Emotions, learning and test-taking

A lot of things easily affect children. From not eating the exact breakfast they hoped for to having to wear shoes, some seemingly unimportant factors can throw off their entire day. This shows a little about just how much power emotions hold. How kids are feeling also plays a part in their learning and test-taking.

Emotions and thinking
Consider how your attitude has affected situations in the past. Maybe you woke up on the wrong side of the bed and went into work feeling angry. Your day was likely not great because you weren't in a positive mindset. Kids are especially susceptible to their emotions because they haven't learned to control their feelings. Think back to when the teacher asked you to read aloud in school. Perhaps you quaked in fear, stuttered over your words and turned red with embarrassment. How you felt contributed to this unfortunate incident and may have interfered with your learning.

One of the most common times when emotions affect kids in school is during exams. There is often a big buildup of anticipation to the Common Core State Standards testing that can cause serious anxiety and nervousness among students. These emotions can affect your kids' performance. They might pay too much attention to the clock, skip questions because they can't answer right away or even have shaky handwriting on the essays because they're worried about their performance. 

Reducing nerves
You can assist your kids in minimizing their test-taking anxiety and thereby improving their scores. To do so, make sure your children get adequate sleep the days before the exams. Check in on their regular grades so your family has an idea what to expect upon the release of the Common Core scores. Doing daily homework to the best of their ability can help your kids prepare for the tests, thereby easing their anxiety.

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