My Child Has Spelling Test Anxiety

Answer:

It is fairly common for children to learn their spelling words before a test and then somehow "lose" the words when they take the real test. A situation like this can lead to frustration for the student, as well as his parents. When it happens repeatedly, the frustration can turn into anxiety, as the child starts to dread the test and his parents' reactions to a poor grade. It can get to the point where simply hearing the words "spelling test" can cause a child to panic and freeze. Rest assured that test anxiety is usually temporary and can be managed with a few simple strategies.

Three tactics are needed for anyone to succeed on a test: preparation, organization, and practice.

• Preparation includes obtaining the word list as soon as it is available, learning the definitions and the correct spelling of each.
• Organization means having a clear time set aside for homework and studying each day leading up to the test.
• Practice means exactly what you think it does: rehearsing each word, using it in a sentence, writing it correctly, and spelling it aloud, over and over again.

An e-mail or a phone call to his teacher can give you more information about the types of errors your son is making and what the teacher thinks may be happening on the tests. Find out how the test is administered, and in what time frame. Perhaps your son needs more time; he may be rushing through the test, and he may be forgetting to proofread his work before turning it in. Also, if you know more about the teacher's testing style, you can mimic those conditions at home when your son is practicing his spelling words. Be sure to share with the teacher the fact that your son spells the words correctly at home, and ask about alternative testing strategies.

Is your son overwhelmed in other areas of his life, besides his spelling tests? Fifth-graders are given greater responsibility, more assignments and bigger tasks in preparation for middle school. Children who are used to doing well in school often have a hard time with this, because study skills that were effective in the lower grades may not be sufficient now. For example, reviewing and practicing spelling words the night before a test may have been all he needed to do in second-, third- and fourth-grade, but from this point on, he may need to do it for three or four nights in a row.

Ask yourself if your son might be participating in too many extracurricular activities. In today's fast-paced society, many children are overloaded on activities, leaving too little "down time," and little energy left for studying.

If these strategies don't help and your son's anxiety continues, or if it begins to interfere with other areas of his life, he might benefit from a few sessions with a qualified therapist. Ask for help from the school counselor or your pediatrician.