Back-to-school time can come with a great deal of stress and anxiety, for both kids and parents.
Two well-known national parenting experts offer powerful social emotional learning (SEL) tools to help ease stress and set parents and kids up for a good school year. You are invited to share these, and the videos below, in any back to school coverage.
Trish Wilkinson, author of “Brain Stages.”
1. Help kids identify and work through their own emotions. Tell them what you see on their face with a simple “you seem happy/frustrated/worried…” and let them talk.
2. Help kids develop autonomy. Kids as young as six can make their own lunch, if they have healthy things to choose from. By doing so, they learn competence and confidence.
3. Give kids a purpose for learning. Find out what your kids will learn this year and talk about how they’ll use these skills in their lives.
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Jennifer Miller, M.Ed., author of “Confident Parent, Confident Kids.”
1. Notice and breathe. First, notice when you or your kids are feeling nervous, and take deep breaths to help reset. Practice at home before going into the school setting.
2. Use empathy. Others are also feeling back-to-school stress. Use empathy and compassion and help ease others, which takes the focus off your own stress.
3. Set a goal for one connection. Learning someone’s name, finding out who your teacher is, or meeting other parents help focus the mind and heart.
Both Trish and Jennifer are Speaker Bureau members of /equipourkids.org/> Equip Our Kids!, a national nonprofit advocacy organization that champions the inclusion of social- emotional learning in all preK-12 schools and homes. Through public awareness campaigns along with free resources for parents, students and communities, we are committed to equipping all our youth with vital SEL skills for their success in life, including to help ease back-to-school and other stressors.
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