Help your child make friends in new school
The Arizona Republic
Following are age-specific tips and resources for helping
your child ease into his or her first school or to a new
school in a new location
Kindergarten
— Volunteer in the classroom to learn your children's friends.
— Get to know other parents when dropping off or picking
up your children from school.
— Set up play times with the children and parents you find
compatible.
Grades 1-3
Ask your children to invite over their friends. Include
them in family activities such as game night or an afternoon
at the park and include their parents if possible.
Grades 4-6
Encourage children to team up for school projects and to
allow other children to join in with your children.
Grades 7-8
Encourage children to remain true to their friends and
resist peer pressure.
Talk to your children about how they select their friends.
Grades 9-12
Encourage children to participate in school and non-school
activities, including volunteering with community-service
projects.
Back-to-school resources
— "Your Child: Emotional, Behavioral, and Cognitive Development
From Birth Through Preadolecence" David Pruitt, Editor-in-Chief,
the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
(HarperCollins, $18).
— "Cliques: 8 Steps to Help Your Child Survive the Social
Jungle," by Charlene Giannetti and Margaret Sagarese (Broadway
Books, $14).
— "Take Out your Nose Ring, Honey, We're Going to Grandma's,"
by Barbara Cooke and Carleton Kendrick (Unlimited Publishing,
$13.99).
— "Parenting an Only Child: The Joys and Challenges of
Raising Your One and Only," by Susan Newman (Broadway Books,
$12.95).
— "How to Raise a Child With a High EQ (Emotional Quotient):
A Parents' Guide to Emotional Intelligence," by Lawrence
Shapiro (HarperCollins, $13).
— "Raising Strong Daughters," by Jeanette Gadeberg (Fairview
Press, $12.95).
Also seek out school counselors, teachers, churches, friends
and family for suggestions for activities and resources.
Transition tips
— Establish a routine that mimics the school year, including
morning wake-up times.
— Visit the school, attend new student orientation and
meet with the teachers.
— Find out the school's academic expectations and requirements,
whether your children will learn cursive writing or build
an ant colony this year.
— Find out the children's supply needs: new gym uniforms,
lunchboxes or colored pencils.
