Children Anxiety and School
Managing Anxiety with Work
The Census reports that 93% of American School Aged children are currently engaged in some form of remote learning. This leads to a cavalcade of new pressures.
One of the most significant is the impact of distance learning and social skill building. Younger children, just learning social skills and special needs children that need higher levels of social enhancement are particularly affected. But there are large pockets of school aged children that do not like remote learning.
Attention span and distance learning can decrease success as well as increasing anxiety. Finding ways to stay engaged and to spark the fire to learn more is more challenging for many educators with remote learning. Missing social milestones, enduring relationships with peers and teachers can increase anxiety, isolation, and loneliness with children.
Many homes do not have strong internet connections, quiet places to study or adequate resources to promote remote learning. Parents may also be working from home dealing with their own anxiety about their effectiveness at working from home.
Coping Skills
Balance, flexibility, and patience are critical to reducing anxiety for both students, teachers, and parents. New approaches, new techniques, and new ways to personalize are challenging but will aide in the successful implementation of remote learning. Parents by in large are not teachers and are dealing with work, economic and health pressures while being asked to take on a more active role in the education process which turns up the pressure and anxiety for all. Changing expectations, not standards or engagement but recognizing this is a new environment and some things will work better, and some will not work as well is a good first step. Increased patience, again recognizing that this is a challenge for students, teachers and parents and requires an open mind and open heart.
Prepare and Equip are foundational level requirements that will aid in success. Not every home has room for classwork, offices, and general engagement. It is essential that your student has a reasonable internet connection as video calls with take more bandwidth. There are resources in most communities and within most school districts to aid students with connectivity. But lighting, space for notes and supplies required need to easy to find and helpful in aiding the ease of remote learning.
Time to Engage. Proactive planning reduces stress and anxiety. Dedicating time to the assignments pending, the week’s objectives and the ability for the students to respond and upload homework in a timely manner can be accelerated by dedicated some time on a regular basis to talk through the coming assignment, the objectives and current as well as desired objectives. Offering ways to find additional resources, strong reference sites, and study skill tips may increase performance.
Thriving is Possible. For some children, remote learning strips away distractions, keeps them in a familiar space and reduces social anxiety of schools. Encouragement, support, and patience are strong tools to make your student thrive.
Reach out. Tutors, mentors, and counselors are strong resources as well. Mental Health Professionals who can build goal setting and achieving skills. Online counseling on demand can accommodate hectic schedules with a systems approach to the challenges of education, learning, social development and anxiety reduction.
