BACK TO SCHOOL ..…. coping with back to school anxiety

Anxious, nervous, afraid and worried, are some of the words your child may use to describe how they feel on the first day of school. As a parent and childcare professional, I understand how nerve wracking this can be for children, parents and caregivers. My daughter has been struggling with settling into her new school. Over the next few days I will be sharing a variety of methods you can use to help your child to cope with returning to school and settling in.

Positive reinforcement is a good method to begin with because it focuses on encouraging and promoting a specific behavior. This method allowed me to reward my child for overcoming her fears and anxiety about school. Each day I encouraged and allowed my daughter to speak about any negative or positive feelings she had but I would only allow her to focus on the positive. I would offer reassurance by hugging and comforting her, while praising her for attending school and telling her how proud I am of her. We started a reward chart and included rewards for things such as meeting a new friend at school. what would you add to the reward chart?