We can all remember our pre-exam worries and how often we’d be up late studying or simply lying awake unable to rest. We all wonder how we may have performed if this anxiety had been tempered or if we’d had more support.
Below are X tips that you can immediately provide your child with and help them achieve the grades they deserve and ultimately, improve their well being.
- Reassurance
- This may sound simple, but reassurance is not useful unless you know exactly what is causing their worry. Is it a specific subject? Or the exams as a whole?
- We have all been frustrated by phrases such as “everything will be okay”, when your child is anxious these phrases could initially prove frustrating. We recommend simply letting your child ramble and rant about their exams. This can provide a window into exactly what is causing their concern.
- Provide perspective and encouragement
- Once a key issue has been identified, it can be addressed. Often, this takes the form of providing a wider perspective. Exams can be seen as an ultimate test and the most important thing to your child. Warping their understanding of the bigger picture.
- Reassure them of how this exam, despite its importance, can either:
- Be always be retaken if the impact is too significant
- May not have a large contribution to the final mark, and that if they underperform, there are always plenty of opportunities.
- Reframe failure
- This leads neatly to the outcome none of us want, not achieving the grade or outcome they wanted or needed. This is a challenge for both you and your child, plans and futures can seem as if they have been thrown off course or infact now unachievable.
- This is rarely, if ever the case. As the parent it is key that you continue to be reassuring to them and to help them decide on the next course of action. Let them choose, this is their future.
- Show your child the whole picture, how the disappointing mark this time is a minor bump in the road on there path to success and can be overcome. Ultimately, a lot of children end up performing better after failing, recognising their weaknesses and addressing them directly.
- Demonstrate how to relax and take care of themselves
- Your child’s well being should always be the top priority. No exam or test is worth sacrificing mental wellness to achieve. Encourage your child to relax and have regular ‘fun-time’. Studies show the optimum study period is only 25 minutes, with 5 minute breaks. Beyond this the returns on new knowledge gained decreases dramatically. Ensure your child takes regular breaks, this both increases their productivity, memory retention and allows them to relax as much as possible.
- Support them with an action plan
- Finally, the best technique to support your child with pre-exam anxiety is to prepare in advance for the exam period as much as possible. Remember, your child is facing brand new exams each time with brand new challenges they are unsure how to manage.
- Help them by mapping out a clear study plan, getting feedback from their teachers and understanding where your child is weakest skill wise. This will help you not only develop a clear study plan, but also cater to where marks can be most easily gained.
- This level of planning should be done with your child with them taking the lead if possible. This will help your child relax and stay steadfast to the plan.
Obviously, one of the best methods is to have a tutor support your child with their weakest subject or the one that is providing the most stress in their lives. Tutoring can:
- Build immediate confidence in themselves as their knowledge grows.
- Regular tutoring can increase marks by 2-4 marks on average
Book your free lesson today with AirClass and see if we’re the right fit for you and your child.