Helping Children Overcome Test Anxiety

It’s right around the corner… TESTING! March is such a busy month around here. Everyone begins to feel the tension and it is unusual to find a student who doesn’t experience some level of anxiety. It is important to try to help our children cope with test anxiety since it can cause a host of problems such as upset stomach, headache, loss of focus, fear, irritability, anger and even depression. New research is helping to better define how emotional stress and anxiety affect learning and academic performance. Any source of stressful emotions can inhibit a student’s ability to absorb, retain and recall information.

As educators and parents, we can provide students with tools and strategies that build both emotional skills and healthy physical habits when preparing for a test. Dealing with the associated symptoms can help them overcome test anxiety, while improving their ability to prepare for and perform on critical testing. It’s important to help students identify what they are feeling and give them tools that will help them learn to manage emotions such as anxiety, self-doubt, anger or frustration. The proper physical habits enable students to have enough energy and stamina for their brain to do its job of thinking and analyzing for a sustained period of time.

Here are a few tips from the Institute of HeartMath based on its TestEdge™ programs. Share these with your children ahead of time to better prepare them emotionally and physically for test taking:

The neutral tool: This helps to catch negative mind loops that reinforce self-doubt or uncomfortable feelings. Every time you catch thinking negatively, you can “shift” your brain into neutral. Start by taking the focus on your mind by focusing on the area around your heart. Then breathe deeply. Breathe as if your breath is flowing in and out through the center of your chest. Breathe quietly and naturally, four-five seconds on the in-breath, and four-five seconds on the out-breath. While you’re breathing, find an attitude of calmness about the situation. Do this in the days leading up to the test right before and during the test.

What-if questions: A lot of times before we have to do something like take a test, much of the anxiety we feel is a build-up from negative “what-if’” thoughts. What if I fail? What if I can’t remember anything? What if I run out of time? Try writing a what-if question that is positive! What if I know all the answers? What if I’m calm and happy when I take the test? What if I make an A? These questions can help you take the big deal out of the situation and begin to see things in a different way.

Think good thoughts: Science is showing that good feelings like appreciation can actually help your brain work better. When you feel nervous, try this. You can do it as many times as you need to. First, think about something that makes you feel good. Maybe it is your pet or how you felt when you got a big hug from your mom, or how you felt after a super fun day with your friends. Now, hold that feeling and pretend you are holding it in your heart. Let yourself feel that feeling for 10-20 seconds or more. It’s important to let yourself really feel that good feeling all over again. Practice this tool right before the big test.

Get enough sleep: Big tests require a lot of energy and stamina to be able to focus for several hours. Make sure you get at least eight-10 hours of sleep the night before the test.

Have fun: Do something fun the night before to take your mind off the test, like see a movie, play a board game with your family or participate in a sports activity. That way your mind and emotions are more relaxed in the time leading up to the test.

Eat a hearty breakfast: The brain needs a lot of energy to maintain focus on a big test for several hours. Foods such as eggs, cereal and whole-wheat toast help energize your brain to think more clearly. It will sustain you much longer compared with the fast-disappearing bolt of energy from drinking a soda pop or eating a cookie for breakfast. For a snack food, bring simple foods such as peanut butter and crackers, cheese and crackers or a burrito to sustain energy until lunch.

Practicing these tools in advance of and during a test can help students limit test anxiety and perform even better on their school work.

Resources for this article are from: www.heartmath.org/education/testedge/why.php, Family Education Network www.familyeducation.com/article/0,1120,66-2127,00.html, Learning Solutions http://learningsolutions.lisd.k12.mi.us/newpage1.htm, The American Institute of Stress www.stress.org