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What To Do For Kids With High Anxiety About School

What To Do For Kids With High Anxiety About School

Wednesday, December 06, 2023

No matter if your child is going back to school from the holidays, or spring break, or summer break, or even just every day in the classroom, there's a good chance they might be dealing with some anxiety about school. Did you know that according to the NIH, 1 in 8 children suffer from anxiety disorder? That is extremely common! But knowing that might help you understand how to help. 

This article will cover a short list of things you can do to help your child better understand what they’re going through. School is something that every child has to deal with, and we’d love to help make it as stress-free as possible. So keep reading to see what you can do to help.

Helping Your Child Deal With Anxiety About School

1) Address The Stressors That Lead To Anxiety

If you’ve learned that your child is dealing with anxiety, you might want to talk to them to figure out what it is that’s stressing them out. It might be interacting with peers, it might be fear of failure and bad grades, it might be anxiety surrounding homework or workload, or something else. 

But try talking to your child in an emotionally safe and judge-free environment so they feel comfortable talking about their anxiety. But some children still might not want to admit what is stressing them out, and that can be normal, too.  

2) Learn About Anxiety

If you already know that your child deals with anxiety, we recommend reading reliable sources to learn more about anxiety disorder. If you learn more about anxiety, you’ll have a better idea of how to help. You can learn about certain things that might trigger your child’s anxiety, what to say, how to help, and more. 

According to the CDC, “Anxiety may present as fear or worry, but can also make children irritable and angry. Anxiety symptoms can also include trouble sleeping, as well as physical symptoms like fatigue, headaches, or stomachaches. Some anxious children keep their worries to themselves and, thus, the symptoms can be missed.” Learning about what your child is dealing with is crucial to helping them!

3) Pursue Counseling For Anxiety

Anxiety is something that many children deal with, especially when it comes to school, but if you’re able to find out what is causing your child’s anxiety, you might want to reach out for professional help. 

Addressing mental health is super important for your child’s well-being, but let's be honest. Sometimes, parents don’t always know what to say in certain situations. So, finding a counselor or therapist for your child is a good way to help. 

4) Dedicate Time For Relaxing

If your child is dealing with anxiety around school, maybe try some fun and positive ways to relax every week. These ways of relaxing can be a great distraction from their anxiety about school. You can switch it up every week and do a fun activity. 

Ways to relax and have fun can be having a board game night with the family or cooking their favorite food on Wednesday nights. It could even be something as simple as watching an episode of their favorite show together. 

But whatever it is, make sure it is a positive distraction that they can look forward to every week. This will give them something to focus on and create happy memories that they can associate with school.

5) Talk To Your Child

If your child is up for chatting about their anxiety, you might want to try that. Just talking about it can help get it off their chest. You might even want to relate to them by talking about anxiety you’ve dealt with and what helped you overcome that. You are your child’s hero, and having someone to relate to will help them feel like they’re not alone. Anxiety is extremely common, and no one should feel alone. 

About Ignite Achievement Academy

Ignite Achievement Academy (formerly named “Manus Academy”) specializes in working with students with learning barriers in grades K-12. Here at Ignite, we IGNITE student learning, their passions and interests, and their future.

We Help Students Of All Kinds Including Those With:

  • Learning disabilities
  • Language disorders
  • Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder
  • Autism Spectrum Disorder
  • Anxiety
  • Depression

Through compassionate, structured teaching practices and support for the whole child, students receive the skills and support needed to thrive. Most students who enroll at IAA have had a long struggle and are relieved when they join us and make friends with other students. Parents often report to us that their child feels successful each day and has a growing sense of well-being. This leads to a full-family benefit.

At IAA, we equip students with training to build essential academic skills to successfully complete coursework, solve problems, and meet the academic and social demands of their school environment. Contact us today to learn more about Ignite Achievement Academy, request information, or maybe even schedule a tour of our campus.