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Last updated on March 19th, 2025 at 11:50 pm
If you want to help your child succeed in school, it’s essential to understand what role you play in how well they do in their studies–and in all the other aspects of their lives. Healthy parenting promotes positive behaviors and better relationships between parents and children—and their teachers.
Let’s look at some parenting tips that can help your child succeed in school.
5 Ways to Help Your Child Succeed in School
Set Clear Expectations
Kids learn best when they understand what is expected of them. When you set clear expectations for your children, you’re teaching them how to behave in the world and helping them make good choices.
Studies show that a parenting style based on warmth, while maintaining structure and guidelines, in your parent-child relationship is associated with academic achievement. On the other hand, parenting based on either restrictive control or a lack of guidelines and inconsistency is associated with lower grades.
And, of course, setting a good example is crucial. If you want your child to be on time for school or bedtime, then make sure you are on time. If you start a project, follow it through. Let your children see what great things you can accomplish by following your own rules and expectations for yourself.
Praise Their Efforts
While it’s fine to praise your child for doing well on a test, it’s just as essential to praise them for working hard to complete homework. This way, your child understands that effort is what leads to success in school, not just getting the right answers on tests.
Praise efforts and strategies specific to your child and the efforts they’re making. Praise can help children with lower levels of self-esteem learn to see mistakes as opportunities and can help them learn to stick with difficult tasks.
Get Involved With Your Child’s Homework
There are many times when your child will need help with their homework. You can help them, but don’t do the homework for them.
Parents’ involvement and attitude while helping with homework can shape a child’s attitude toward learning. Giving them the correct answers may save time, but it will also rob them of the opportunity to learn and improve their skills. Instead, ensure a balance between how much help you provide and how much independent work they do.
This includes making sure your student isn’t leaning too heavily on reference material. Teaching them about academic integrity and ethics includes showing them how to use references without plagiarizing. There are many helpful resources available online—students can simply search “check my paper for plagiarism free” to access tools that help them verify their work is original. This practice encourages children to truly learn the material and express concepts in their own words rather than copying information directly from sources.
When tackling challenging assignments, online educational resources can be valuable learning aids. There are plenty of sites that are especially useful for helping your child with more difficult subjects, like higher-level math classes, chemistry, or physics. You’ll find platforms that walk your child through complex scientific concepts, offer help on physics homework, or demonstrate how to work through complicated math equations.
Another tip? When discussing a complex problem with your child, ask questions that challenge their thinking. For example, if they have trouble understanding something, ask them what they think is happening before giving any suggestions or input, so that they feel empowered, rather than frustrated or embarrassed by failure.
You can use these opportunities to make your child feel more independent while developing crucial problem-solving skills that will benefit them throughout their academic journey.
Foster Independence
And, on the subject of independence–one of the most important things you can do to help your child succeed in school is to foster independence. Recent research has shown that about half of American children are behind schedule in at least one critical area of school readiness, and independence is a key to success in school.
A significant part of fostering independence is giving your child the freedom to make their own choices, even if you disagree with them sometimes. Being able to make mistakes teaches children that failure isn’t fatal, and it helps them learn from their mistakes, so that next time around, they’ll be better prepared for whatever life throws at them.
One way you can foster independence in your child is by allowing him or her to make some of their own decisions. Of course, what this means will vary depending on your child’s age.
For example, for little ones, give them a choice between two outfits to wear, or let them decide what to pack in their school lunch (as long as the choices are healthy, of course). For older kids, you can give them more freedom in their choices, like how to spend their free time or what household chore they’d prefer to do out of a few different options.
Giving kids choices helps them develop problem-solving and critical thinking skills and teaches responsiblity.
Communicate With Teachers Often
As a parent, you are the most important person in your child’s life. In addition to providing them with food, shelter, and love, you can help your child succeed in school by communicating with their teachers regularly. A parent’s involvement in their child’s education and communication with teachers can significantly impact educational success.
Parents should always ensure their child’s teacher knows what, if anything, is happening at home that could interfere with their learning. And, of course, if your child has any special needs or health problems that affect his or her learning, the school must be involved and accommodations made.
It’s essential for parents and teachers to communicate openly about a student’s progress throughout the year. That way any potential problems can be quickly addressed before they become serious.
Final Words
Ultimately, it’s important to remember that parenting is a journey. You can always improve and grow as a parent, and you don’t have to be perfect. As long as you try your best and love your children, they’re likely to find success in school and beyond.
Also read:
Energizing Brain Breaks Printable
4 Tips for Being More Present with Your Family
4 Important Tips for Reading Aloud to Your Kids
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