Dr. F. Felicia Ferrara has more than 25 years of experience in psychology with a specialization in childcare and adolescent adjustment. Ferrara maintains a private practice in Tampa, Fla. and consults in Pasco, Hillsborough and Pinellas Counties within the family court system. She has trained many educators and psychology students on child assessment, diagnosis and treatment as a former associate professor in the university setting. Above all, Ferrara loves to circulate expert knowledge along with her vast background and training to help people with all types of childcare issues.
DR. F. FELICIA FERRARA, PhD.: Hello, I'm Dr. Felicia, the parent coach, and I've been working with children and families for about 25 years now. I'd like to share with you some important tips on how to prepare your child to go back to school. Every September, every family faces this. In some states, it's even August. But in any case, the first day of school is always very anxious for most children. For one thing, they're going to meet new students that they hadn't met before. For another thing, they're going to meet a new teacher that they never met before, and like all of us, when you start with a new teacher, you want to kind of test the guidelines. You don't know exactly what they're going to be like; so, it's a very anxious time for little children who have to follow the rules. For the elementary school children, it's anxious, but it's also very exciting because they're going to get to socialize again. For middle school children, it's very difficult. Every transition year, for instance, when a child ends 6th grade and ends elementary school and goes into middle school, like it's usually between 5th and 6th grade, that's a big transition because you're usually changing schools, you're changing, you're going to meet a whole new group of kids, your social world is going to widen. The same is true when you're going from 8th grade to 9th grade when you enter high school. The 9th grade is a major transition; so, you want to prepare your children by walking the areas with them, perhaps calling other parents and getting two children together that might be in the same classroom so that they at least have one friend to make a difference. If your child happens to be a loner, this is very important. You do want to connect with another parent and maybe another student before school starts because it allows that child to have a safety place to go where they know that that child likes them. If your child has overanxiety about not going to sleep and things like that, you might want to sit in their room and read with them a little bit or talk with them and discuss their fears before they fall asleep. So, please make sure to keep an open communication with your children during this transition periods. It's very, very important, and of course, like most kids, they all want a new set of clothes for the first day of school; so, you might want to get them something that's really unique or special to them. It kind of builds the confidence. So, by all means, encourage your children to be happy during this time, to try to relax about it, and remember don't cry either when your child is going onto the next stage because if they see you cry, it will be much worse for them. And all and all, we have to let our children go. So, I wish you the best of luck. God bless.
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