As September nears, many of us are feeling all sorts of emotions such as nervous, excited, anxious, or all of the above.
Transitions can be tough but parents can support their children by helping them build emotional resilience. This essential life skill shapes how we respond to challenges. With small, steady habits, you can transform potentially negative and disruptive emotions into calm, focus, and excitement.
In this blog, parents learn why emotional resilience matters and practical tips to build this essential skill among their children.
September is a season of change
The shift from long summer days to early mornings and new schools, classrooms, and routines can feel both exciting and stressful. Maybe your family is feeling the end of summer blues or is not looking forward to the shorter, cooler days of fall. Regardless of whether we feel ready or not, back to school season is upon us.
The good news? Emotional resilience can help children and parents move through this transition with calm, confidence, and excitement.
What is emotional resilience?
The Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) describes resilience as the ability to cope with challenging situations and how individuals move forward. In other words, it’s how people bounce back after facing change or difficult situations.
For some children, the transition back to school can be tough with shifts in routine, new expectations, and changing social dynamics; for others, it’s a much smoother experience. Emotional resilience can make the difference.
Why emotional resilience should be on every parent’s radar
Children take cues from their environment and sense and borrow from the adults around them. When parents model steady routines and positive coping behaviour, children feel calmer and settle more quickly. The benefits? Attention improves, sleep gets easier, and mornings feel smoother.
Given September can be hectic, it’s an ideal time to try small, repeatable habits to boost your child’s emotional resilience.
Building emotional resilience across three key levels
Resilience grows best when developed across three levels – individual, family, and environment. Using that framework, here is how parents can help.
1) Individual
- Name the feeling and a next step. “I feel nervous, so I will ask my teacher one question to start.” Naming emotions and choosing a small action builds awareness, problem solving, and a sense of control.
- Keep a regular sleep routine. Set a consistent bedtime and wake time, turn screens off one hour before bed, and keep devices out of bedrooms. Predictable sleep supports growth, mood, attention, and confidence.
- Move daily. Aim for 60 minutes across the day through active play, walking, sport, or stretching. Movement improves focus, lowers stress, strengthens bones and muscles, and helps sleep quality.
- Create predictable anchors. Eat meals together, protect enough sleep, and post a simple family schedule. Routines reduce decision fatigue, create a sense of safety, and encourage independence.
- Limit social media and evening screens. Set clear limits and make space for unstructured outdoor play. Keeping devices off for at least an hour before bed and out of bedrooms helps children fall asleep faster and sleep better.
- Breathe, reset, and name one tiny win. Ask your child to take three slow breaths then share one thing that went well or that they are grateful for during the drive to practice, at dinner, or before bed. This habit calms the nervous system, shifts attention to positives, and builds confidence over time.
2) Family
- Model appropriate behaviour: Like it or not, your children are watching you. Keep phones out of bedrooms, prioritize exercise and good sleep habits, and be sure to carve out time for self-care.
- Promote healthy habits together: Whether it’s exercising, meal planning and prep, or simply relaxing, spending this time together allows parents to build memories AND teach positive lifestyle habits at the same time.
- Establish routines: Humans like predictability. Having morning and evening routines provide structure and build confidence because they allow children to know what comes next.
- Provide visibility: Post schedules where everyone can see them (the kitchen is a great spot!). This includes meal times, activities, homework times, and bedtime and free time windows.
- Listen and validate: Encourage open conversations by actively listening. Acknowledge a problem then try to problem solve together so your child feels seen, heard, and validated. Bedtime stories and car rides are sometimes the best opportunities for real conversation.
Tip: Looking for additional guidance on setting healthy screen time limits? The Canadian Paediatric Society has developed a guide for parents.
3) Environment: school and community
- Identify one caring adult your child trusts: Parents cannot be all places at once. Identify a teacher, counsellor, coach, or club leader as a trusted go-to person incase stress, safety issues, or academic concerns arise.
- Boost belonging by creating multiple social circles: One of the best ways to build friendships and foster a sense of belonging is to help your child build connections and friendships in different places. In addition to school, try to find a special interest club or activity that your child might be interested in.
When to seek extra help
Parents know their children. If you sense that something is off with your child, seek help by contacting the school, a trusted confidante, or a medical professional.
Keep an eye out for changes in your child’s behaviour or symptoms such as ongoing withdrawal, irritability, sleep or appetite changes, and frequent headaches or stomach aches. These symptoms can signal that something deeper is going on.
Supporting families during back to school season
Coping with back to school anxiety and change can be tough but parents can boost their children’s emotional resilience with the tips suggested here. Ready your children for challenges they may face today, and build skills that will better prepare them to navigate situations they may face in the future.
Our focus remains your family’s musculoskeletal health. If discomfort, pain, or injury is making this back to school season difficult, contact us. We often see patients with physical symptoms that are the result of social, environmental, and psychological factors. If we suspect a root cause requiring additional expertise, we have a network of health care professionals we can refer you to.
Information for this blog was sourced from: CAMH — Growing Up Resilient, CAMH — Raising Resilient Children & Youth, Ontario Psychological Association, Psychology Today, School Mental Health Ontario, Strong Minds Strong Kids, Alliance Chiropractic & Wellness Blog Library.