Some schools put insane pressure on children to do well in tests, even those tests that really don’t make a difference to their lives. For the tests that show teachers that the children understand what they are being taught, there shouldn’t be any school pressure on them at all. Yes, revise for exams/tests but does it matter what their grade is. When children get their tests back and they see where they have gone wrong you will be able to help them where they are weakest. For example, do they need to work on answering questions more succinctly or do they need some help in understanding more about that topic? Mistakes are made for learning after all!
Lower School Pressure For Children
All schools and teachers are different in their approach to tests. So, I think that parents have a responsibility to their children to be more relaxed about these kinds of tests (in fact any tests or exams) too. Recently I heard of a school that was putting a lot of school pressure on children to do well in tests by handing out their tests papers in order of high to low marks. How did I feel about this? Shocked and annoyed. It is humiliating and can ruin a child’s self-esteem. How can this school think this encourages children in the right way? It is promoting unhealthy competition as not everyone is at the same level. Not everyone knows everything about one subject. Some children have bad days. Bad tests.
For the sake of our children’s self-esteem we need to be taking the pressure off at home. Especially if they are feeling it at school (albeit wrong). We need to help them ignore the school pressure and let them know that it’s certainly not the end of the world. Let’s think more about our children’s mental health. That should always come first and causing undue stress and pressure just isn’t necessary.
To help support your child at school and help them destress please get in touch so I can share with them strategies tailor-made for them.
