Surprise Tests Making Child Anxious

Is it appropriate for a first-grade teacher to refuse to tell children and their parents when tests will be given? My daughter is struggling with timed math tests and test anxiety. I feel that all these "surprise" tests are compounding her anxiety. -- Too Much Anxiety
Answer: Most first-grade teachers, as well as teachers at other levels, tell their students when there will be tests. They may or may not give this information to parents. Most don't. Some will send out e-mails or have a website with this information, which really strengthens parent/teacher ties. In this teacher's mind, the "surprise" tests may only be a means of seeing how well the children are doing in learning basic math facts.
In a nonaccusatory fashion, talk to this teacher about how your child is developing test anxiety from never knowing when she will be tested. Ask the teacher to work with you on reducing this anxiety. Your child needs to see testing as determining her progress rather than as a measurement of her worth.
Your child is probably feeling anxious about these tests because she has simply not mastered the basic facts. Mastery is shown when a child can give an answer to a math fact in three seconds.
You can help her master these facts. Find out from the teacher exactly which facts are not mastered and how the problems are presented. Then prepare sample tests like the ones given at school for her to do each day. Do not set a time limit, but do observe which facts are not answered quickly. Teach your daughter strategies that will enable her to "see" these problems, such as using her fingers or counters to represent the problem. Learn more about helping her learn these facts by visiting our website and searching for "basic math facts."