By Anja Opitz
Classes begin on Monday for 383,290 Berlin children. Not everyone is looking forward to it. BZ explains how parents can make it easier for them to get started
Six and a half weeks of vacation, six and a half weeks of freedom. Enjoy the summer, simply live in the day. Traveling with the parents, visiting grandma and grandpa, making the neighborhood unsafe with friends.
Stay up late, sleep late. Play, play, play. That’s it for Monday
just over – the new school year begins. Many children are looking forward to it (42.9 percent), but some are not (31.9 percent). How can parents help with the no-buck mood?
First of all, by realizing that this feeling is completely normal: “After the holiday, we adults often feel that we don’t feel like getting up early, demands and duties,” explains Klaus Seifried (71 ) from the Professional Association of German Psychologists. “It is important to accept such moods in children and not to talk them away.”
Nevertheless, parents can of course make the transition from holiday to everyday mode easier for their children. The expert has the following tips for this:
►Revel in positive memories: What subject did you enjoy the most last year? Do you remember how great the summer festival was? And that you won the school competition?
►arouse anticipation: Most children look forward to their friends, whom they often haven’t seen for a long time. Now they can finally play together again during breaks and in the afternoon! Many also look forward to their favorite teacher or art class when they are reminded of it.
►Emphasize strengths: What are you particularly good at, in which subject did you get the best grade? “You’re more likely to motivate yourself to learn with questions like this than with the admonition that you really have to work hard this time,” says Seifried.
►Pack your schoolbag: On the first day of school, children need the signed report card and writing materials. “They are responsible for that, they should pack their satchels – and please don’t do it at the last minute in the morning,” emphasizes the psychologist. Parents should accompany young children.
►Start everyday routine: “Routine gives security,” explains Seifried. “Put your school bag out in the evening, get your clothes ready for the next day, go to bed early: This is how you signal to the child: It’s school time again!”
►Bring some time: “Get up a little earlier so that you can still have a leisurely breakfast.” Even after school, children need their parents’ attention: What’s the new schedule like? What materials need to be procured? Should Tuesday remain Grandma’s pick-me-up day or should it be Friday because there are fewer hours? “Conversations are particularly important now, because your child can keep a lot of things busy, from the new classroom to the stupid seating plan,” explains the psychologist. “Don’t pepper it with questions, but make it clear that you’re there.”
This is especially true when you notice that the reluctance hides worries and fears: “Because the change to high school is so difficult, the new teacher is supposed to be so strict or the classmates always annoy them, some children have a real stomach ache,” says Seifried. “Especially in the case of bullying or problems with a certain teacher, it is important that parents become active and speak to the class teacher.”
Despite all care and provision, the first few weeks of school can be a bit chaotic, because the family rhythm has to be readjusted.
Quite normal, reassures Klaus Seifried: “Don’t put yourself and your child under pressure. Better plan something nice for the weekend and recharge your batteries for a little holiday feeling.”