Is midterm season ramping up the stress in your house?
If your child is feeling overwhelmed with late-night study sessions and exam prep, you’re not alone. Managing a stressed student can take a toll on the whole family.
But don’t worry—midterms don’t have to be chaos!
With the right stress management strategies, you can help your teen feel more focused and confident while bringing some much-needed calm to your home.
Understanding Midterm Stress: What’s Really Going On
You know that feeling when your child comes home, drops their backpack by the door, and you can just tell something’s off? During midterms, these moments tend to multiply.
Our stressed students are juggling multiple exams, trying to keep up with regular homework, and maybe even maintaining their extracurricular activities (whew!).
For students with ADHD or executive function challenges, midterms can feel especially overwhelming. All those moving pieces—managing study time, organizing materials, and staying focused—become even trickier during high-pressure periods.
Here’s what stress might look like at home during midterms:
- Your typically chatty teen becomes unusually quiet (or maybe extra irritable)
- Sleep patterns go haywire—either burning the midnight oil or having trouble falling asleep
- Regular routines start slipping, like skipping breakfast or forgetting to pack lunch
- Withdrawal from friends or family and loss of interest in things that usually excite them
Helping your stressed student navigate midterms is all about finding stress management strategies that actually work for them. Every student is different—what works for one might not work for another.
That’s why we’ve compiled these practical tips that can be customized to fit your teen’s study style and needs. Whether your child is dealing with ADHD, anxiety, or just typical exam stress, these strategies can be adapted to help them feel more confident and prepared!
10 Practical Tips for Your Stressed Student
1. Break It Down
- Help them chunk study material into manageable pieces
- Use a visual planner or calendar to map out study sessions
- Set small, achievable daily goals
2. The Power of Previews
- Start each study session with a 5-minute overview
- Skim chapter headings and summaries first
- Create a quick outline before diving deep
Remember our article about Mind Maps? This would be a great time to review the mind map your child made previously!
3. Find Their Focus Sweet Spot
- Identify their best study time (morning, afternoon, evening)
- Use the Pomodoro Method: 25 minutes of study, 5-minute break (at S4, we love this technique!)
- Create a study environment that matches their style
4. Make It Stick
- Try active recall instead of passive reading
- Use practice tests and self-quizzing
- Teach the material to someone else
5. Organization Station
- Keep all study materials in one place
- Create a daily study checklist
- Clear physical clutter to clear mental clutter
Check out our article on midterm study hacks to learn more about some of these strategies in detail!
6. Body Basics
- Stick to regular sleep schedules
- Eat brain-boosting foods
- Stay hydrated throughout the day
7. Stress Busters
- Take regular movement breaks
- Practice deep breathing exercises
- Use positive self-talk
8. Study Smarter, Not Longer
- Focus on understanding, not memorizing
- Review old tests and homework
- Use study groups wisely
9. Tech Check
- Turn off phone notifications during study blocks
- Use apps for time management (like the Forest app)
- Take regular screen breaks
10. Balance Is Key
- Keep up with regular activities (within reason)
- Maintain social connections
- Schedule daily “worry-free” time
Our online tutoring for ADHD students can provide personalized support to build confidence and reduce stress.
Bonus tip: Mental Health is KEY
Here’s a reality check: midterms are important, but your child’s mental health matters more. Encourage them to practice simple mindfulness techniques—even just taking three deep breaths before starting a study session can help calm those pre-exam jitters.
Here are some great reminders for your stressed student:
- A perfect score isn’t worth perfect stress
- Taking care of mental health IS being productive
- Sometimes the bravest thing to do is ask for help
- Small mental breaks lead to big mental breakthroughs
- Anxiety is normal, but it shouldn’t be overwhelming
If you notice your teen’s stress levels climbing into the red zone (we’re talking major sleep changes, unusual irritability, or complete withdrawal), it’s okay to press pause. Reach out to their teachers, counselor, or another professional.
Remember: supporting their mental health now helps build resilience for future challenges.
Supporting Your Child’s Mental Health During Midterms
Sometimes the best support we can offer is knowing when to step in and when to step back. During midterms, your teen needs you to be their anchor, not their alarm clock.
Here’s how you can effectively support your stressed teen:
- Create a calm home environment: Keep household routines predictable and minimize unnecessary drama.
- Be a sounding board: Sometimes they just need to vent. Let your child share their feelings without judgment.
- Offer practical help: Stock up on healthy snacks, provide quiet study spaces, or help with transportation.
- Watch for overload: Notice when they need a break (even if they don’t).
- Stay positive but real: Remind them that their worth isn’t measured by test scores.
- Consider professional help: If stress levels are unmanageable, tutoring or counseling can make a big difference.
For more on how you can support your stressed teen, our article “5 Ways Parents Can Reduce Their Child’s Test Stress, Part 2” gives actionable steps you can take today!
Emergency Stress Relief: When Things Feel Too Overwhelming
Sometimes, despite our best efforts, stress hits hard. That’s when having some quick relief strategies becomes crucial. Think of these as your family’s stress-busting toolkit:
- The 5-4-3-2-1 grounding technique: Name 5 things you see, 4 things you feel, and so on
- A favorite calming playlist
- A short walk together
- A cup of tea and a chat
Midterms are temporary, but the stress management skills you’re helping your child develop will serve them well beyond exam season. Think of this time as an opportunity to build resilience, improve study habits, and strengthen your parent-child bond.
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Need more support? That’s what we’re here for!
Our tutoring team specializes in helping students develop strong study skills and stress management techniques. We’d love to help your student navigate this challenging time with confidence.
Learn more about how we can help your students improve their study and executive function skills with personalized executive function coaching!