The First Day of Kindergarten – Reducing Your Child's Stress

"With any change that we experience in our lives, natural emotions such as anxiety can emerge. For children, this becomes more pronounced when starting at a new school," says Michelle Kees, Ph.D., a specialist in children's anxiety issues at The University of Michigan Child & Adolescent Psychiatry Clinic. Most kids can overcome their fears with the help of a parent, she says. Experts agree that in addition to helping your child learn basic skills such as the ABC's and counting, a key responsibility is to help your child visualize what will happen at kindergarten. The important thing is to build your child's expectations in ways that enable him or her to feel confident that they can handle the new experiences that kindergarten will bring.


The Blue Lake take on it:
We highly recommend Kindergarten Countdown –  a short (18 minute) video from Educational Productions. This Oregon-based team has created award-winning video training materials that are widely used in school systems throughout the U.S. and Canada. The Kindergarten Countdown DVD follows real kids through a typical kindergarten day. The University of Michigan Health System Bulletin on reducing the stress of returning to school also has tips for elementary and middle school students.