How to Help Kids Deal with School Stress
School has many obvious benefits for children, from developing social skills, to learning and achieving new academic goals that will help them secure a future career. However, like most things in life, it does have some disadvantages, one major example being school associated stress.
We can all relate to the stresses of school, whether that be the pressure associated with exam revision or the peer pressure received from friends. In today’s high-stakes testing and competitive college admissions, it’s no wonder that so many parents are looking for ways to help their kids cope better.
Here are some of the best tips to help your child deal with school stress:
Familiarize Yourself with Signs of School Stress
Since you are not present with them throughout their school day, it’s not always possible to know how they are getting on at school. However, familiarizing yourself with some of the most common signs of school stress can really help you identify and deal with any potential issues your child may be experiencing.
Subtle signs of stress include physical symptoms such as headache and nausea, while behavioural patterns such as a reluctance to attend school or a noticeable pattern of absence is may be a red flag. Other signs of stress include depression and anxiety, yet often these are not always easy to spot either.
Maintaining open and honest communication with your child is a great way to keep up to date with their current mood and outlook and offer your support when needed. Don’t be afraid to ask questions and offer your advice.
Teach Organization & Time Management
A poorly planned revision schedule and lack of organization in general can often lead to unnecessary stress. It’s far too common to see kids leave their homework until the last minute and by that point there’s simply not enough time to complete it. Equally, a poorly organized set of papers can create chaos when it comes to study time.
Teach your child to pace themselves by doing a portion of their homework each night, rather than leaving it until the night before. Not only will this give them more time to research and proofread their work, but it will also help them avoid the pressure of an ever-looming deadline.
Stress-Beating Homework Tips:
- It’s best to start homework earlier on in the day since late in the evening kids are more likely to feel tired and lack the concentration required for academic tasks.
- Offer your support and if they seem to be struggling consult the school for additional support.
- Make sure your child is doing their work in an appropriate location free from noise and other distractions.
Extra-Curricular Activities
It’s common for kids to partake in extra-curricular activities outside of the classroom, often after school. These include sports, music and art clubs where kids can socialize, harness their passions and pursue their interests. However, these activities are often very competitive, especially at high-school level and so require a good level of commitment, which can run the risk of sacrificing revision time and therefore good academic performance.
If you suspect your child’s academic performance, sleep pattern or family time may be suffering due to extra-curricular activities it may be time to think about reducing their level of commitment. Perhaps instead of afterschool, extra-curricular activities could be restricted to the weekend only?
Maintain Balance
Between keeping up to date with homework and preparing for the next exam, it’s not surprising that many kids miss out on being a kid. As a parent allow your child the time to play with friends and enjoy their favorite activities without any pressure. That doesn’t mean making excuses or forgetting about academic responsibilities, but it does mean you should be conscious of maintaining a balance between work and play.
A great way to achieve balance is by dedicating a certain time for fun and play. This could be for a certain few hours in the evening or perhaps one day on weekends. During this time any discussion about work, homework and exams should be completely off limits. This is also a great way to enjoy time as a family and do the activities you all love to do as a group.
Pressure from Parents
As a parent you obviously want your child to do well academically and succeed in their studies, however, it’s important you remain aware of the language you use so that you don’t apply unnecessary pressure on your child. A common example of this is over-emphasising their exam results by asking questions such as – “How did you do in that exam today?” this can result in your child thinking you care more about their grades than other things about them.
A better approach is to ask questions like “How was school today?” and “What did you learn today?” These questions are more general and are not as likely to cause your child stress or irritation, especially if they did poorly. It’s also useful to remember that a few poor exam results are not the end of the world, education is a relatively long process and so you have plenty of time to get your child back on track.
AUTHOR BIO
Jennifer Mclean is a mother of three, housewife and full time blogger whose ramblings and research can be read on her blog and passion project Mom Bible. Jennifer writes about a wide range of parenting topics including health, education, behavior, spirituality and even product reviews.
