Covid-19 has had a huge impact on all of our lives and if you are a parent then chances are that you will have spent a considerable amount of time with your children. Whether that is entertaining them and keeping them busy or perhaps trying your hand at teaching.
Schools are returning as normal, or as normal as they can be, this September, which means that parents and children who have previously been together are now going to be spending time apart. Whilst this is exciting for both of you and will be a positive step. You are still going to find that returning to school will be a huge adjustment for many children.
To help you to figure out how best to approach things and to minimise the stress that you and your child feels, we have put together our top tips on how to prepare your child to go back to school this September.
Talk to them about their feelings
We all too often assume that our children are fine with a given situation and that they are not feeling anxious or worried about it. Just like us adults, children can feel anxiety about unknown situations. It is important that you take the time to talk to your child about how they are feeling, let them know that it is normal to feel anxious or worried about going back to school and remind them that every single child in their class will be feeling the same.
Try and give them as much information as you can
This one will be relatively hard of course as there is still so much unknown about the world of Covid-19 and how we are all going to cope once schools reopen. However, if you can give your child some information about what to expect when they go back to school. It might just be aspects such as the timings that they will have each day and how the school might look. Anything that you can do to put them at ease.
Offer them reassurance
You might not know what is happening within schools and what your children can expect when they return. However, your child will be looking at you for reassurance. Whilst you cannot offer advice about the school day itself, you can tell them that they are going to be safe whilst they are there. You can also tell them about the key ways that they can keep themselves safe, such as by making sure that they wash their hands and how to try and stay away from others around them.
Never put any pressure on you or them
It is going to be hard for you and for your child to return to school. This means that the best thing that you can do for you both is to stop putting pressure on the situation. It is going to take time and there is going to be ups and down with the whole process, so try and stop putting any pressure on you both as you will be setting yourself up for disappointment.
Try and work back into a routine
Children love to have a routine, which means that one of the best things that you can do is to try and establish a routine before you go back to school. Of course, bedtimes are likely to have been much later than they would be if you are at school, so, if you can try and get back to some sense of normality when it comes to bedtime, then this would be good to do before you return to school.
Prep and plan
We all have good intentions when it comes to prepping and planning for school the night before. However, these often go out of the window when the time actually comes to it. With so much uncertainty around going back to school, it may make sense to try and prep and plan for the day ahead. Make sure that lunches are made, that uniform is ready and that you all know what you need to do in the morning. That way you will be less stressed out in the morning and you can ensure that you are instead focused on your child and making sure that they feel relaxed.
Who knows what will happen when the children return to school? The main thing to remember is that we need to ensure that everyone feels safe and secure. Then over time being back at school will become the norm and us and our children will be glad to be back to some sense of normality.