Helping a child with anxiety go to school

Helping a child with anxiety go to school

Heading into school, whether it is for the first time or returning after a break is daunting for any child. Whilst many of them head in to school all excited and ready to face the challenges that it brings, for some, returning to school will cause severe anxiety for the child.

If you look after a child who has anxiety and is returning to school, then as a Nanny you are going to want to make sure that you can help them the best that you can. So, to help, we have put together some of the best ways that you can help a child who has anxiety head into school.

Talk to them and respect their fears and thoughts

Children have more feelings, thoughts and fears then you may give them credit for. It is a good idea to try and free up plenty of time to talk to them about how they are feeling about heading to school. Not only may this give you some clues as to what could be causing their anxiety, but it will also help them to get things off their chest too. Not only do you need to encourage them to talk, but you also need to make sure that you show their fears and thoughts some respect, don’t belittle the way that they feel, make sure that they feel that you understand and that you are taking things on board.

Speak to the school

Another important thing that you can do if the child you look after has some anxiety around school is make sure that you speak to the school about the issue. Not only will it be helpful to them to know that there is an issue, but you may also find that they have techniques and tips that you might not have thought of. You are not going to be the only person to have an anxious child and chances are that the school are well-versed in offering support to these children.

Keep their home routines as normal as possible

Going back to school or starting school is definitely going to throw a child’s normal routine out of whack. This means that it is going to be a good idea to try and keep things at home as normal as possible. If they have a certain time for dinner, a certain time for bed and also particular things that they like to do during the day, then keep these as is. Knowing that they are going to be heading home to something that they are used to is definitely going to help to control some of the anxiety that they are likely to be feeling.

You can’t always take away those feelings of anxiety that a child has, but what you can do is to find ways to help them to feel much better about the change that they are facing. You never know, in just a matter of a few weeks, when they have settled back into the routine, they may start to feel much more positive about school and much less anxious too.