by Carrie Jackiewicz, Special Services Coordinator
It’s back to school time and in many households (including mine), that means anxiety about the upcoming year. Students worry about so many different things and it can be challenging for them to deal with those emotions. Who will my teacher be? What if none of my friends are in my class? What if someone I don’t like is in my class? How will I get to all my classes if I don’t know where they are? What if I am late to class?
There are so many unknowns for students, which can make the start of the year overwhelming. Some ideas to help ease their anxiety would be to visit the school prior to the start of the year and to think and act out the process of getting to classes. Another idea would be to reframe worries to be “I wonder” statements, such as “I wonder who my teacher will be,” and “I wonder which kids will be in my class.”
I recently found a resource that has been helpful for my children called Big Life Journal. They have a variety of printables, a blog, and podcasts. They have freebies that they send out on Fridays. You can also follow them on Instagram. One of their blog posts is about ways to handle back to school anxiety, which can be found here. They have a great list of affirmations that your child could use to make a vision board for the school year, which can be found here.
I hope everyone has a great start to the school year!
