How do you prepare your child for school this September? This school year will look nothing like anything we have ever dealt with. There will be no back to school hugs for friends and group pictures, there will be no groups of moms joyfully talking with each other at drop off.  Instead they will be masking up and entering in designated times and designated doors to enter into their once familiar school. Their school will not look or feel the way they left it back in March. Desks will be facing one way and far apart, their may be partitions, and many of their favorite areas and seating may have vanished.

How do we prepare our children for what they will encounter? Many children and parents are anxious to have in person learning because they want their kids to see their friends. Unfortunately, what they are expecting in their heads will not be the case this school year. My concern as a therapist is that their expectations will not be met and how do we deal with their mental health under these conditions. We have never experienced this and do not know the impact on their mental health from these changes.  Its basically one big social experiment.

As parents we need to prepare our children for what school may look like in a realistic fashion.  Your children will not be interacting with the teacher or with other children as they once did. We can educated our children on what this may look and feel like. We as parents can say that we just don’t know some answers to their questions. We can hold space for when they talk about their emotions. These are scary and uncertain times. When communicating with your children please be aware of your words and emotions. As adults we need to model that its ok that we don’t know what this look like and that it will be ever changing.  We also need to find the positives. There are positives, we just need to look. If your child is struggling please reach out https://kericooperholistictherapy.com