4 Ways to Help Grade School Students Manage Stress

April 11, 2019 By Christina
Stress (Student Life)   

As adults/parents we often see children as having a carefree and happy world that hides many harsh realities of life. As providers for children we also often think that children don’t have much stress due to the fact that as we juggle schedules and bills, the children in our lives are free to do whatever makes their hearts content. Also children are often sheltered from adult responsibilities, this does not mean that children do not experience stress. Peer pressure, learning new things, understanding the world and trying to grasp concepts at school are all things that can lead a child to feel very overwhelmed, stressed and mentally drained if not managed appropriately.

Here are four ways that you can help reduce your child’s stress.

1. Talk to your child

Keep up with what’s going on in your child’s life. Show genuine interest in your child’s interests and what excites them. Trust is important in a parent child relationship and when your child knows that you show genuine interest in them, they will come to you more often with questions and concerns, ultimately relieving stress.

2.Set Up a Schedule

Visual schedules keep my life in order and can be a wonderful thing for both children and parents alike. When children come home with addition homework, as adults, we can often push our kids to do too much because of how easy it seems to us. As parents we do this unconsciously at times. I like to set up visual schedules that have a task list on them. This way your child can log how much work they’ve done and you can set up a maximum and minimum amount of work that needs to be completed so that your child doesn’t feel overworked. This minimizes frustration of feeling that they cannot reach success.

3. Make Homework Fun!

Engage with your children during homework time. Make their tasks into games and have fun! Children can often get stuck in the cycle of memorizing things that feel meaningless. Interacting and bringing their school work to life can be a fun way to bond and put more meaning into the things that they are learning.

4. Break Time!

You as a parent know your kid better than anyone. Set up fun breaks and activities that can be earned so that your child feels like the school and social stress they are experiencing is paying off as they grow older.