5 Great Tips for Helping Your Child Adjust to a New School
Guest post: This article is written by Sheree Jones who helps families move on a daily basis from one state to another in Australia. Sheree is part of the Budget Self Pack Containers team who offer a low-cost way to move long distance from all major cities in the country.
Remember your first day at a new school? If you’re like most of us, you probably felt pretty daunted, unsure of what to expect, and maybe even a little scared.
However, after a while, you made friends, got comfortable in your new environment, and forgot all about the time before you attended the ‘new school’. As parents, we need to make this transition as smooth as possible for our children, minimising any anxiety or stress and facilitating an easy handover between schools.
Here are 5 great tips for helping your child adjust to a new school;
Lavish Your Attention
It is vital that your child feels connected to and supported by his or her parents. Each morning, spend time talking to and hugging your child before the time comes for them to go to school, and do the same thing each evening as you discuss their day.
When moving to a new school with new classmates, there is a danger that your child could feel isolated and alone. Lavishing your attention on them in this way prevents them experiencing this feeling.
Get Prepared
Prepare well and you will succeed; this is true for most things in life, and helping your child adapt to a new school is no exception. If possible, take your child to visit the school before their first day, giving them a chance to get used to their new surroundings.
Plan the route to and from school well in advance, gradually normalising the change in your child’s mind. This will help them to adapt more quickly to their new school.
Encourage Excitement
There’s a fine line between excitement and fear, and by approaching it in the right way, you can make sure that your child’s emotions fall comfortably into the former camp. Several weeks before the big day, start discussing the move and the new school in terms of an adventure, stoking the fires of excitement within your child and making them feel overwhelmingly positive about the situation.
Don’t patronise your child and tell them there is nothing to fear; they won’t respond well to this. Instead, explore any anxieties your child may have, and try to turn those anxieties into the positive energy of excitement.
5 Great Tips for Helping Your Child Adjust to a New School Share on XStay Health Conscious
Physical health and psychological well-being are intrinsically entwined. In order to prepare your child for moving to a new school, you need to adopt some healthy habits and routines, something which will help your child to become happier more quickly in their new environment.
Get plenty of sleep in the weeks leading up to the start date (you can also use this as good practice for getting your child up and out of bed early), and make sure that they eat a good, nutritious breakfast before they go to school. For your child to prepare themselves psychologically, they need to feel at their best physically, and a healthy lifestyle is vital for this.
Encourage Interaction
To encourage interaction between your child and others, you need to lead by example. When you take your child into school on that first day, make sure you meet with his or her new teacher, and introduce them to your child. Younger children can feel incredibly shy around a new adult, and this acts as an effective ice breaker.
Try to interact with other parents too; not only will it give you a clear picture of what is going on at the school, it will also provide your child with other friends to play with in those difficult first few days.
Did you try any of our tips with your child? How did it go? Leave us a comment below and share any tips of your own with our readers.
15 Comments
Fantastic tips. Thanks for linking up to #justanotherlinky xx
Thanks for reading 🙂
This is some fab advice!
Thank you so much for linking up to #justanotherlinky
Thank you for reading. Best of luck to your boy next year 😀
As a teacher, this is great advice. My son won’t be starting school for another 18 months but as he is on the autistic spectrum I know I will have to pay even more attention to these areas. #justanotherlinky
Every child reacts differently. All we can do is support them as best we can. Thanks for reading Trista 🙂
Thanks Talya 🙂
My son started kindergarten this year and I was the one who was a mess. He was a champ…totally fit right in and never skipped a beat. My daughter who will start kindergarten in the fall I am not as sure about how she will feel going to a different school (she’s been in preschool at the same school for 2 years now). Hopefully her brother will be able to show her the ropes and make her more comfortable. #coolmumclub
Great tips – I can imagine switching schools must be hugely stressful for a little one so it’s great that parents have a little helping hand with these tips! Thanks for linking this up to #coolmumclub! x
Talya – http://www.motherhoodtherealdeal.com
Thanks Nicole 🙂
Great tip Tracey – it’s a transition for the whole family, so everyone has to make a little extra effort. Thanks for reading 🙂
Thanks for reading Helen, Best of luck! 🙂
These are fantastic tips. Switching schools and into a new environment can be so difficult for kids. I agree – I think preparation is key.
Some great ideas, I will bare all these in mind when my son starts school in September. Thanks for linking up #besandworst
I couldn’t agree more. We moved from London to the countryside and the transition was huge for me & my daugther as she started reception – which was a challenge in itself
The main thing for me was interaction; in order for my daugther to feel settled I had to show her I was making an effort too. Even if it’s not your natural persona, getting out and interacting with other parents and their children is so very important
#BestandWorst