Going back to school is always a reason for anxiety. Seeing friends, feeling curious to meet new classmates, new teachers, being back to a routine, and not being at home. Depending on the perspective of each one, this “back to school” moment has a different interpretation. I spoke with children and teenagers about this and their opinion was quite different from each other.
The young adults who are already attending higher education are happy to add the routine back to their lives, starting a new year towards their goals that are closer to entering the professional world that will lead them to their independence. The ones who are finishing high school are eager to enter university to embark on a new adventure. The younger children vary between wanting to go to school and/or continuing on vacation mode.
We now understand how going back to school can have different representations, depending from child to child and from teenager to teenager. For these children, the school world is full of duties and obligations that provoke anxiety. Leaving their parents, their safe place and going towards the unknown causes them fear and tension.
In this sense, it is important to emphasise the participation of parents in this process, as a basis for close parental education. It is important to emphasize that parents must be active participants in their children's education, in order to contribute to their development and school performance.
Independentemente de cada caso, é importante estabelecer o diálogo entre pais/cuidadores e filhos, como forma de promover uma boa relação parental e de qualidade em família. É essencial, chegar a casa e perguntar ao seu filho como correu o dia, como se sentiu na escola, para que essa experiência seja partilhada em conjunto.
Many experts say that the main family problems arise when there is no adequate support at home, such as non-existent and ineffective dialogue. Therefore, all support and guidance is important for your child to become a successful student from the first day of school.
It is necessary to reinforce the idea that school is a place where knowledge is acquired, which teach us many interesting subjects, a place that transmits positive aspects to us, and allows us to evolve as a person. This will be the best argument to change subversive opinions towards school, changing attitudes to improve behavior.
Therefore, it is necessary to establish a dialogue that promotes the importance of what they will learn, that they will find rules and receive instructions. Although it is a place of learning and knowledge, it is also a space and time that allows you to be children, with a break for playing.
I mention some aspects to take into account when having small children at school, namely:
check if your child has done their homework every day;
organize the next day's backpacks and check if everything is in order;
organize snacks for the next day;
choose the clothes the day before, and hold your child responsible for that decision;
choose to always wake up your child at the same time, so there is no need to rush;
don't leave home without breakfast, and opt for healthy and nutritious food;
cultivate positive attitudes with your child, training the "mindfull", giving them a tight hug or having a good laugh before leaving the house (this helps to release emotions from our bloodstream, activating serotonin, a neurotransmitter considered the good hormone -being and happiness).