Going back to school is anxiety provoking as is. For our kids with separation anxiety and those who have been learning remotely for some time , it can be even more challenging for parents to help transition their littles ones for the new school year.

As a school based Occupational Therapist as well as a certified Child Life Specialist trained to help children cope in stressful events, here is a compilation of eight strategies to help transition your anxious child for back to school:

1. Appropriate Prep – For kids as young as kindergarten level, it may not be helpful prepping too far in advance as they may not fully grasp the concept of time. Provide brief preps closer to the time of the school year beginning. You can try to schedule a visit to the school/classroom before the school year begins or even walk around the school with your child. You can schedule a meeting with your child’s teacher, read books/social stories about going back to school and even play ‘school’ at home. During play time, you can read stories while sitting on the rug and even practice wearing a mask if the school requires it. Helping children understand what to expect helps to ease their anxiety in novel situations.

2. Practice Separation – Provide opportunities for your child to separate from you and see you come back. Whether that means going out for a walk or stepping out during a play date, let your child learn and trust you to come back. Avoid sneaking out as that may make the child more anxious about separating from you. Allow your child to see you leave and see you return.

3. Validate their emotions – Let your child know that it is okay to feel nervous, afraid, or sad. Validate how they are feeling at the moment and let them know you are here to help them work through these emotions. Be honest with them and let them know that you will come back to pick them up at the end of the school day.

4. Comfort item – If allowed, let your child bring a comfort item from home to school. Nothing too valuable as it may get lost but something small they can keep their in their backpack.

5. Caregiver’s item – Let your child hold on to something that belongs to the parent – mom’s handkerchief, dad’s keyring, etc. That way, they can feel a sense of closeness to the caregiver at all times.

6. Consistent morning routine – Kids feel less anxious when their day is predictable. Set a morning routine and stick to it. You can create a visual schedule with images that go along with each event in the morning (ie get dressed, eat breakfast, brush teeth, put on shoes, time for school). The visual schedule should go up in an area that is easy for your child to see. It is also important to allow your child extra time in the morning to get ready, especially when they may need time to work through their emotions.

7. Share excitement – Let your child know how excited you are for them to be starting or going back to school. Let them know how excited you’ll be to pick them up and hear about their day. A little laughter can go a long way to ease the anxiety.

8. Avoid prolonging goodbyes – Don’t spend too much time saying goodbye to your child. Keep it brief and avoid lingering at the door. Your child may sense that you don’t trust they’ll be okay. Therefore, keep it short and sweet. You can even come up with a quick and fun handshake, a goodbye song or a fun dance.

For questions or comments, reach out to seedsforspecialneeds.com or write in the comment box below. Love hearing from you all!