Getting Your Child Over the First Day of School Jitters
The first day of school can be very nerve wrecking for any child. But how can you ease their distress and make the day a little less nerve wrecking for them? The first thing you need to do is tell your little one exactly what they can expect the first day. Most schools offer some type of orientation that you can take advantage of. The orientation will give your child an opportunity to get to know their teacher, and to get to know the school. Keep in mind that this is not just for kindergarteners or elementary school kids, but for older kids as well. It can be very nerve wrecking for a child to enter middle school, or even high school for the first time. Your child will be going into an unknown area with kids who are a lot older and bigger than you are.
One comfort is that they will usually be with some of the kids they were with the previous years. So at least they will have one or two friends to go through this with them. If your child is going to be going to kindergarten for the first time it may be a good idea to contact some of your neighbors with children and see if you can all go to school together on the first day. This will give your child a little more comfort knowing that they have a friend to go to school with the first day. If possible see if you can find anyone who is going to be in your child’s class. Most schools will mail out the teacher and classroom assignments at least one month before school starts. If your child is older than you may want to allow them to choose who they go to school with on the first day. Don’t be surprised if they do not want you to take them to school on the first day. Older children sometimes get embarrassed by their parents taking them to school, and would prefer to ride the bus.
Even if the idea of allowing your child to ride the bus makes you a little nervous don’t be afraid to let go. In order for you to help your child get over that first day of school jitters you will have to let go of them. As difficult as this may be it is just a way of life. Another idea to help make your child get over those jitters is to allow them to pick out there own clothes. Most parents want to pick out their kids clothes for them, because they feel that they look cute in a certain outfit. But if you want your child to feel comfortable let them be the one’s to decide. The bottom line is that the more excited they are about the first day the less nervous they will be. So try and spend the entire month before school started preparing them and getting them ready for that first day. The last thing you want to do is surprise them with it.
