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Life isn't easy. School certainly isn't, especially after a long splendid summer. There are old fears to face and to make things worse, a few new ones as well. For teens and pre-teens self-confidence is still a wavering asset and they need you, their parent, to keep boosting it.

Have you sometimes caught your child looking worried or pensive during the last few days leading up to the starting of school? Maybe you're wondering what you can do to help them? Here are a few tips to walk them through their back-to-school blues:

1. Make them face up to their fears. There is nothing worse than an unvoiced, unrecognized something niggling in a person's heart, kid or adult. Your child may be pushing on, trying to ignore it but doubts don't evaporate that easily. Sharing them, as a family over dinner or in a heart-to-heart, will ease their minds.

2. Your kid needs to know she can trust you. Assure them and let them know that you trust their capability to handle any situation. It'll be alright, you'll see', might be the truth but it won't be enough to reassure a kid who is really worried - on the other hand, it might make them clam up. Instead encourage them to come up with creative solutions by posing queries instead of giving answers.

3. Redirect them towards the positive. Remind them of their victories and achievements and of the fun they had the previous year. Recall their old fears and how they faced up to them. Swap school stories. Often kids cannot believe that you know how they feel and this will help them relate to you.

4. Waking up early for the first time after two months of late nights will leave kids exhausted and listless all day. So vanishes their optimism! Begin putting bed times in place a week in advance. Lay out clothes and organize school backpacks the night before to avoid chaos and confusion the following morning. When school begins, agree upon a timetable in which homework, chores and free time fit in fairly.

5. It's not always necessarily serious work dealing with the blues. Go shopping! Simple school items like a Harry Potter stationery set can work wonders! As a special treat for first-time middle- or high-schoolers, consider a laptop. Throw a back-to-school party! If your kid is starting school for the first time or changing schools, see if you can introduce them to other kids in the same grade so they won't find themselves completely alone the first day.

Sometimes the best thing to do is to leave a mopey kid alone for a couple of hours. It's okay to be unhappy for a short while and dealing with one's emotions oneself is vital to emotional growth.

Once school begins, kids will automatically smooth into the schedule. They will get into the routine of work, play and friends and, of course, will be counting the months till the winter break rolls around!

Learn more about this author, Ayesha M.
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