These days are marked by back to school. Children who have not yet started the school year will do so in the next few days and everything has to be ready so that the beginning of classes is as stressful as possible, for both children and parents.
The back to school It's already here, so we'll give you a few keys to cope without stress. With some advice, based on common sense and affection, you can accompany your children with serenity and optimism in this new stage they begin.
Back to routine
Keep in mind that three months of vacation for a child is a lot of time (for some parents, too, I know), but the little ones have a different perception of time than adults. Three months in the life of a three-year-old child is a huge proportion, which gets smaller as the child grows, but even for the elderly it is difficult to change, it is as if in the summer they made a reset from his previous life.
It has been too much free time, without schedules or routines to follow (at least not as strict as the rest of the year) and it costs a lot, a lot, leave leisure time and come back, or start in the case of children who have never gone, with early rises, rules and routines totally different from those of the last months.
Rearrange schedules
Early risers are the worst children usually wear. There are those who look like human alarm clocks and in the summer they wake up at the same time as the rest of the year, but many others adjust the schedules because they go to bed later, and therefore get up later the next morning.
Ideally, the return to school hours is not too traumatic is rearrange sleep and meal schedules, a few days before the start of classes. The previous days you have to go to bed the child every day a little before, until you get to sleep the hours you need. That is, if the child usually sleeps 9 hours, for example, you should get little by little, 15 minutes each day, to lie down at the time necessary for him to sleep that amount of hours.
A good rest is essential so that the operation back to school is successful and the child can adapt quickly. Not only to make it easier for you to get up early, but not to be tired during the rest of the day at school.
Prepare back to school
To get into the rhythm, it will be good if the make part of the preparations for going back to school. Show him the baby he will wear (or the uniform if necessary), prepare the backpack together, name the materials, cover the books ...
This way he will begin to see all these objects as familiar, as if they were the preparations for a trip. If possible, before starting classes, take the tour you will do to go to school, show him the school, at least on the outside, although it would be ideal if they have already made a previous visit to the store and so on the first day they already know the place.
You can also use books and children's series in which they talk about going back to school. Children feel very identified with their favorite characters. My daughter, who will go to the "older school" in a couple of days loves a chapter of Caillou in the nursery.
Listen and understand
The children send us signals. While there are very talkative children who know how to express their feelings, there are others who are not, or are so small that they cannot communicate their feelings with words. Still, all children are affected in one way or another back to school, some are happy, others sad, resigned, euphoric, apathetic ... and some all that together.
Therefore, we must know how to capture their signals, listen to them to understand and accompany them in the adaptation process. Communication between parents and children is essential to face the circumstances that arise, so stay tuned for the emotions of your children in this trance.
A good way for the child to express himself is through play, especially through symbolic play (playing role change). Watching him and playing with him we can know his feelings better.
Children who premiere at school
Back to school is not easy for anyone. It is difficult, especially if the child has not gone to preschool before. He doesn't know what it is. Suddenly, they leave him with a teacher and with unknown children in a classroom and the parents, from whom he had never separated before, leave. It is disconcerting to anyone.
Separation anguish is a traumatic trance for the child, but since we cannot avoid separating when he goes to the nursery, we must make it as bearable as possible so that he gets used quickly to his new environment.
We will talk more in detail in another post about some tips to help the child in adapting to school, which will come very well to those who go to nursery or school for the first time, but also to those who, even being veterans, do not wear anything Well the beginning of the course.
Positivism
A positive attitude is very important for the child to embark on his new path with energy and optimism. It is we who must transmit security, serenity and "good vibes".
As much as we get a lump in the throat of just thinking that we will separate, we must show a smile and tell you that everything will be fine, that you will meet new friends (or that you will see the old ones again), that you will have a great time , who is going to play a lot and all those good things that have the nursery school or the school, which also have them.
Not disappear and give them time
Finally, two recommendations that last but not least. The first: please don't disappear as if by magic from his vision without greeting him before. Explain before leaving him at school on the first day, that Mom is leaving and will soon pick him up again. The anguish that causes the child to be abandoned in a place where he does not know, with strangers, not knowing if they will come back for him is tremendously greater than if we anticipate what will happen.
Second, keep in mind that each child has its own rhythm. There are children who adapt quickly and on the second day they enter the school as if they had gone a lifetime, while for others the adaptation can last weeks, so you have to give them time. And I speak for both young children and the older ones, that although they no longer stay crying, going back to school can also cost them.
I hope you are keys I have given you help you better cope with school without stress. At home there is also revolution because the median begins first of primary and the small first of children, so much premiere. I wish you a good start to classes!
Photos | Elizabeth / Table4Five and edenpictures on Flickr On Babies and more | Useful tips to make the return to school more bearable, Rearrange sleeping hours with return to school
