KANAWHA COUNTY, WV (WOWK) – Back to school is an exciting time for students, families, and teachers, but it is also normal to feel anxious about it.

Kanawha County Schools Psychologist Lauren Winter says while it is an exciting transition, it can be especially challenging if you’ve never been to school before.

“You may have learned about school watching cartoons, but you haven’t really experienced it,” Winter said.

Winter says it is common to experience separation anxiety whether you are the student or the parent.

“These children are going to feed off of your energy. If you’re nervous about going back, they probably will be too,” Winter said. “Anything we can do to help them prepare. Telling them what it’s going to be like, and getting them excited about going.”

There are ways you can prepare your student before they head to school for the first time. Winter suggests reading your kids books about what it’s like to be in a classroom, and exciting them about what they are going to learn. One thing she did with her own kids – drive them past the elementary school, to make them familiar with the building.

“I would drive by the school almost every day and we’d wave at it and say, ‘Hello, school!’ Just to get them familiar with the area. Then when we went to it the first day, they said, oh we know this place. We said hi to it every day this summer,” Winter said.

Getting on the school bus can also be anxiety-inducing.

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Kanawha Schools Supervisor of Transportation Patricia Mosley has been driving kids to school for 27 years. She recommends kids sit as close to the front of the bus as they can, and get to know their driver.

“It’s a 42-foot metal box on wheels that has lots of cargo,” Mosley said. “Each part of that cargo has its own personality, its own traits, and you have to learn how to work around each one of them.”

Whether it’s your first back to school, or not, it can be an anxious time. But, it’s also an exciting one for kids, teachers, bus drivers and communities.

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