As your child starts to move from primary school to secondary school, they would be entering a new phase of their life. This could bring about a set of new challenges as they navigate how to deal with this transition to a new environment, make new friends and cope with stress that change could bring about. As parents, its natural that you worry about these challenges and understanding what changes could be happening, and how to help your child understand and cope with this transition could help them be more prepared and adapt easier.
NEW SCHOOL ENVIRONMENT CHALLENGES
One of the main challenges your child would have to deal with would be having to adapt to a new school environment. As they would have spent six years of their formative lives making friends, getting used to the environment at school, and developing bonds with teachers and staff at school, moving to a new school could be quite intimidating. They would have to take on the pressure of making new friends, coping with a new syllabus and undertaking this new phase of their life as more independent, mature individuals.
SUPPORTING YOUR CHILD
Essentially, the best remedy to help your child would be in providing your unconditional support. While most secondary schools would help ease these transitions through orientation camps, you might find your child would have additional concerns and stress that could spill over into life at home. You might already know how to help reassure your child or how to help them overcome their concerns and anxieties but as they grow to be young adults, you might have to tweak your approach as you guide them to be more independent, face challenges and manage anxiety and stress that comes with it.
The best way to do this would be by speaking with them about how they are feeling about attending their new school and meeting new classmates, adjustments they will encounter like having a larger class size, the additional subjects in their curriculum, and additional guidelines and routines the school might have. One good way to understand their new school would be by visiting the school website to understand the Co-Curricular Activities they offer, the profile of the teachers, and upcoming events the school would be participating in.
Most children’s concerns would be with making new friends. A good way to make sure that your child is comfortable would be to enrol them in holiday programs that would allow them to interact with others and form bonds with friends who are interested in the same activities as them.
Next, encouraging your child to decide on subjects and activities that appeals to them the most would get them excited about this new transition. Encourage your child to pursue their interests and activities that excite them. Participating in elective programs could be a great opportunity for your child to develop their skills and could be a great form of stress relief.
And finally, remind them that you are always available for them to approach with questions and concerns without judgements. Treating your child with respect and giving them space would help them understand that you are open and supportive and would make them more incline to come to you when they need to.
This article was brought to you by The Global Citizen Education Group.
