Even in the best circumstances, back-to-school time can be stressful for kids and families. The good news is that there are steps we can take to help minimize that stress and send our kids back-to-school with confidence!
Don’t let normal back-to-school stress turn into lasting fear or long term anxiety. Here are seven ways to put the joy back into back-to-school time for kids, and their parents!
Questions will come up: “Will I fit in?” “Who will my teacher be?” “What if I can’t understand the lessons?” “Will I be with my friends?” These fears are normal but they can lead to undesirable effects, like a lack of enthusiasm for school that can lead to missing classes, and poor grades.
These fears can lead to long-term damage and make attending school in the future much more difficult. They can even lead to social anxiety in adulthood. And for the busy parent trying to keep the family on track, it can be overwhelming!
Here are seven steps to help cut the anxiety and avoid back-to-school stress!
1. Preparation Is Key
Avoid waiting until the last minute to buy supplies. Generally, the earlier you can get to the store, the better, since it will become progressively more crowded as the days get closer to the start date.
Don’t wait until you get the classroom supply list in order to purchase some supplies. From year to year, make some reasonable guesses as to what you’ll need – notebooks, pens, and so on.
2. Exercise is Essential
It’s easy to let your physical health take a back seat to the mental pursuit of studying, or the never-ending work of parenting. Before school starts, develop a habit of regular exercise and you’ll be much more likely to continue the practice during the school year.
A sedentary lifestyle combined with poor nutrition and lack of proper sleeping habits can really hurt your body. The best types of exercises are fun, have some measure of accountability, and work around your busy schedule. Some examples of these include swimming, boxing and martial arts.
3. Sleep Is Underrated
Before school starts help yourself by adjusting your sleep schedule. Rather than being shocked by the early start of your first day of school, you can ease into the transition.
According to the National Sleep Foundation, sleep is as important to human beings as air, water and food, and a proper sleep schedule can help you manage your diet and stress levels. Teens need 8 to 10 hours of sleep per night, and only 15% of them are getting it. Lack of sleep can limit your brain-power and make learning more difficult, increase susceptibility to acne, and increase cravings for sugar and other unhealthy foods. Make sleep a priority and watch as every other area of your life improves!
4. Meditation Is a Powerful Tool for Success
Meditation is a great way to calm your mind and ease your stress. You can start a practice in as little as five to twenty minutes each day. Sit in a quiet area and focus on your breathing for 5-10 minutes in the morning, and again in the evening. Your mind will wander but just bring it back to your breathing every time. Keep at it, and you will see great progress in mental clarity and memory. Plus, it doesn’t cost a dime.
5. Ask Someone Who’s Been There
If you or your child is experiencing anxiety about new classes, teachers and schedules, ask questions. The best source of information about a class is typically people who have recently taken that class.
Typically, this information is best obtained from older brothers and sisters, either within your own family or a friend’s. You will find this to be mostly useful for high school, middle school and elementary school.
6. Brush Up On The Basics
Everybody wants to relax on vacation but the transition into the new school year can be much smoother if you spend a little bit of time brushing up on the basics.
Our brains get out of the habit of learning, and it can take a few weeks of school before we’re back in gear. Eliminate that lag-time with just a little effort. Familiarize yourself with common terms, read through a few textbooks, and otherwise bring yourself up to speed a bit on whatever you’re likely to study in the upcoming year. You’ll thank yourself as the year unfolds.
7. Talk About It
Talking about your feelings can really help. Encourage your children to talk about their back to school worries and fears. Parents, make sure to tell kids it is normal for them to feel this way and that you sometimes do too. Encourage them to focus on the positive, too. Even children with a lot of stress have at least one or two things they are excited about.
Capoeira Makes The Difference
Regular exercise is one of the best ways to reduce anxiety. If you do it every day, the benefits are increased.
Capoeira can be a great way to reduce back to school stress. Here are a few of its chief benefits:
- Control – Capoeira teaches self control. Students learn to use it as a tool to calm themselves in stressful situations.
- Confidence – Capoeira improves self-confidence and a lack of confidence is one of the biggest factors in back to school anxiety. By feeling confident of yourself, you know you can handle the difficult situations that your life might throw at you, inside the academy and out!
- Release – Capoeira cannot erase stress and anxiety completely but it allows you to release stressful energy in a safe and controlled environment. Stress often breeds anger and frustration and Martial Arts can be used as a tool to positively release these emotions.
- Exercise – The fact that Capoeira is physically demanding means that it takes a lot of energy to practice. When it comes to stress, this is a very good thing. Excess energy due to a lack of exercise can cause anxiety.
- Positive Social Experience – Stress is often caused by a lack of social interaction. When you fail to put yourself into social situations and interact with others, it’s easy to focus on your stress, and that will increase it. Capoeira can help take a child’s mind off of school for a while.
We hope your back-to-school season is amazing and as stress-free as possible, and we believe Martial Arts is one of the best ways to make it that way. Try one of our web-exclusive special offers today and see the benefits Capoeira Decatur can provide to your whole family! Click here to get started NOW!