Page 26 - 2018 CA Workshop Booklet

Workshop Booklet

16 February 2018

Helping Children Deal with Anxiety Caused by Testing

Talk to your child. Ask them about their fears and worries and help them put them into perspective. Sometimes, just
being listened to is enough to relieve the burden a little.

Teach them to replace negative thoughts with positive ones. If your child is saying, ‘I can’t do this, it’s too hard,’
or ‘I’m stupid,’ teach them to turn these thoughts on their head, telling themselves, ‘I’m going to work at this until I
understand it better,’ or ‘I’m only feeling like this because I’m nervous.’

Explain how anxiety feels. It can be reassuring if children understand the physical and mental effects of anxiety and
stress, so they can identify what they’re feeling and try to counter it. You could also teach them some mindfulness
tips for when anxiety threatens to overwhelm them. Your child’s wellbeing journal has many tips to focus your child
on mindfulness.

Run through exam technique with your child. Reinforce important skills like making sure they’ve read the question
properly, taking time to check their answers, and making sure that multiple choice answers are selected according
to instructions. Many students select the first answer they think is correct without looking at all the alternatives. It
is also true that students who select a multiple-choice answer and then change for no reason often change from a
correct answer to an incorrect answer. They should follow their instincts in most cases.

In secondary mathematics, not following order of operations is the cause of some incorrect responses. Learning
spelling rules and revising commonly misspelt words can also reassure young people. This will help them feel more
confident about the exam.

Play up their strengths. Explain to your child why it’s important not to compare themselves to others. Explain to
them that there is no use discussing the test as the questions they were tested on were not the same. Talk about the
strengths and skills they have outside the classroom, whether they’re brilliant at music or a good friend. Above all,
reassure them that we’re all unique, and whatever the outcome of the exam, you’ll still love them just as much.

CA Bootcamp 2018