How Do I Help My Child Return To High School
How Do I Help My Child Return To High School

How Do I Help My Child Return To High School

After months of lockdown, you may feel nervous about your child returning to high school. Things will be difficult from when they previously attended as they have been off for so long, and that is a big deal for any family. It’s completely natural for parents to be looking for ways to help their child adjust to the ‘new normal’.

Emotions will likely be all over the place as you and your child watched the days count down to the school’s return date, and now they’ve returned many families feel that their children haven’t settled in as well as they had hoped. For many anxiety and stress will be at an all-time high, perhaps even higher than they ever have been due to this unforeseen pandemic. 

Witnessing your child being in distress is a traumatic experience for any parent, so it’s no wonder that you are asking yourself – how do I help and support my child return to high school?

With the suggestions below, you can help your child to get back on track and feeling positive about their educational journey. 

Encourage safe socialising 

Even with the new school guidelines ensuring pupils stay two metres apart and remain in their own bubbles, you will still want to encourage your child to socialise safely. In situations where they may not be able to stay two metres away from their peers, they may feel anxious, uncomfortable and struggle to focus, but if you talk to them openly about it, it may help them to feel more at ease.

If your child needs to wear a face-covering whilst sitting in their classroom, talk to them about why they need to do so and discuss any concerns that you and your child have about it with their teacher. This will enable you to talk with your child and use the same logic and language as their teachers to help them better understand.

Provide extra tutoring

Due to the lockdown, your child’s motivation may have dropped along with their grades, so your child may be secretly worried that they will be unable to catch up while they are struggling with the added pressure to keep up with the workload and study for exams.

Providing your child with a tutor could be the key to getting them back on track with their schoolwork while they return to school.

Don’t smother your child emotionally. 

Being there for your child during their time of need is what parenting is all about. However, smothering your child emotionally can have more negative effects than positive, such as implying a lack of trust in your child, leading your child to have low self-confidence or a low sense of self-worth.

So instead of swooping in and trying to fix every problem or issue that your child may be facing, take a step back and allow them to navigate through their school life alone to grow their confidence and independence. However, keep a watchful eye on your child to pinpoint if their struggles are serious, then step in and talk to your child about it and work out a solution together.

Give your child more independence.

When your child starts to grow up, it can be hard to let go of the “my baby” thoughts and stop doing everything for them. However, it is crucial to growing your child’s independence, especially when they reach their teenage years.

Don’t know how to help them become more independent? Check out the suggestions below to get you started;

  • Ask your teen to manage their time when it comes to studying for exams, completing homework, or creating a schedule to get all their projects done.
  • Organise a tutor to help your child to catch up. Some times students don’t listen or take in as much information when studying with a parent, but by having an outsider supporting them, they are more likely to focus. It also helps them to be more independent as they are responsible for their education – not you.
  • Get your teenager to get themselves up in the morning. Help them limit distractions at night (i.e. TV, phone calls, social media etc.) before providing them with an alarm clock and letting them try to get themselves up in the morning. After a while, they should get into the habit of getting themselves up. However, if they struggle or if your child is deliberately avoiding school, then further investigations will need to be done.

During the pandemic, countless students had disruptions in their learning due to switching over to online classes and learning from home. However, the Year 6 students transitioning into Year 7 were affected the most. Evidence suggests that the transition from primary school to secondary school is a critical time in a child’s life, as they have to get used to a lot of changes in a short time, so the 2020 Year 7’s start to high school has been a difficult journey due to the Coronavirus.

Helping your child return to high school can be made simpler by giving your child independence to do things on their own, not smothering them emotionally, encouraging them to socialise safely, and providing them with tutoring if they are struggling with any of their classes. 

Here at Aim High Tuition, we prioritise our students to help them achieve their best results in school and later life. Our qualified tutors offer interactive online tutoring for Maths, English and Science during out of school hours for children aged five to sixteen. So if you wish to help your child via online tutoring, please feel free to enquire and book a trial here.

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