By Stacy DeBroff

Taking tests in school can take its toll on your child, and the amount of pressure that surrounds them can make him freeze the moment the test is in front of him, causing him to forget everything he has been working so hard to study for the past week. There is hope however, and with a few simple steps, you can ease your child’s tensions and help him get the grades you know he’s capable of.

What is going on?

Test anxiety may be due to self-doubt about not knowing the material well enough, or intense pressure from a parent, teacher, or the child himself to perform well. Children who suffer from test anxiety tend to believe their success in school depends on how they perform on tests. They worry about the future, are extremely self-critical, and become afraid of failure. This makes them anxious about tests and their own abilities.

Children with test anxiety often perform below ability. Their nervousness is debilitating, they are more easily distracted, and they encounter mental stumbling blocks on answers to questions they know because they blank out or have racing thoughts during the exam. Statistically, children who suffer from severe test anxiety are more likely to perform poorly in school and repeat grades.

Test anxiety appears with physical symptoms such as headaches, nausea, faintness, and feeling overheated or chilled. It can affect emotions as well, causing children to feel angry, helpless, upset, or even giggly during a test.

How can I best help?

The night before the exam, help your child collect any supplies he may need to avoid any last-minute panicking.

Ease your child’s nerves by using praise, enthusiasm, and small rewards for his accomplishments. Avoid excessive gushing and reassurance. By doling out praise and encouragement only when it is necessary, you will keep him from discrediting your opinion.

Help your child feel good about himself as he walks into the test room. Be positive and encouraging and build up his self-esteem. Discourage negative talk, such as, “I’m terrible at math,” by producing evidence to the contrary, such as a math quiz on which he received a high score. If he seems nervous at breakfast about a test later in the day, take a few minutes to sit down with him and help him visualize getting an A or reaching his test goal.

Teach him how during the test he can de-stress by taking deep breaths, thinking about something happy, or stretching his legs.

Confidence enhances memory. If your child is stuck for an answer during a test, have him give himself a confidence booster, “I know this, it will come to me.” Skipping the question may give him the time and space to figure it out when he comes back to it, without wasting valuable time for other questions.

Fatigue and hunger are two major distractions in a student’s test-taking experience. Make sure your child is well rested and eats his usual breakfast on test day.

If your child will have lunch or a snack at school before the test, make sure it is a healthy choice. Fast food, snack bars, carbonated drinks, and candy are full of processed ingredients, artificial colorings, caffeine, salt, fat, and sugar. The initial boost of energy your child will feel ends quickly, leaving him exhausted and unable to concentrate. Pack fruit and raw vegetables for snacks, instead. Raw foods increase the rate at which brain cells use oxygen, so children learn faster after eating them.

Still going on?

Set up an hour-long meeting with your child’s teacher to discuss the situation and brainstorm ways to help your child master these test-taking moments as it will be a staple of his academic life, with the pressure only increasing in upper grades. Ask about practice tests, what else you can be doing on the home front, and ways the teacher might be able to help in the classroom. Getting on top of this early is key, especially before the high school pressure of “test that count.”

Image From: BBC

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