Well, it’s hard to believe that summer is almost over and it’s time for most kids to head back to school!  I still remember that jittery feeling I always had the first day or two in class.  I would always gravitate toward a few friends that I had known before, but, inevitably, there was always a sense of “newness” and the “unknown about starting back.  I bet kids today get that same feeling and may not know quite how to adapt to newcomers in their class or other kids they don’t know that well.  (Especially if they come with behavior issues!)
Karen Schatz, who writes a blog for the Baltimore Sun called “<a href=”http://weblogs.baltimoresun.com/features/baltimoremomblog/”>Charm City Moms</a>” interviewed an elementary school teacher and came up with some good advice for kids starting back to school:

1. Start the year with an open mind.  Kids should not be too quick to prejudge newcomers or how their behavior might affect them.  Give them the benefit of the doubt, at least initially.

2. Empower your child to ignore annoying behavior.  Not all bad behavior is harmful, and just not responding to annoying behavior may be enough to suppress it.  There’s no reason to continue if it doesn’t get any attention.

3. If a child’s safety is threatened, involve an adult.  This is true if it’s your child or someone else. Behavior that is truly harmful cannot be tolerated and adult intervention is needed to correct this. Most teachers will have rules in place to allow this.

4. If you must get involved, try to do so without your child present.  If your child thinks you are worried about the situation, that will only reinforce their own fears.  It’s best if they don’t even know about a meeting.

Hopefully these ideas will be helpful for your children as they adapt to the new school year, peers, and classroom.  And let them know that Doodlestix will be writing them real soon!