12 Things Parents Can Do To Help: 

1. Be consistent in how you handle problems and administer discipline.

2. Be patient and be prepared to listen.

3. Avoid being overly critical, disparaging, impatient, or cynical.

4. Maintain realistic, attainable goals and expectations for your child.

5. Do not communicate that perfection is expected or is the only acceptable outcome.

6. Maintain a consistent but flexible routine for homework, chores, activities, and so forth.

7. Accept mistakes as a normal part of growing up and let your child know that no one is expected to do everything equally well.

8. Praise and reinforce effort, even if the outcome is less than expected. Practice and rehearse upcoming events, such as a speech or other performance.

9. Teach your child simple strategies to help with his or her anxiety, such as organizing materials and time, developing small “scripts” of what to do and say when anxiety increases, and learning how to relax under stressful conditions.

10. Do not treat feelings, questions, and statements about feeling anxious as silly or unimportant.

11.  Often, reasoning is not effective in reducing anxiety, so do not criticize your child for being unable to respond to rational approaches.

12. Seek outside help if the problem persists and continues to interfere with daily activities.

Source: Huberty, T. J. (in press). Performance and test anxiety. In L. Paige & A. Canter (Eds.), Helping children at home and at school III. Bethesda, MD: National Association of School Psychologists.