The transition of a child from kindergarten to elementary school is a big step towards his growth and it can be clearly seen that the child goes through many mood swings, anxiety and fear of the new environment. As parents, it is important that you help your child enter elementary school with as little anxiety as possible. Here are some ways you can reduce your child’s anxiety.
1. Talking – Children love to talk, but when it comes to expressing their fear of the unknown, they find it difficult to speak. Try a short story about your own childhood and the first day of primary school, the fears you faced and engage the child to talk about it. This will help the child understand what to expect and how to deal with the new challenges ahead.
2. Try to meet the new classmates: If the child moves to elementary school in the same school, it is likely that the child’s friends will also move. Meet with them before the start of the school year to help all children bond better. This will also help reduce the anxiety of moving on to primary school.
3. Test run: Many schools allow children to enter class a couple of days before the actual start of academic sessions. Take your child to school and show him around, the class, the bathroom, the playground, spend some time there. This will help the child relax and be calm on the first day of school.
4. Practice what you have already learned: The transition to elementary school involves not only the emotional journey that the child undertakes, but also the intellectual journey that begins. Parents can purchase/make worksheets to help their child prepare to face the new academic year without too much study stress. There are many workbooks available in the market to help children in the transition to elementary school and flipClass Genius Kids workbooks are one such set of books that help the child to practice math, science and English with ease.
5. Daily schedule: Until the time when the child is in kindergarten, he spends little time at school. Moving on to primary classes will mean that the child also spends a considerable amount of time in school. Parents should help the child cope with the new times at school by being with them when they come home from school, talking with them and relieving their stress.
A child’s transition to elementary school is not only important for the child, but also for the parents. Parents must be calm to transmit the same vibrations to the child. This is why each parent should know how and what to help the child in this transition process.