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For many children, school isn’t the place they feel happiest. Now more than ever children are struggling with the day-to-day normalities of school life. After a long period of remote learning, children are inevitably struggling to readjust back to the usual social and academic demands. Whether your child is facing issues with a certain class, or just simply dreads Monday mornings, we’ve put together some simple tips that can help.
Talk
Whilst this may seem obvious, simply talking to your child and acknowledging their issues is the best place to start. Whether you like it or not, you are never going to be fully up to date on every aspect of your child’s school life. Children famously hide things from their parents.
Setting aside some time to discuss what’s been going on during the week is important, especially on stressful days. This will set up a regular dialogue between you and your child. In doing so, they’ll feel more comfortable to come to you with any and every issue they face at school.
If you notice a significant shift in your child’s mood or behaviour following a day at school, it’s a good time to sit them down and ask how they’re doing. Ask simple things like what subject they’re enjoying at the moment and whether they are facing any issues in the classroom. If there is something going on, your child will more than likely give away telltale signs when asked.
Listen
Listening to your child is tantamount to talking to them. Whilst most parents think of themselves as great listeners it’s easy to zone out when your child comes to you regularly with issues. With social media, work, siblings and household responsibilities, it can be hard to be 100% present when your child comes home from school.
By making sure you carve out a little of your day to make time for their issues you’ll become more intuitive. This will put you in a better position to recognise and flag any issues early on — before they develop into a bigger problem.
Support
Whilst most issues children face are relatively minor, there are some cases where it’s best to provide them with additional support. Perhaps the easiest and most straightforward examples would be if your child was struggling with maths. Getting them a maths tutor to help them perform better in the classroom and ultimately improve their grades, is an effective way to help.
If your child appears to be struggling mentally, be sure to contact a support service. Alternatively, seek a check-up with a GP to see what support options are available either online or near you. This will help them get into a better headspace at school.
School is not easy at any age! With Covid-19 and the omnipresence of social media on top of puberty, social anxiety, and mounting academic expectations, it’s totally normal for children to not be ‘ok’ throughout the school year.
Exercise
One of the best ways to help your child unwind after a stressful or worrisome day at school is to encourage them to exercise. Exercise is great for both the body as well as the mind. You will have no doubt heard that exercising releases endorphins. Getting your child out of the house and walking, running, cycling, (anything you can think of) will help them remove themselves from any cyclical patterns of overthinking.
Socialise
Now that we are allowed out and about again, encourage your child to meet up with friends outside of the school grounds. Whilst this might be hard for those that have become accustomed to hiding away in their rooms during lockdowns 1,2 and 3, this is a priority. It’s important for your child to get back into socialising for their mental wellbeing. As humans we are naturally social beings. This doesn’t necessarily mean that everyone should love going to parties or enjoy large group activities. Meeting up with even one friend for quick coffee or a short walk counts as being social!
Written by Elise Pearce
As Head of Content for London based startup Tutor House, Elise has written on a large number of topics ranging from homeschooling, the UK public school system; giving readers insight into the inner workings of all things education whilst highlighting the benefits of personalised private tuition.
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