QUIZ: IS ANXIETY OVER HOMEWORK MAKING YOUR CHILD SICK? Does your child get anxious whenever he or she has difficult homework assignments to do? Is your child frequently "stressed out" by the pressure to complete several assignments on time? Does your child often have stomachaches? Has it become routine for your child to complain of not feeling well when it is time to go to school? Does your child have recurring headaches? Does your child have mood swings? Is your child often irritable and angry? Does your child have trouble sleeping at night? Are you worried that your child’s constant complaints about fatigue and sore muscles might be more than just "growing pains"? Has your child ever experienced pain or tightness in the chest? If you answered "yes" to any number of these questions, you may have reason for concern. Doctors say that children who experience anxieties over homework often suffer from symptoms like these. David Olson, MD, a pediatrician in Michigan, explains that stress can lead to common ailments such as headaches, stomachaches and a variety of other gastrointestinal complaints. "Anxiety can contribute to problems like insomnia, muscle pains and shortness of breath as well," says Olson. "Of course, these same symptoms can be seen in many purely medical conditions which is why parents should talk to a child’s doctor to rule out possible physical causes." Education experts point out that frustration can also fuel failure. They say that a child who is anxious is likely to have study problems and may not perform well academically. They suggest these steps to help relieve a child’s homework anxiety: Encourage your child to establish a regular routine for homework. Emphasize the importance of studying at the same time and in the same place every day. Provide a comfortable study environment and try to keep distractions to a minimum during homework time. Help organize homework so that your child doesn’t fall behind. Worry about not being able to keep up can have a negative effect on both a child’s learning and self-esteem. When anxiety builds, parents need to step in. But don’t make your child dependent on your help; that could undermine self-confidence in his or her abilities and make it more difficult to tackle tasks alone. Get involved. Make a point of knowing what’s going on in your child’s school life. Sometimes a child needs a parent’s help in understanding what is expected. Communicate with your child’s teacher. Find out about homework expectations. Be sure to set your own expectations for homework and let your child know what they are. Recommend that least-favorite assignments be done first. Or that shorter assignments are out of the way before larger tasks. That way, your child may feel like he or she is making progress faster. Offer plenty of encouragement and praise. If necessary, ask your child’s teacher for suggestions or guidelines for studying. Don’t push. Instead, focus on what your child can do well and watch for signs of stress. Remind your child that homework needn’t be perfect and that making mistakes is part of learning. Most importantly, don’t get frustrated yourself. Remember, homework not only teaches children the skills they need to study on their own, it helps them develop future work and study habits. Good study habits foster initiative, independence, self-discipline and responsibility, too. - Amber P. Keefer