As schools reopen, here are 3 ways you can help your child transition smoothly

During the COVID-19 pandemic, many schools could not ensure the uninterrupted learning of their students. To counter this, many parents tried to find the best apps for online classes to compensate for potential learning losses. With time, children did adjust to remote learning, but in a way, they lost touch with the conventional schooling environment. This means now that schools reopen, many students and parents are anxious about how the transition from online to offline will happen.

In this blog, we will discuss a few key points to keep in mind as your child rejoins their regular school classes:

1. Listen to your child:

As parents, we often think we know the best for our children. A few parents make the mistake of never listening to their children, all the time reasoning that the child is not experienced enough about life. This is not the ideal way to communicate with your child. As a parent, you should listen to the worries and anxieties your child experiences in order to build the trust factor with your child. Only if your child feels confident and safe about expressing themselves will they openly communicate with you.

For example, many children feel separation anxiety. With more than two years of online classes for school, this may manifest even in slightly older children. Be observant of their body language and overall behavior. Address their worries appropriately and do not dismiss them. Remember, different children have different sensitivity levels and all children cannot and should not be treated with a common high-handed approach.

2. Train them on safety measures:

As children start going to regular school classes, they must be well trained on basic safety measures, especially in observing COVID-appropriate behavior. Ensure that children understand the importance of wearing masks and maintaining social distance. Children who understand why they need to take these measures are more likely to follow them. Children who are not sensitized about the need for observing COVID-appropriate behavior may completely disregard these guidelines. If children understand the reasons for these guidelines they will be careful while sharing food with friends or while playing with their friends.

While proper training in COVID-appropriate behavior for children is crucial, it is equally important for parents to deal with their children patiently while teaching such norms. Any enforcement with unnecessary strictness has a high probability of backfiring, especially with young children. Treat kids with “kid gloves”.

3. Keep calm:

Did your child ever slightly cut or burn his finger? Chances are, that if the injury was mild, you told the child “It’s nothing to worry about, it will get better soon” while treating the burn or cut with an ointment or medicine. We all know that children pick up on adults’ behavioral cues. If the parents make a big deal out of something, children do so too. In simple words, children mimic their parents. If they see you get worked up or anxious over small things, they will develop similar tendencies.

To help your child stay relaxed and feel safe, modeling calm behavior yourself is important. If children see you being calm and composed in trying situations, they will learn to be the same way. You have to realize that when your children go out in the world, they will inevitably face situations for which you might have not prepared them. In such situations, only a calm attitude can help them think and respond rationally.

With the restart of regular school classes, parents are facing a unique set of challenges. There is no standard operating procedure here. Only a rational and patient approach can help you overcome the challenges successfully. We hope that this blog gave you some insights into how you can achieve this.

At LEAD, we constantly try to support our partner schools every step of the way. It is our responsibility to keep students and educators safe and ensure excellent quality education is provided without any interruptions. Whatever the future may hold, we are ready to welcome new changes and build innovative technology solutions to stay in tandem with them.