Dreading school? Match the worry to a Daniel Tiger episode

The class's usual teacher is away, and when Jodi says she feels nervous about going on stage, the substitute shows her how to put on an imaginary brave coat so she can take part. If a new or different grown-up in the classroom is the worry, this episode is set at school on exactly that kind of day, and the brave coat is an easy idea to borrow.

Daniel's new friend Max is autistic and needs some things done differently, and the episode's song, "When a friend needs different things than you, there are some things you can do", walks everyone through making room for him. If what your child dreads about school is the other children, this is a new friendship worked out one small change at a time.

Daniel finds out that Katerina would rather have a wave than a high five, and Teacher Harriet shows the children how to ask a friend what they like instead of guessing. If the worry is not knowing how to start with the other children, this episode keeps coming back to asking a friend what they'd like.

Daniel has a big job at a wedding and feels nervous about it, so his mother shows him how to give a squeeze and take a deep breath before he practices the slow walk one step at a time. If what your child dreads is walking into a room full of people, the episode's answer to that kind of nerves is a squeeze and a deep breath.

Daniel is nervous about the dentist and about his first haircut, and each time a grown-up explains what the water spray, the lifting chair and the scissors are for. The song is about talking through something new before it happens, which suits a child who is anxious about what school will be like.

The carnival is cancelled and Dad is too busy to play, and Daniel says plainly that he feels sad and frustrated before the songs turn to asking questions and finding something to do on his own. When the dread is really disappointment, about a change of plan or a grown-up who's busy, this episode stays with that feeling before it gets to what happens next.

Plans fall through and turns get missed, and when Daniel or a friend gets angry, the grown-ups and other children take the feeling seriously and guide them through the episode's song: "When you feel so mad that you want to roar, take a deep breath and count to four." Not wanting to go sometimes comes out as anger rather than tears, and here the anger is the whole subject.

Characters put down their toys or get out of the bath when it's time to be with the family or tidy up, taking a deep breath before they put things away while the song repeats its title line. For a child whose trouble with school is really trouble leaving what they're doing, this song is about nothing but that moment.

Daniel and his friends travel to school on the trolley in this song, singing about happy feelings and the family and friends they play with. School shows up as an ordinary, cheerful part of Daniel's day, which is a useful picture for a child who has started to think of it as something to dread.

Characters comfort friends who are sad, take flowers to a friend who is ill in bed and make things together, and the one idea the song keeps coming back to is that it's okay to feel sad and the feeling changes over time. The song leaves room to be sad about school without anyone rushing to fix it.