Helping Your Child Manage Stress During Exam Period*

*This is a collaborative post*

 

 

Exams can be a stressful time for children, no matter what their age, and they can feel a lot of pressure to perform well. It’s important as parents to try and understand how our child might be feeling if they’re facing an exam and look out for signs they’re struggling to cope, such as becoming irritable and moody or not sleeping well. Read on for some advice from an independent school in Hampshire on how you can help your child manage stress during exam period. 

Create structure

Work with your child to devise a revision schedule that is realistic and plays to their strengths. For example, if you know that they are most alert in the mornings schedule most of their revision for then or use that time to tackle subjects they are less confident with. Also take into account your child’s individual learning style when scheduling revision activities, i.e. whether they are a visual, auditory or kinaesthetic learner. You can tailor activities to these styles by, for example, using flashcards for visual learners or songs for auditory learners. Accommodating the unique way in which your child learns best will avoid the stress of them trying to absorb information in a format which doesn’t work for them. 

Communicate

Keep the lines of communication open between you and your child by asking them regularly how they’re getting on and if there is anything you can help them with. Don’t badger them but make sure they know they can come to you if they’re struggling. It might help to schedule in a regular catch up session between you so your child has dedicated time to talk about any worries or problems. 

Healthy lifestyle

Eating well and getting regular exercise will help keep your child’s stress levels down. Encourage them to go for a walk or cycle with you and get some fresh air. This can also be a good time to talk about how they’re feeling about their revision and upcoming exams, and you might find they open up more once you’re away from their normal environment.     Try not to let your child have too many sugary foods and focus on cooking healthy meals together, which will take their mind off revision and exams for a little while. Make sure they’re also getting enough sleep. 

We can’t do the exams for our children, as much as we might like to, but we can support them and encourage them to lead a healthy lifestyle in the lead up to exams so that any stress is kept to a minimum. 

 

*Photo source Pexels 

 

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