Sunny Health

It's been almost 2 weeks since the school holidays ended. Many children would have adapted to their day-to-day school routine, albeit with some reluctance. However, some may have more than the usual back-to-school blues, especially the younger ones. Here are some issues you should take note of and tackle accordingly:

Sleepiness, difficulty in getting up on time
During the school holidays, your child would likely be getting up later than usual (since school hours for Primary and Secondary schools are notorious for being punishingly early), and sleeping later than usual. Having to adapt to a new sleep cycle, on top of stress from school work, can be difficult, resulting in lack of sleep. If you've travelled during the school holidays and only returned recently, jetlag may also contribute to the problem. Be understanding if your child has been cranky, which is typical behaviour related to poor sleep, and help your child to get better quality sleep. Popular remedies for sleep loss such as lavender scents, warm showers before bed and warm milk are usually effective. Being by your child's side at bed time would be soothing, especially for young children. It is also a good opportunity to bond. Keep electronic devices like phones and tablets away from your child before bedtime, as that will most certainly keep them up. Get your child to finish up their school work and revision early so that they can go to bed early.

Academic stress
On the subject of stress, if the child hasn't been revising during the school holidays, catching up with the new lessons will be extremely daunting. If the school doesn't offer refresher lessons, and you’re unable to guide your child in that area, then you might want to hire a tutor, not to give extra workload, but to help revise those learnt but forgotten concepts. And then you’d do well to remember during the next long school break that all play and no work makes Jack a forgetful child back in school. While school holidays are the time to relax, it is important to not get too carried away.

They miss you
If you’ve taken leave off work to spend more time with your child during the school holidays, your child may not get used to the reduced amount of attention they’re getting from you once school reopens. Even as you’re up to your brows in work, do spend at least half to one hour a day having intimate conversations or play time with your child.

Lost friendships
Friendships at a young age are fragile. Not spending time together or being cast aside for a new bestie are common ways which little friends fall out of favour with each other. Don’t shrug aside your child’s friendship and insist that they focus on their studies instead, which is a common mistake parents make. Falling out with a good friend is something that makes us adults miserable and distracted, so why should it be anything different for a child? Encourage your child to talk to you about their unhappiness. If you can’t do anything to help salvage the friendship, the least you can do is offer a listening ear.

Contact with sick classmates and poor hygiene
The middle of the year is often flu season, which means it may be highly possible for your child to bring back the flu bug. Do remind your child about the basic hygiene practices, which would include washing hands after play and before food, not eating or drinking directly from another child’s meal or using their cutlery, and keep his/her immune system in good shape by ensuring sufficient sleep, healthy meals with plenty of fruits and vegetables, exercise and lots of water. If your child is sick, take them to the doctor and make sure they are well before letting them get back to school. Making sick children go to school is not only torturous for the child but also terribly inconsiderate to the other people at the school.

Going back to school is in itself stressful, but it can be made more manageable by ensuring that your child’s emotional and physical well-being are in tip-top condition.