5 Big Emotions to Expect with Starting School

When it’s time to start school, which for some of your kids is right around the corner. It can be super daunting and that unknown for some, while others aren’t even concerned!

These are some of the feelings your child might be feeling about the big event!

• Excitement
• Apprehension
• Overwhelmed
• Enthusiasm
• Sadness

Some children will experience them all, while others won’t.

Here are 3 activities that you can do with your child, to assist them in exploring the emotions that they are feeling and expressing their thoughts:

1. Encouraging your child to be able to notice and reflect on the emotions that they are feeling can be a positive experience, which will assist in building their resilience. Such as matching the flashcards with one another, or even using the story stones to pair them up, and discussing a time when they have felt that way.
2. Reading books together that explores feelings and starting school. Some great examples are The Colour Monster (which you can also purchase as story stones) and Starting School by Jane Goodwin & Anna Walker. Reading together is a great way to examine that the characters experience similar feelings, and exploring how they manage them, can be a great tool for your little ones.
3. Journalling with your child can be a great tool for them to express their thoughts and feelings and is a great practice to begin. It might begin with a picture that you assist in annotating, but then they will begin to be able to write their own sentence. This could be something that you practice daily, where you write at the start of the day how you are feeling for the day and then at the end of the day exploring how you now feel.

 

Are you sending anyone off to “big” school this year?