As kids and teens are returning to school, emotions are running high. From anxiety to frustration to feelings of uncertainty, students and parents alike are experiencing a roller coaster of emotions. Whether going back to classroom learning in a brick and mortar school building, at home through virtual school, or a combination of remote and in-person learning, education is looking and feeling different than the "before times" of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Change is never easy, and we are all doing the best we can to cope. But these times call for as much help as we can get. And who better to support parents and students right now than professionals who specialize in guiding families through life's challenges.
Free Resources to Go Back to School Well
That is why, back in March when we began to quarantine and lockdown in our homes, I teamed up with my colleagues in positive psychology and education to offer weekly tips to parents to help them navigate through these challenging times. We created Resilience Now for Parents, as well as our Facebook group of the same name, where anyone could access our weekly tips.
In anticipation of "back to school" season, we created a free downloadable resource in the form of an eBook, that became available at the end of July 2020. In Helping Our Kids Go Back to School Well: A Practical Guide for Parents and Educators During COVID-19, we address how parents and those caring for and teaching kids and teens can help prepare for the return to school, in whatever form it takes, and to cope with anxiety, fear, frustration, and all of the newness that this time in history is bringing.
Strategies and Tools for Coping with Back to School Fears and Anxiety
We offer strategies to become calmer, more centered, and more confident, outside and inside of the classroom. In this practical guide, we also suggest questions that parents might ask their children's school to become informed about their policies, and in the event of virus outbreaks. In this way, families can not only prepare but also discuss how they may become more resilient as circumstances beyond our control continue to unfold.
In short, our group, consisting of professionals who are also parents themselves, created this free resource with the intention of supporting families in going back to school well.
Wishing you all well. And remember, you are not alone. We are all in this together.