https://boards.hellobee.com/ Pregnancy, Baby and Parenting blog, by Hellobee en Fri, 22 May 2026 19:58:58 +0000 https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/kindergarten-anxiety#post-2897762 Wed, 25 Sep 2019 09:29:34 +0000 graceandjoy 2897762@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Mrs. Cereal: This is amazing! So glad to hear everyone rallied to help her! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/kindergarten-anxiety#post-2897739 Wed, 25 Sep 2019 05:52:39 +0000 jhd 2897739@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Mrs. Cereal: what a great update!! I’m so happy things are going well. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/kindergarten-anxiety#post-2897728 Tue, 24 Sep 2019 21:35:11 +0000 Mrs. Cereal 2897728@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Sooo, we are getting on the right track. Her school is AMAZING and they’ve worked with her to make sure she is comfortable every day. She has a bus buddy, a sweet girl who is incredible, and her new bus driver is a retired therapist and was told about her anxiety and brought a stuffed dog on the bus that my daughter “takes care of” during the ride. I think/hope we’ve turned a corner. She seems happier, more confident, and comfortable. I’m sure we will run into other things, but for now everything is good. :heart: </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/kindergarten-anxiety#post-2897678 Tue, 24 Sep 2019 14:12:46 +0000 jhd 2897678@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Mrs. Cereal: any updates?? thinking of you all! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/kindergarten-anxiety#post-2896843 Fri, 13 Sep 2019 10:32:49 +0000 jhd 2896843@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Mrs. Cereal: I read your thread yesterday, but didn't get a chance to reply. What a terrible experience for your poor DD and your family in general. I'm glad to see your update that the school counselor is getting involved to help. That was going to be my suggestion.</p> <p>I would not hesitate to make sure everyone involved hears about this situation and how much it has upset your family. I'm not confrontational in general but this is just completely unacceptable. My son started Kinder at the beginning of August and for the first few weeks of school they clipped a nametag on them in the afternoons with their names and bus numbers until they got to know the kids and the kids became more comfortable. Maybe add a cute little luggage tag to her backpack with her name and other important info?</p> <p>I really hope today is a better day. :heart: </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/kindergarten-anxiety#post-2896809 Fri, 13 Sep 2019 05:02:55 +0000 Kemma 2896809@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>My oldest child is prone to a wee bit of anxiety and what worked for her was a combination of allowing her the time to become comfortable with school, and having a solid routine for getting her to school. Little things like parking in the same place every day, the same items in her school bag, and a wee sequence of hand gestures we would do before she walked in to her classroom. By keeping as many things as we could consistent and and controlling what we could it gave her less things to worry about. I’ve also found that the more we pushed her independence the harder she clung so taking her to class and allowing her to work through it at her own pace was far more effective.</p> <p>I hope you guys get it all smoothed out soon 💕 </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/kindergarten-anxiety#post-2896784 Thu, 12 Sep 2019 20:00:06 +0000 Canoli 2896784@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Ugh! How terrifying. I got my son and I Mommy and Me bracelets for the start of Kinder due to his anxiety. They both have hearts and I told him if he feels anxious, nervous, scared etc throughout the day to rub the heart and I will feel it and send him a hug! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/kindergarten-anxiety#post-2896723 Thu, 12 Sep 2019 11:43:53 +0000 Mrs. Cereal 2896723@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Update: My daughters teacher emailed me last night asking about her anxiety. I spoke with her this morning and she is going to get my daughter into the school counselor, which is awesome because it is going to take a month to get her into a child psychologist in my town.</p> <p>I talked with my daughter again last night and she expressed that she is spending at least half of her day worrying about the bus. I spoke with the bus coordinator for the school and she is going to walk my daughter to her bus every afternoon, and she even introduced my daughter to her regular driver (different bus on Fridays) so she knows his face and his name.</p> <p>I love the idea of something she can hold onto to comfort her. I will go out with her this weekend to get something that works for her. </p> <p>And thank you so much to everyone on here. I feel so terrible for her, and I feel even worse because I am frustrated with the situation. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/kindergarten-anxiety#post-2896713 Thu, 12 Sep 2019 09:52:05 +0000 MrsSRS 2896713@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>You might read the book Growing Up Brave for some ideas. My son has a great interactive book about anxiety, but I think five is too young for it. And I second all of @muffinsmuffins ideas </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/kindergarten-anxiety#post-2896700 Thu, 12 Sep 2019 08:59:34 +0000 muffinsmuffins 2896700@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>My good friend has had lots of issues with anxiety in her 5 year old and actually took her to a psychologist for help. It’s been a long term thing not isolated on an incident, so different but still. What’s been super helpful was they have an item (I think it’s a super smooth gem/rock?) that they ‘charge up’ in the mornings with mommy’s love and hugs and positive energy. Then her daughter carries it in her backpack and gets it out and rubs it when she’s feeling anxious. </p> <p>This might be counter intuitive but I think you could take a cue from CBT techniques and reiterate to your daughter that it was ok to be scared and nervous because of this incident but that even if it were to accidentally happen again, there will always be adults to help and trust to find her way back home and stay with her. Accepting that it happened and could happen again but giving calm, easy coping strategies could help her. Playing through a script of what she can do and giving her the comfort item could help her feel empowered. Clearly she did an awesome job managing it at the time. Maybe even making a note card for in her bag with her name, school, phone numbers, etc that she can pull out in case she’s upset to streamline the solution. I would also notify the afternoon teachers so they are aware of the stress she’s been feeling and hopefully they can be reassuring to her too. Who does she meet at the bus stop home? </p> <p>Also I would not hesitate for one second to call that bus company and tell them exactly the trauma they’ve caused to your child because of carelessness. Poor gal. I would be livid. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/kindergarten-anxiety#post-2896692 Thu, 12 Sep 2019 08:02:12 +0000 Ajsmommy 2896692@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Oh my I am SOOO sorry this happened!! Poor DD. She must be so scared! And I don't blame her.</p> <p>Our 5 yo DD had a situation occur and it caused some similar trauma and I was at my wits end but it has slowly gotten better.</p> <p>Just for reference our situation involved DD being left alone in a movie theater while the adult she was with went to get refreshments. She became soo scared and was hysterical by the time the adult returned and from then on she could not be alone. I'm talking couldn't go into our powder room at home alone even if I was right nearby in the kitchen with the door open... she always had to see me.. talk about a nightmare for weeks!! She couldn't be alone anywhere, even in our own home. But after reassuring her and time she is finally better. But I am talking close to 8 weeks it's taken for her to get over it and I think your DD"s circumstances might even be worse. Poor kiddo. </p> <p>If I were you I'd just agree to drive her to school for as long as she needs and try to reassure her that it'll be ok. I'd try to find a nice kid who rides the afternoon bus with her and hook them up so she can have someone familiar... ?? I know that might be hard to do... but it might be worth it for your sake and your DD's sake!!</p> <p>My DD had a hard time w before and after care (she just started k last week too).. luckily we met a neighbor girl who also goes to before and after care and voila now DD is good to go.... </p> <p>Overall, I think it will take time and lots of reassurance and lots of times where it goes smoothly for your DD to get over it/move on. What a shame it had to happen! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/kindergarten-anxiety#post-2896671 Wed, 11 Sep 2019 20:39:51 +0000 LadyDi 2896671@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I had a lot of anxiety in early elementary school that often resulted in vomiting, so I really sympathize with your daughter. I also had a couple of traumatic bus incidents where I didn’t get dropped off at the end of the day (what is with the drivers?!). Anyway, similar to the hug button, my mom gave me a pendant off of one of her necklaces that was small enough to fit in my hand and told me to rub it whenever I felt anxious or scared. I don’t know if I ever ended up using it but I remember feeling comforted that it was in my backpack if I needed it. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/kindergarten-anxiety#post-2896663 Wed, 11 Sep 2019 20:20:12 +0000 bhbee 2896663@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I’m so sorry about the bus situation. Good suggestions above for the specific situation just a couple other ideas for general anxiety:</p> <p>This may seem silly but one thing that helped our kindergarten anxiety was kind of a mantra. Take a deep slow breath and think/say something like “I’m ok, I know to take bus #xyz after school, I can ask for help if I need it.” </p> <p>We also did a lot of hug buttons - I saw this idea online somewhere. They did it writing on hands but we used nail stickers. We each wore a sticker on our thumbnail and I could push mine to “send” her hugs during the day and she could push hers to “receive” a hug whenever she needed it. We would charge up hugs before she went into school. It was amazing to me how much this helped. </p> <p>Also some general encouragement, my oldest would keep herself from sleeping and make herself sick with anxiety at the start of kinder, it was just overwhelming for a while. But it got so much better throughout the year and in 2nd now she’s so brave and grown up! </p> <p>Hugs you’re in a hard spot :heart: </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/kindergarten-anxiety#post-2896646 Wed, 11 Sep 2019 18:14:28 +0000 creativemomma15 2896646@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Mrs. Cereal: I’m so sorry this happened! What a hard way to start the year. I like the idea of a tag on her backpack or verifying with the driver when she gets on. Another idea would be to talk to the guidance counselor at her school. Ours has been amazing. A friend of my sons also had anxiety to the point of throwing up and the guidance counselor was a tremendous help for them. Maybe reach out and see if they can help brainstorm some solutions. I also know we have “safety patrol” at our school. Maybe they could have an older child in that type of role help her onto the correct afternoon bus for reassurance there too. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/kindergarten-anxiety#post-2896643 Wed, 11 Sep 2019 16:20:13 +0000 Mrs. Cereal 2896643@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@graceandjoy: I know what school she ended up at and there was a wonderful woman there that stayed with my daughter and comforted her until the bus they called to pick her up arrived. I actually called her the next day to thank her. :heart: </p> <p>No idea why the driver picked her up. His stops were all on the other side of the main street (boundaries in our district are determined by certain roads). I assume he is new and saw a child waiting and thought that he should stop. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/kindergarten-anxiety#post-2896642 Wed, 11 Sep 2019 16:19:24 +0000 graceandjoy 2896642@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Mrs. Cereal: Oh you SHOULD yell at them! I am all about needing time to work out kinks/routes but these poor babies are only 5. I'd totally be that squeaky wheel. Our friend in the same school has been having issues with their bus too, took 5 parents calling to get a bus aide on their bus, on the 5th day of school!</p> <p>The LEAST the driver can do is to quickly re-confirm the school he/she is going to! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/kindergarten-anxiety#post-2896641 Wed, 11 Sep 2019 16:17:00 +0000 graceandjoy 2896641@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Mrs. Cereal: Ohh poor baby :sad: Or maybe start a visual chart for everyday she is on the right bus (which should be 100%!), so she can SEE that it has been okay and it will okay. </p> <p>Did you ever find out what school she ended up at and why on earth the driver stopped and picked her up?! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/kindergarten-anxiety#post-2896640 Wed, 11 Sep 2019 16:15:37 +0000 Mrs. Cereal 2896640@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Also, I just want to say that the bus system is a brand new contract for my city, but they failed to pick up several groups of students, and I've heard of at least two other kids getting on the wrong bus because it stopped at their stop incorrectly. </p> <p>The mama bear in me wants to yell at the busing company, but I know it won't do any good. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/kindergarten-anxiety#post-2896639 Wed, 11 Sep 2019 16:14:07 +0000 Mrs. Cereal 2896639@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Foodnerd81: I'll work on a pin that shows what bus and where she is headed. No neighbors in our area other than two other kindergartners. </p> <p>@graceandjoy: Great idea talking to her teacher about a special job! And I agree that maybe the talking about it is making it worse, but I also can't avoid it right now because she asks every day if I can pick her up instead of her riding the bus home. I have to explain that I am at work, and then she starts to lose it and get worried. I think she is spending most of her day at school worrying about getting on the bus in the afternoon. :crying: </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/kindergarten-anxiety#post-2896635 Wed, 11 Sep 2019 15:52:59 +0000 graceandjoy 2896635@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Mrs. Cereal: FWIW mine peed her pants the first day of school... She has had maybe like 3 accidents total since she potty trained! It will get better :heart: But I agree that was pretty messed up :sad: Another thing, I wonder if you can talk to her teacher and maybe ask the teacher to assign her something special to help with straight away in the morning, maybe that will distract her a little bit? </p> <p>I ALSO wonder (sorry, I'm just trying to think of different things!) whether it would help her to talk about it a lot, or would that make it worse. Maybe be allowing her to talk about it over and over, let out of fears/worries, and reiterate that it will be okay, it will get better? </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/kindergarten-anxiety#post-2896634 Wed, 11 Sep 2019 15:49:41 +0000 Foodnerd81 2896634@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Mrs. Cereal: oh god that’s terrible. What a crappy way for her to start. As for the pin idea, at my daughters school they had a tag with their name, classroom, and am bus number and pm bus number (since some kids take a bus to after care not the same bus to home). So that could help?<br /> Do you have any neighbors you know on the bus? We have a responsible, sweet neighbor in 5th grade who helped my daughter on the bus in the morning and made sure she got off at our stop in the afternoon which eased her anxiety. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/kindergarten-anxiety#post-2896633 Wed, 11 Sep 2019 15:43:43 +0000 Mrs. Cereal 2896633@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@graceandjoy: These are great suggestions. I can definitely do the first one. That's easy. The other weird issue is that she is on a different bus in the morning than in the afternoon, so I'm not sure the pin on her backpack would work. </p> <p>I want so badly for her to have a good school experience and this is not a great start. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/kindergarten-anxiety#post-2896632 Wed, 11 Sep 2019 15:41:53 +0000 graceandjoy 2896632@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Aww I am so sorry that happened! Totally understand why she's traumatized. Would it help if you come up with a plan and execute it together? Like every time she gets on the bus, you ask the bus driver to confirm the school they're heading to? Is there anyone else on the bus you or her can make a connection with, so you both can look for this person on the bus as well in the morning? </p> <p>Would it help if you put a tag on her bag that says her bus # to reassure her (and not necessary for it to actually do anything)? I'm just thinking maybe by having various "check points" along the way, it will help reassure her it won't happen again. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/kindergarten-anxiety#post-2896630 Wed, 11 Sep 2019 15:35:53 +0000 Mrs. Cereal 2896630@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>My daughter started kindergarten last week. In August, she attended a three week prep program and loved it. She came away from that super excited about school. Fast forward to day two of kindergarten. We put her on the bus, which incorrectly stopped at our stop (he was not supposed to stop there, no idea why he did) and she ended up going to the wrong school. She kept her cool, told the bus driver and handled the situation like a champ.</p> <p>However, she now has crazy anxiety about school in general, and especially the bus. She refuses to get on the morning bus, I have to drive her every morning which is fine. But there is no other option for her in the afternoons, she has to take the bus. This morning I tried to talk to her about the morning bus and when she might be able to ride it again, which got her extremely worked up. She gets so worried about things that she will literally get to the point of vomiting. This morning was one of those mornings. She refused to let me leave, I had to walk her into the school, help her rush to a bathroom to throw up, then I had to wait with her until school started and walk her to her classroom.</p> <p>I need to know if other people have dealt with this kind of anxiety in a 5 year old and what you did to help your child. I am looking into counseling, but that could take a bit to actually schedule and I need strategies now. Help me so I can help her! </p>