School Daze

Tips for Helping Kids Get Ready to Return to the Classroom

With the start of the school year in New Mexico, kids, parents and caregivers might be feeling some extra stress.

Kristina Sowar, MD, an associate professor in The University of New Mexico Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences, offers tips in the latest edition of the UNM Healthcast on how to reassure youngsters who may be feeling anxious about going back into the classroom.

This school year just might be a mixed bag of heightened emotions for kids, ranging from hope and joy to feelings of fear and anxiety due to the pandemic and being away from classmates, she says.

Keep kids motivated by focusing on your child’s strengths, she advises.

“Areas of strengths are things that we’re more passionate about . . . and motivate us,” Sowar says. “Being able to link some of their strengths or things they like to do with what they’ll be doing in school is important.”

To hear more from Dr. Sowar, tune in to the UNM Healthcast.