For over a year, kids across Ontario have been navigating a new, difficult normal. While studies have shown that home schooling has helped spare children’s physical health during COVID-19, it has taken a toll on their mental health. This article is designed to help us keep an eye on our kids' mental health, when they return to school. MORE NERVOUSNESS THAN NORMAL Kids are usually anxious about returning to school each fall; after months of social isolation though, this fear is expected to be heightened. The unease students are feeling stem from different aspects of the lockdown, with emphasis on germs and separation anxiety. GERMS: This year, the classrooms will be filled with young germaphobes in the making (and rightly so). Unfortunately, this makes children, especially elementary school kids, more worried about the classroom experience. To help kids struggling to live with germs it’s important to validate their feelings. They learned from you and their teachers that school ...