With back to school time just around the corner, it can leave lots of kids feeling overwhelmed. The good news is, you can head off the back to school blues by implementing positive routine changes now.
It was my pleasure to have Jekita A. Williams from Community Hands of Hope come in to talk about ways to reduce stress and take care of mental health/well-being for the new school year. Here's some of the highlights of our conversation:
1. Get proper rest! Start now, before school starts, making sure kids get to bed on time and get enough rest. This alleviates some of the bad attitudes and behaviors that may be caused by them being tired!
2. Start each day with a well balanced breakfast!
3. Make sure children take all prescribed medications on schedule.
4. Learn to handle stress with some helpful tools. Breathe! Use breathing techniques to help you understand your body before responding negatively. Learn to walk away. Count to 10.
Choose your friends wisely. Practice kindness and empathy.
These are some of the ways to avoid the SAD HATS of stress, anxiety, drugs, hungry, alcohol, tired, sick. If you have 2 or more of these it could come out as aggression or bad behavior. Giving children all the tools they need to be successful at school is a great way to start the new year. And these suggestions work well for adults, too.
What tips for a successful start to the new year do you have?
Listen to the full conversation below!