With school starting in a few weeks, your child may begin to worry about the year ahead. Will I have friends?
Will my new teacher be nice? Will everyone be smarter than me? And as a parent, these can be challenging questions to answer. So I wanted to spend the next few weeks sharing ideas to support your child’s transition into the next school year so they can feel calm and confident on day one.
This week, we’ll look at, “Will I have friends?”
So how can we support our children when they ask this question? Here are some ideas.
Validate your child’s emotions
Instead of “Oh, it will be ok; you’ll make a friend.”
Try “It’s scary to make new friends, and mommy is here to help you figure it out.”
Storytell
Most of us have experienced trying to make new friends. Please share a time when you felt nervous about making friends and how you overcame it with your child.
Brainstorm
While playing, eating, or relaxing together, talk with your child about the qualities you look for in a friend and then ask them what qualities they look for. Brainstorming these qualities helps shift the locus of control from a friend-finding them to your child be an active agent, on the lookout for a friend who meets their needs.
Communicate
Share your child’s concerns about making friends with their new teacher and school guidance counselor. These adults can create a web of supportive relationships for your child during the school day.
I’d love to learn from you! In what ways do you help your child make new friends? Together we can support our children, so they start the school year feeling calm and confident.
And for those of you who have a child that has difficulty reading, I’ll be registering students for my first-semester 12 weeks Reading Success Program starting in September.
Please schedule a free 30-minute call to discuss your child’s needs with me.