Parents often focus on preparation as the remedy: "Just study hard and you'll do fine." But even studying hard doesn't remove the threat of the unknown.

This is a good place for the study exercise of "Make up the test!" If the student makes up the test they think the teacher will give, they'll get good practice with answers, review the important material, and become less fearful because the test format becomes familiar territory. My students report that 50 percent of the real test turned out to be the same as their practice tests. They whizzed through that half and spent more time and effort on the surprises. With the anxiety and pressure reduced, your student can focus on how to take the test. Strategy counts. On multiple choice tests, read extra carefully. Students are often say, after they have been told the correct answer for their mistakes, "Oh, I read it wrong, I didn't realize it said 'which one is not correct' or "Oh, I guess I didn't understand that third choice." Usually 15 percent of student mistakes are such reading errors.