How to Help a Highly Sensitive Child Back to School After Summer Break

Is your highly sensitive child (HSC) showing little enthusiasm for their return to school after the summer break? Within days of going back to school your child may display an overload of emotions. And your child may be showing clear signs of tiredness and overwhelm. Returning to a routine and structure is a positive, but for so many highly sensitive children back to school is a problematic time of year.

School is a Problem for Many Highly Sensitive Children

Time and time again in the Happy Sensitive Kids community it’s clear that school presents a specific challenge for HSCs because of:

• Noise in the classroom.
• The constant changing of activities.
• The pressure to perform.
• Not knowing what is coming up that day/week.
• Trying to please a teacher.
• The inability to deal with a teacher’s harsh tone of voice or showing of anger or displeasure with something or someone.
• Dislike of conflict or classroom politics.
• Repetitive lessons, instruction or study materials which fail to challenge a HSC. Many HSCs are extremely bright, good students who pick things up quickly- something that is not always recognised because they also get easily overwhelmed and lose focus and concentration.

So it’s no wonder that getting a highly sensitive child back to school presents parents with problems.

Sitting with your child’s teacher early in the new school year can help them understand your child and their needs. Right from the start.

Don’t assume that information from the previous school year is passed on succinctly to the new teacher. And try to remember that your child is just one of many children a teacher needs to get to know.

Don’t assume that the tools and methods that were successfully implemented in a previous school year will be automatically applied in the new school year.

In short, at the start of a new school year it’s often best to be THAT parent!

Talk to Your Child’s Teacher

Plan a discussion with your child’s teacher around:

Your child’s particular sensitivities

Explain what overwhelms your child in the classroom. Think about noise, visual stimuli, emotions, information overload, lots of activity around them, the raised voice of a teacher. in other words, present a teacher with your child’s instruction manual.

How your child feels about coming to school

Many display negative emotions about attending school. Being upfront with your child’s teacher can help them help your child. After all a teacher is the expert when it comes to educating your child. Fresh ideas are always welcome.

Seating arrangements in the classroom

A HSC can easily be overwhelmed sitting in the middle of the classroom and may be better suited to sitting at the side of a room. Humming from the computers may be annoying. The white board too bright. Or sitting next to the classroom entrance may prove too distracting. Your child’s sensitivities will help your child’s teacher understand where best to place your child.

Building in quiet time

Giving your child the space, time and opportunities for quiet moments. HSCs need quiet time to recharge and that applies in school too. Think about noise reducing earphones. Or moving to a quiet space in the hallway, a reading corner or a library, to complete a task before rejoining the class. Suggest your child runs errands to get away from the busy class for a few minutes.

Challenge

Talk to your child’s teacher about recognising when your child is lacking challenge in the classroom. A HSC is easily stressed. Finding the balance between staying interested and challenged, but also being able to perform under pressure is difficult, but important. Many HSCs dislike going to school because of the environment, but are actually keen learners.

Put Tools in Place to Help Your Child

Planning a follow up sit down with your child and their teacher can also be beneficial. A teacher can instantly discuss ideas or tools with your child and your child immediately knows he or she is being taken seriously, which may help them settle in the new classroom.

As far as home goes you can also help your HSC by giving them the time and space to talk out their school day and providing them with the opportunity to wind down and empty their buckets. Often a small thing gets built up in a HSCs mind and talking about it can really help them get perspective.

Most of all, help your highly sensitive child take the start of their new school year one day at a time……….