Homeschooling A Child With Anxiety

Sometimes, the best option for a child with anxiety is to consider homeschooling. Whether the child is anxious due stress from school academic expectations or bullying or the child has a high level of stress which is interfering with school performance, homeschooling can be an effective option along with counseling for your child.  

Combine homeschooling with professional treatment for abnormal anxiety, which may include:

• Play therapy counseling
• Stress management techniques
• Focus on self-care (nutrition, sleep, and exercise)
• Supplements

Know that homeschooling brings with it the “power of now”- you can do what's right for your child now, even if that means you prioritize mental health over academics.

Find support for yourself, the parent. Friends, books, counseling, support group, online groups. Parenting an anxious child is hard, and you need someone who understands and has information about how to do it.

If you remove your anxious child from school to homeschool:

• Removing a child from a negative school situation may reduce stress and thus lower anxiety, but there may be leftover trauma your child might need help with.
• If anxiety was "rational" due to a specific terrible situation related to school, removing a child may be "enough", but you can help your child know about and experience other school and school-type situations that are not negative, so he/she is less likely to overgeneralize. 
• Know that homeschooling does not automatically or by itself fix anxiety so a child can return to school.

Remember that not all anxiety is school-related. Some kids who have never been to school have debilitating anxiety. Keep perspective on what homeschooling can do.

Learn about short-term homeschooling

If returning to school after a period of homeschooling is the goal, gradual but increasing exposure is commonly recommended.
Spend some time “unschooling.” Some kids just need a break from school. 

Focus more on connection than a curriculum.

Choose a curriculum that is different if school ways were creating too much stress. Do not confuse homebound services offered by your school division with independent homeschooling. The laws are quite different, and in many states, you have to file specific paperwork in order to homeschool. Since kids with debilitating anxiety may have missed a lot of school, lack of the correct paperwork (where required) could trigger truancy charges. Sometimes people think the school administration considers homebound instruction to be the same as homeschooling, and therefore additional paperwork is not necessary, but that may not be true.
Consider whether a return to school makes sense with the school conditions and level of support your child will face in his/her precise circumstance. Some students do well in community college, university, and work, despite having had challenges with anxiety while they were in public school.

Foster Children With Anxiety

Foster children who struggle with anxiety need to work with a professional counselor who is trained and highly experienced with the foster parent experience as well as what the unique emotional journey is for a foster child.

Attachment issues, the birth’s mom’s health during pregnancy, possible past neglect or abuse to the child, are just a few of possible critical factors affecting a child who is being fostered. A therapist trained in this is essential.