It is five o’clock in the evening, and your child finally drags herself to the kitchen table to do homework. Ten minutes later she says she’s done and bounces off to her room. Wow! She must really understand her assignments to be done that quickly! One small sheet of paper tells a different story on report card day, however. What did you do wrong, and how can you help your child become more successful academically? Do you and your child have to settle for mediocre grades?

Dropout Rates

According to the National Center for Education Statistics, five out of every one hundred students enrolled in high school in October 2000 dropped out of school before October 2001. The tracking of high school dropouts from 1990 through 2001 has shown that between 347,000 and 544,000 students in the tenth through the twelfth grades left school each year without graduating. Minority students and students living in low income families were at a greater risk for dropping out of high school.

Early Beginnings

Achieving academic success needs to begin when a child starts elementary school. Good study habits are instilled when a child is young. It is important for parents to have high expectations of their children. This doesn’t mean putting undo pressure on your child, and you shouldn’t confuse high expectations with unrealistic ones. Instead, help your child understand what it means to do the best she can. Let her know how proud you are of each and every success she achieves, no matter how small. Not all children will be straight “A” students, and many children may have learning disabilities, which will make it more difficult to succeed in school. However, every child can reach a set of goals, and it is important that each child feels that she is capable of doing so.

Parent/Teacher Relationships

One of the most important steps you can take to help your child succeed in school is to become acquainted with the administration and faculty of your child’s school. Many parents drop their children off in the mornings, pick them up in the afternoons, and never meet the teachers, guidance counselors, or principals. These are the people who are with your child eight hours every school day. Don’t you want to know those who have so much influence and control over your child?

E-mail Teachers

Even if your child is a good student, you should still make some type of contact with his teacher at the beginning of the school year. With the influx of e-mail, communication is so much easier. Most schools will freely give their faculty’s school e-mail addresses, so that parents can keep in contact with teachers on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis. E-mail is quick, easy, and can provide immediate responses.

Say for example, your son has had a particularly rough week because you and your spouse are having marital difficulties, or maybe a beloved grandparent is ill, and your child is worried. You can communicate this to your child’s teachers. After all, teachers are only human, and they are definitely not mind readers. A child may be too intimidated or too private to share his feelings with the teacher, and this is where parent/teacher communication can help that teacher understand what is going on with her student. In the same respect, if a teacher is concerned about a change in your child’s behavior, she can easily e-mail you about what is going on in the classroom.

Attend School Functions

When your school holds PTO meetings, open house nights, and parent/teacher conference days, you should make plans to attend. It is important that your child see you involved in her school life, and it is also important that her teachers know you are concerned about your child’s academic success.

Purchase an Assignment Book

Some children have difficulty staying organized, and this can definitely affect their grades. Obviously, teachers don’t have the time to write down the day’s homework assignment for every child individually. If your child repeatedly tells you he doesn’t have homework or has forgotten the assignment, it is probably time to buy him an assignment book. You will need to let your child’s teacher or teachers know that he is to bring the assignment book home everyday for you to check. It is his responsibility to write down the day’s homework assignments. He should then get his teacher to initial that the information he has written down is accurate. If he doesn’t have any homework, he should write that down and have the teacher initial that, also. If he continues to turn in incomplete homework assignments, you will need to come up with some type of repercussions, such as loss of privileges for the phone, television, video games, or computer, or you may need to ground him from some activities.

Create a Good Study Environment

Even if your child begins bringing his homework assignments home, he still has to do them completely and accurately. You can help by creating a good study environment. Your child should have a comfortable place to work on his assignments, and this area should be free from distractions, such as the television, stereo, and computer (unless he is using the computer for his school work). His work area should be well-lighted, and preferably close to you. Even if he doesn’t need your help, you can still check on him occasionally to make sure he is working adequately.

Cultivate Good Study Skills

Children aren’t born knowing how to study. They have to be taught, and these lessons should begin in elementary school. If your child needs help with her homework, you should help her, not do it for her. If you begin to cultivate good study skills in your child while she is still a relatively young student, these skills should follow throughout her high school and college years. If she is struggling with a particular assignment, encourage her to try to work it out herself, then if she still cannot do it, work the problem with her. Have her continue to do similar problems until she is able to work them on her own. If she is studying for a test, it is perfectly alright to go over the questions with her. However, if she doesn’t know the answers, don’t spoon-feed them to her. Instead, tell her to go back and study some more.

Advocate for Your Child

You are your child’s strongest ally. While this doesn’t mean that you should make excuses for your child, you should be ready to defend your child’s rights. Every child has the right to be educated in a safe environment that is conducive to learning. If there is any reason that you feel your child is not receiving this type of environment, you should make your voice heard. If your child is having difficulty with another student, or if you feel that your child has not had an adequate opportunity to learn at school, you should immediately set up an appointment with the teacher and the principal. If you feel that your child has a learning disability, you have the right to request testing to determine if your child should be in a special education program.

Don’t Give Up

There may be periods in your child’s life where she struggles more with school work. It is your job to see that your child doesn’t become so discouraged that she gives up, and you shouldn’t give up either. Once a child falls behind, it is that much harder to play catch-up. If she is losing ground academically, she will be at risk for dropping out once she reaches the age of sixteen. If you can’t seem to help or motivate her, then maybe it is time to invest in a tutor. If you can’t afford one, you should contact your school’s guidance department and find out what type of tutoring programs are available.

You can play a major role in making sure that your child doesn’t become another high school dropout. With your love, involvement, and support, you can help your child succeed academically and reach his goals of higher learning in the future.