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Smiling girl going back to school with books and copybooks waiting for school bus.

Back to School

BACK TO SCHOOL

Image of Bruce Squires

Bruce Squires

It’s back to school season! Given the significant impact on children, youth and families over the past two years – with disruptions to learning, development, and social and family interactions – back to school is particularly important at this time. To support families during the transition, experts from McMaster Children’s Hospital have added to our collection of written and video resources with new topics, including the importance of getting your vision checked, making sure your routine vaccinations are up to date, walking and biking to school safely, returning to a school routine, and supporting gender-diverse classmates. Plus, there are variety of other topics to check out below.

We hope you had a nice summer break and wish you and your children and youth much success in the school year ahead.

– Bruce Squires, President of McMaster Children’s Hospital

P.S. We’ve added more free courses and workshops to our course catalogue for the fall. Register online.

New for 2022!

Allergies Being an ally Body image Checking your child's vision Returning to a routine Vaccinations Walking/biking to school

Click on a topic below for more information from our experts.

Returning to the classroom

Here is some practical information on topics like vaccinations, mental health, and growth and development for parents to review.

How to prevent infections

Wearing a mask, hand washing, and physical distancing are important safety measures to decrease the risk of contracting COVID-19 and other viruses. We all have to do our part to prevent the spread of the virus so we can have a safe return to the classroom for all of our children.

Parenting during COVID-19

These videos were created early on in the COVID-19 pandemic to help parents navigate the challenging time.

Parents and caregivers: you’re doing the best you can under challenging circumstances. Here are some resources to make the transition back to school easier for you and your family. Remember to take care of yourself, too.

COVID-19 vaccine for youth

To help youth and their families make informed choices about the COVID-19 vaccine available to youth, we have compiled a list of resources that may be helpful to consult prior to receiving the vaccine.

These videos were shared in May 2021 when the COVID-19 vaccine was first approved for youth 12 and up.

Additional resources

Community Resources

Other Video Series

The other side of COVID: Impacts of the pandemic on children’s health