School is starting! Adjusting from COVID to Classroom

How to best help your child transition from virtual classes to reality.

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It’s been a long time since we’ve had a traditional school day within an active, social environment. Here are some ideas to help the transition from home back to school.

1. Have an open discussion about the changes in routine that he/she may experience as school starts. If your child understands, discuss how things were last year before COVID, and describe how things may look the same or different this year. If your child does better with visuals, draw some pictures, or better yet, create your own social story about a child who is returning to school. It may well become your child’s favorite!
   
   

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   Try your best to keep your home a worry-free environment. Children will feel safe and secure if they see you dealing with changes with a positive spin. You may be anxious, and you can and should do what you can to reduce your anxiety. But try to present a calm and reassuring presence to your child, if you can.
   
   
2. If you can, revisit the school grounds with your child to acclimate him to his new year of school. Visiting, reminiscing about positive memories and former teachers and peers, may help your child be more ready to make the shift from summer to school.
   
   
3. You may choose to adjust some routines to support a school day, such as earlier wakeup and bedtime, and mealtimes that can align with a school day.  This shift may ease the transition from a lazy vacation day at home to school and bus pickup times.