Preparing our children (and ourselves) for the new school year
by Danielle Alexander
Even though it is great to spend more time with our kids, by August, moms and dads are usually ready for summer to end and their children to go back to school. This year, as we all know, is different. Many of us want our children to experience a normal school year again but simultaneously — and understandably — have a variety of concerns.
Feeling like your child experienced a loss of learning this last year?
You are not alone. According to a poll by edtrust.org, nearly 9 in 10 US parents are worried that their children have fallen behind academically due to coronavirus-related reasons.
In the May issue of the Chaldean News, I covered how to go about preventing the “summer slide,” such as sending kids to summer camp, signing them up for tutoring and more. But, if that did not happen this summer, Claudia Sitto, a guidance counselor at St. Catherine of Siena Academy in Wixom, said parents really shouldn’t worry as students are “incredibly resilient.”
“History has shown us, many times, that students who experience interrupted or erratic schooling have caught up to their peers in academics,” she said. “For example, in the early 90s, many Iraqi immigrants, including me, experienced interrupted schooling and arrived in school systems that were unprepared for ESL students, and look at them now: thriving and successful.”
Sitto added that it’s important to stay calm and patient with your child who may be struggling. “Talking about all the negative effects of the pandemic and trying to manage school can be stressful. Parents can help their children by encouraging them to do their best.”
Worried the pandemic negatively affected your child’s social and emotional skills?
It is true that school classrooms are where children (especially the youngest ones) learn how to express feelings, work together with friends on a project, etc. So, if your child spent the majority of last school year at home, it makes sense why you may be feeling like his or her social and emotional skills have been affected.
Luckily, the National Association for the Education of Young Children has six suggestions for helping children develop social and emotional skills at home:
Play with puppets: Puppets are a great way to introduce children to feeling words and a tool to use during discussions about challenging topics.
Model how to think out loud: When children hear an adult’s thinking process, it helps them learn how to solve problems.
Read bedtime stories: You can ask your child to share his or her thoughts or feelings on characters.
Do a job together: Whether it’s folding laundry, setting the table or raking the leaves, working together provides children with invaluable skills.
Play games: Games offer built-in opportunities for learning how to take turns, cooperate, handle frustration and more.
Prevent potential problems: Create hypothetical social situations that children may face at school, as well as step-by-step explanations of what to do to avoid problems like these from arising.
Not sure how to get your child back into the school routine?
This seems to be the major back-to-school challenge every year; however, after spending so much time at home (and in pajamas) these last 1.5 years, developing a routine will undoubtedly be harder for parents than in years past.
Recognizing this, I found four quick reminders from The Child Mind Institute to be very helpful as we start back up the school year routine again:
Validation: Tell your child that being nervous for a new school year is normal, so they don’t feel alone in the experience.
Morning routines: Prior to school starting up again, discuss with your child what mornings will now look like. For the little ones, it might be beneficial to create a step-by-step visual to refer to and follow.
Homework: Just like the morning schedule, homework time also needs to be scheduled. Keep in mind that this will look different for every family depending on ages of kids and after-school activities.
Bedtime routines: A step-by-step visual will also be helpful before bed, but something else to keep in mind if your child likes to watch TV or play a video game before bed is to be sure to set time limits, so they get adequate sleep every night.
Scared that your children will contract COVID-19?
Although COVID-19 cases are low right now, and life has been starting to feel a bit more normal again, COVID-19 is unfortunately still here. Nevertheless, according to the CDC, students do benefit from in-person learning, and safely returning to in-person instruction in the fall is a priority.
With that said, in order to reduce the spread of COVID-19 and maintain safe operations so that schooling can remain face-to-face, Dr. Bashar Yalldo of Ascension Providence Hospital said parents need to continue following the CDC guidelines and teach their children to do the same: “Encourage respiratory and handwashing etiquette,” he said. “Also, if you’re sick, stay home and get tested.”
Danielle Alexander owns Edify LLC, a tutoring, editing and freelance writing business. She believes that if we all work together, this school year will be better than the last!
