Tips To Reduce Stress At School

Fortunately there is a great deal parents can do to help their children cope with all these forms of stress at school. Understanding and support at home are invaluable, and can be expressed in a variety of constructive ways.

• When setting up home or thinking of moving house, bear in mind the local schools in the area you are considering: for many parents, the school they feel is right for their children will be a strong factor in deciding where to live.

• Avoid the temptation of pressing your child too hard to achieve results. Awareness of high parental expectations can be a spur, but if overdone can be stressful.

• Much better than pressurizing and nagging is to show a genuine, sustained interest in school work and activities.

• Be sure to ask your child about his or her day at school, and take time to listen to what he has to say.

• All you can do for your child at pre-school age in the way of encouraging reading, writing and other basic skills, will be of inestimable help later on, reflected not just in the classroom, but in your child’s whole attitude towards learning as something to be enjoyed.

• Within reason, make sure that friends from school are welcomed into your home. It’s one of the best ways available to you for seeing who your child is spending time with, as well as helping in the development of social skills.

• Get involved yourself in the life of your child’s school: join in school activities, such as drama and fund-raising.

• Attend parent-teacher meetings regularly. In this way you will not only get direct feedback on how your child is doing, but will yourself be positively demonstrating your interest. Under the 1989 Education Act, teachers are now contractually obliged to work more closely with parents. By getting to know your child’s teachers, you will also be able to appreciate for yourself the special stresses to which they are prone, by the nature of their profession.

• Encourage joint family activities out of school in which everyone can take part enjoyably, such as visits to the zoo, museums, or nature trails.

• If your child shows a special interest and ability, such as in a sport, in playing a musical instrument, or chess, for example, do everything you can to encourage and support it. Extra-curricular activities are an important counterpart to school itself, and can help achieve the kind of balance which is what stress-free living is all about.

• School makes considerable demands on children, and it is when they cannot respond adequately or satisfactorily to these demands that it becomes stressful. Truancy, or feigned illness, are classic symptoms of stress in schoolchildren, so keep a watchful eye open for these, and take appropriate action early on.

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