As adults, many things can lead to stress in our lives. But, what about the children? What stress do they have to deal with? Well, possibly the only thing that causes undue stress in a child’s life is examinations. The 11-letter word can make even the brightest and most optimistic of kids worried. And as a parent, you need to help your little one overcome this undue stress. So, if you are one of those parents who is witnessing her child go through the common signs of exam stress, it is important to take the necessary steps that will help ease the anxiety.
Tips To Help You Deal With Exam Stress In Children:
Here are a few tips that will help you identify whether or not your child is stressed due to the exams and will help you cope with it:
1. Spot The Signs Of Stress Around Exam Time:
As the parent, you know your child’s responses and regular behaviour, so it will be a little easier for you to spot any change in regular attitude. When your child is stressed, you will notice there is a difference in how your child behaves. Spot the common signs and symptoms of stress through your child’s everyday behaviour.
Some of the most common exam stress symptoms are being irritable, not eating properly or suddenly eating more than regular, looking or sounding worried, not being able to pay attention, sound depressed and talk in a way that is self-deprecatory, frequent pain in the stomach and headaches and
irregular sleep patterns, such as not being able to sleep or sleeping too much.
If you notice any of the above signs in your child, especially in and around exam time, make sure you try something that will help to ease exam anxiety. Often, talking to your child and understanding their fears and concerns can help reduce the level of examination stress they are going through. If the stress seems to be interfering with your child’s routine, you could also speak to the school counselor.
2. Make Sure Your Child Eats Properly:
When your child is stressed, they may hardly show any interest towards having food, or may suddenly crave a lot of junk food that will help give them an emotional boost. However, it is important to make sure that your child eats healthy instead of starving or having food that is bad for health.
Make sure that your child eats a healthy and well-balanced meal at home instead of relying on foods bought at the store or packaged meals. A well-balanced meal will give your child all the nutrients they need and will help to give them the right energy, focus and positivity that they need especially
during their exams.
Eating foods that are high in their sugar, salt or fat content can make your child feel hyperactive and, as a result, your child will not be able to concentrate well on studies.
Also, eating foods that are high in fat or are fried will have a negative effect on your child and make them moody and more irritable.
3. Help Your Child Get Adequate Sleep:
Stress can play havoc with your child’s sleep pattern and make it difficult for your child to fall asleep and even stay asleep. It can also have an entirely opposite effect on your child, where, if your child is stressed, they may want to sleep all the time and not want to get out of bed at all, sometimes
for the entire day.Sleeping the right number of hours means that your child does not sleep too less than is recommended nor too long than what is recommended.
A good sleep cycle should ideally be at least eight hours of restful sleep at night, where your child can sleep peacefully without being disturbed or without waking up.
4. Help Your Child To Revise Before The Exam:
It is important for your child to revise whatever he has learned till now so that he can apply it properly during exam time. As a parent, you will have to make sure that your child gets the time and the space to sit down and revise properly. Create a quiet nook in the house where your child can sit
down and go through all the study notes that are a part of the exam. If required, sit down with your child and help them go through all the notes together.
It is only natural that your child may have some last minute confusion or last minute queries that they forgot to clarify earlier.
Do not get angry, or panic, and certainly do not get stressed out in front of your child. If your child comes up with a problem at the last minute, see how you can best find ways to deal with exam stress.