How School Supplies Can Help Transition Your Child Into the New School Year
It’s that time of year again; meeting the new teachers and classmates, orientation meetings, and school supply shopping trips.
For children this time of year can be exciting in anticipation of the new school year. It can also be a source of “back to school anxiety” among many children both young and old.
Dr. Ayelet Talmi goes through a number of common fears children can experience. Fear of strangers is a healthy fear in that we want children to be safe and careful who they interact with. Sometimes a child will be even afraid of people close in relationship to them. It can take them some time along with strong and healthy support for them to become comfortable and strong enough to get past it.
Fear of Separation is something that kids go through and with the help of the parent they can adjust to school, camp or anytime the parent has to take a brief leave of the child. Saying goodbye is a healthy thing, just slipping out can place the child in a vulnerable position possibly thinking where their parent is, will they ever return?
These are common fears children may experience when coming from their comfortable summer vacation and transitioning into the school year. Beginning of the school year anxiety is normal as well and must be worked out with the child. Frequently, activities like going together with Mom or Dad to meet the new teacher, see their new classroom and go to the store to purchase school supplies can be exciting and a source of comfort and empowerment for the child to work out any anxiety for the upcoming school year.
I was talking with my friend recently who thought of providing a service for school parents through which he’d get hold of all of the supply lists from various schools in the area and provide directly to the parents a package of everything that they need without going to Wal-Mart! His wife felt differently; as an educator herself she felt that this is part of the child’s school experience and should not be taken away from them. Some parents feel they cannot afford another set of notebooks etc. “why not use from last year”. In my humble opinion like my friend’s wife felt, buying new supplies can make all the difference in making the child’s school year a successful one. Coming the first day excited can help facilitate this year’s learning experience to be a very positive one. The child associates the new supplies with themselves. A new package of pens and pencils in a brand new case can be an expression of their character that they had a part in choosing and something new and fresh to be proud of. Child psychologist Dr. Diana Garcia, from Capital Psychological in Ottawa was interviewed recently by CTV in Montreal, Quebec and said, “The more ownership they can take… the more they’re going to buy into it.” I feel that children choosing their own school supplies are in the same category. Read more here:
There are parents who don’t have the ability to buy fresh supplies every year for their child. What can be done for these children so that their school year starts off with a bang, with a feeling of freshness, and a brand new start with confidence? This August 22nd, Kars4Kids held a backpack/school supply giveaway together with NY State Senator Gustavo Rivera who also reaches out to the Bronx community through Bronx CAN a health initiative providing resources for parents to start of their child’s year healthy. See video below of the event.
Schools, school districts, and parents along with any other shelters and resources for needy families can obtain these school supplies now by filling out this back to school online form.
School is about hard work to produce, to learn and to apply skills in our everyday life. We want to cushion the anxiety on both children and their parents by helping out even just a bit. These children are our future generation of new doctors, lawyers, congressmen and senators, public servants and helpers for society both socially and economically. This is our pride and this is our motto at Kars4Kids.
More great resources on Back to School Anxiety include:
http://today.uconn.edu/blog/2014/08/coping-with-back-to-school-anxiety/
http://www.parentfurther.com/blog/back-to-school-anxiety
http://www.empoweringparents.com/Reduce-Back-to-School-Anxiety-for-Young-Children.php#
