Helping my Child overcome Fear

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I don't know if I would call it fear...but the terrified look on his face says fear. Yesterday, my kids were doing their reading time, and then they come out and we ask them questions on what they read. My daughter was zinging away at the answers, and loves adding on to what we don't ask. My son, he just gets this terrified look on his face. I don't understand why. He loves to play. There are never any tears with that. And chores, he will do those all day if you ask him to. He loves to do dishes, knows how to clean a bathroom, do laundry, and will even scrub the kitchen floor (and he is only 8!). But you ask him to read, or do school work, and its like you are ripping his arm off! His eyes fill up with tears, and I hug him, and ask him why he is crying, and he says he doesn't know. I don't treat him any different than my daughter, but he just doesn't seem to like doing anything with school work. A lot of people would say he is spoiled with playing and doesn't like to learn, but in this house it is a reward system, he completes the school work, he gets to play. I am at my wits end, I hate to see him upset, but I have to make sure he learns. Any suggestions?