The New School Year

The new school year is an exciting time for your children; new beginnings, a new teacher, perhaps some new friends. However, it can also be a scary time of year for many reasons. All students are a bit nervous wondering if their old friends will still be their friends or if they’ll be able to do the work at the next grade level. But other children have even more reason to feel nervous and afraid. They may be facing unresolved situations from the previous school year - a situation that hasn’t improved over the summer such as bullying or struggling academically at school. As a parent, you can do a great deal to help support your child during this transition time of year.

1.	Create a scrapbook for the coming school year. It could have pockets in it or be a simple booklet to paste in pictures and write ideas. Have them label the headings and talk about what they think might happen during the year. Some headings might be: My First Day, Great Field Trips, My Best Effort, Friends, Sports and Activities, Memorable Moments, My Teacher(s).
2.	If your child has difficulties at school either academically, socially or behaviourally, now is the time to address them. You may be hoping that a new year will suddenly change everything… but it rarely does. If the problems are manageable for your child, sit down together and develop some goals. One or two goals are enough. Help your child decide what they would like to improve. Choose a timeline - a date when you will look at the goal again. Identify people and strategies that might help. Include a reward, such as a special time with you or a visit with someone special. The reward doesn’t have to cost anything. Post your child’s goals where they will be visible and refer to them often. If they aren’t working out, revise them. Take smaller steps until success is reached. If your child’s problems are too difficult to handle alone, talk to the school. Ask to meet with your child’s teacher, support personnel or administration to help develop an entry plan to help settle your child into school in the first month. If your child has been bullied in the past school year, again meet with the administration and your child’s teacher as soon as possible to discuss what happened the previous year and ensure steps remain in place to deal with the bullying. Even if the previous year was highly successful check in with the school to ensure things are still in place.
3.	Begin a new tradition at the start of September. Pick a time during the day - driving in the car or at dinner - to talk about the school day. Ask your child to talk about one thing they’d keep from the day and one thing they’d throw away. Share your thoughts with your child as well, such as "Today I’d keep the great meeting where we got a lot accomplished but I’d throw away the argument I had with someone who cut me off in traffic. Next time I’d just smile and let them in."