Help Your Child Avoid Stress in School

Going back to school after months of a laid-back summer vacation can be rough. Worrying about school assignments can lead to stress. How can you as a parent help your child manage their schoolwork and successfully avoid stress? Now is the time to review a few methods to fully optimize your child’s school experience so that they feel confident heading into this new school year.

One of the biggest causes of stress is procrastination. Procrastination is the action of delaying or postponing something. Personally, this is my biggest stress factor. Your child keeping up with schoolwork in time can be a difficult task, and they might not be enthusiastic about it. Remind your child that procrastinating and avoiding finishing schoolwork on time will just lead to more stress in the future. I have had mountains of assignments pile up over months of procrastination and it is not a good feeling.

The easiest way to avoid procrastinating is to help your child manage their time properly. Here are a four easy suggestions you can share:

1. Create a schedule that balances their hobbies and activities with their schoolwork. Make sure that your child feels comfortable with the schedule, and that it is easy for them to follow. Schedules can be hard at first, but once your child gets used to it, managing schoolwork will be a lot easier. 
2. Develop a reward system. For example, letting them do something they enjoy after they finish their work for the day. This will give your child motivation to complete their work in time.
3. Take care of yourself physically to help lower stress. Simple exercises every day can help, and even something as little as getting enough sleep goes a long way.
4. Eating healthy is also important. Processed foods and foods with high-sugar levels increase stress, so avoiding eating too much of these will keep stress levels low. Additionally, drinking too many caffeinated drinks increases stress levels as well, so encourage your child to keep a healthy diet.

Your child feeling stressed because of school is completely normal. Helping your child manage their time will keep them stress-free and will let them stay on top of their schoolwork.

Simple tactics like creating a schedule and eating healthy will significantly reduce stress levels in your child. As a parent, helping your child build good habits will not only benefit them this school year, but for years to come as well.

Uthman Guadalupe is a Latino Muslim college student with a passion for history and art. He is an assistant Brazilian Jiu Jitsu coach and freelance illustrator. He is fluent in Spanish and lives with his family in Maryland where he also enjoys playing video games and binging shows.