feel about heading back to school. Talk about the importance of turning to trusted people if they need support at school. You can help your child identify who some of their safe people are.

Children love to ask questions. In some cases, you may feel unsure about how to answer these questions—or there simply might not even be answers to your child’s questions. It’s okay to say, “I don’t know.” That’s an honest way to respond—and you’re actually teaching your child an important lesson: that you don’t need to have all the answers in order to move forward. Do your best to give your child an idea of what to expect, and remind them that you are there to support them.

Help your child to make a running list of any questions they have about returning to school. Then, as you find answers to these questions, encourage your child to jot down the answers so that they can see that not everything is uncertain or unknown. This can help provide your child some reassurance.

While you might feel like you’re letting your child down by not having answers, even asking the question allows a child to feel heard, and it gives you insights into what your child is thinking. It’s a great opportunity to connect with your child and talk through things together. You can ask them open-ended questions that are designed to spark discussion, such as:

• How do you feel about the way things are going at school?
• Tell me about getting to and from school. How is it different? Better? More challenging? What is challenging?
• Tell me about your friends/classmates. What are they saying about the way things are going at school?
• How is the schoolwork this year?
• What’s going on with your clubs/teams? What is different?

TIP 4.

Encourage your child to ask lots of questions. 

Every child needs a “safe person” at school—ideally it is someone they can trust, who knows them; someone they can turn to for help in solving a problem or dealing with a difficult situation. Speak to them about sharing with the teacher when they need a break, are feeling frustrated or overwhelmed, or if they are unsure of what is expected of them. These are essential life skills so this is a great moment to encourage them.

Speak to your child about the ways they can share any concerns they are having. Here is a moment to role play in an age appropriate way. “Mrs. Lake, I am not sure what I need to be doing right now, could you help me to make a plan?” or “Mrs. Lake, I am frustrated and I need help, could you please help me?”  Help your child to select a few phrases that are comfortable and practice them.

Interacting with friends, peers, and classmates at school can help children learn social skills. Encourage your child to reconnect with a few others from their school before school begins. Arrange (or monitor them arranging) some form of communication about their summer to allow a chance for sharing. This reminds them that they are part of a community! If your child struggles with social interactions and/or peers check out tips for encouraging and supporting friendships during the school year

TIP 6.

Call on friends, peers, and classmates to help your child transition.