No More Exam Fear! Expert Recommends Tips for Parents and Children to Beat Fear of Exams

Impending exams always cause jittery nerves in parents as they do in children, and sometimes even more so.  With your child's exams around the corner, you are left wondering whether you are the only one; but then you are not alone. Test anxiety is a legitimate fear that affects many people; it creates so much dread and gloom about approaching exams that is bound to affect both you and your child.

A fear of failure, perceived lack of preparation and poor history of performance in the exams could culminate into test anxiety. If you have a hard time keeping calm, here are some expert-recommended exam tips from Dr Era Dutta, Consultant Neuropsychiatrist and Therapist Mind Wellness & Fortis Healthcare for both you and your child.

What to do a few weeks before the exam

“This time, don't be stressed out by marks, just keep focus on your target with this simple method. It’s called the Study SMART method,” says Dr Dutta. The acronym SMART here stands for Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Time bound. And here’s what you need to remember about it.

S for SPECIFIC

Instead of burdening your child with the bulk of the syllabus, making them go through every line, focus only on the specifics. “By now, your child would have discovered what is important for the exams and what is not. So encourage your child to pick out the main parts of the syllabus and focus entirely on it,” recommends Dr Dutta. Some teachers have a habit of giving away the topics that are important to the exam. So don’t let your child get bogged down by the entire syllabus. It is a daunting and a pointless task.

M for MESURABLE

Your child should know how to monitor his or her progress with studies. Lend a helping hand by making a chart that will keep a track of how far your child is getting with the studies. “Help your children by taking repeated mock tests till they become confident. This will help them overcome their fear to a large extend,” says Dr Dutta.

A for ACHIEVABLE

One of the main things you need to remember as a parent is to not overburden your child before exams. A quick SWOT analysis will help you understand where your child’s strengths, weakness, opportunities and threats lay, as far the syllabus is concerned. “Make sure that the goals you set for the day or week are achievable. And to ensure that they are achieved, take a tip from the next point,” adds Dr Dutta.

R for REALISTIC

As a continuation of the previous point, Dr Dutta urges parents and students to be realistic about the goals they set. As important it is for them to crack the exam, it is also important to be realistic about the goals. Help your child assess whether the daunting task of finishing five chapters a day is realistic. As a parent, it is your responsibility to not pressurise your child. “Don’t aim to finish a full subject in a day. Instead, know your potential. Don’t fool yourself into believing that you can achieve unrealistic targets,” she adds.

T: TIME BOUND

With less time on your hand, it’s important to optimise every bit you have. The best way to go about with that is to make a time table. This will help them dedicate and prioritise time according to the importance of the subject. “Help your child out by creating a time table and help them abide by it. But don’t sweat if you don’t,” says Dr Dutta.

What to do immediately before the exam

Study SMART technique also helps in calming your child’s frayed nerves before exam. Here the acronym SMART stands for Sleep, Meals, Affirmations, Revision and Taking it Easy.

S for SLEEP

It’s common for students to burn the midnight oil and study well into the early hours of the day before examination. But that’s a big no no. Sleep deprivation will surely impair your child’s memory, making him or her forget everything they have studied. Dr Dutta recommends anywhere between six to eight hours of uninterrupted sleep for your child.

M or MEALS

Good nutrition is as important as good sleep. Fear and anxiety can make your child skip meals to make time for more studies. Nutrition cannot take a back seat during exams says Dr Dutta. Like sleep deprivation, skipping meals can cause gaps in memory and make it tough for your child to concentrate.

A for AFFIRMATION

Anxiety and fear stem from a deep-rooted feeling of self-doubt your child may harbour. In order to make sure that they do well in their exams, it is your responsibility to boost their confidence. Encourage your child to do the same by seeing themselves as a success rather than a failure.

R for REVISION

It is important for your child to revise what he or she has worked hard on. Revisions will not only fossilise everything they have learnt, but also give them the much-required confidence they need to crack the exam.

T for TAKE IT EASY

Exams are not something that should be taken lightly, yes. But they are not the end of the world either. The modern educational system, especially the one in our country, places a lot of underserved importance on exams. But that shouldn’t be the case. Help your children relax by taking some of the hype away from exams.  “Tell your children that success or failure in the exams don’t define them,” says Dr Dutta.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Mar 05, 2018 01:56 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).