“An investment in knowledge pays the best interest.” Ben Franklin

School success needs a plan, a roadmap, if you will.

The responsibility of a parent does not end with the filled backpack and new clothes.  That’s like outfitting a camper without mapping the journey. 

The teacher, student and parent all have very specific jobs.  The teacher will teach and reinforce the material.  The teacher will also encourage the child to complete each task. 

 The kid has one job, school.   Really, it’s her job.  She must have good attendance, and complete the schoolwork.  Every day she must be present and ready to learn.

 The parent must insure good attendance, demand respect of the adults in school and reinforce the need to get the work done.  It’s not an easy task, but it’s the duty of the parent.     

Please understand, it is not happenstance that parents, who cooperate with the school system, generally have better achieving students. Typically, parents who fight the system, pass that attitude to their children who experience less success.  

 For example, Janie’s mother tells her the teachers are overpaid and underworked.  On a regular basis, Janie’s dad tells her the teachers are educated dummies.  When the teacher is conducting a lesson, Janie struggles with her appreciation for her teacher, and her parents’ negative opinion of school.  It’s confusing and in many cases, it’s the reason Janie won’t realize her true potential.  That is not a good thing.  Parents should not muddy the water.  If that much contempt is felt for the education system, parents must find an alternative, private school, charter school or even home schooling.   A child needs to believe the system has something to offer her.  

Finally, this is the most important and hardest task of the parent.  Parents must be capable of “inspiring” their children to succeed in school whether the kid wants to or not.   By this I mean, parents must have consequences for failure to do schoolwork.  Contrary to popular opinion, this is not the teacher’s job.  Parents can take T.V.  or phone privileges, demand early bedtimes, deny play dates, etc..   Again, education is Janie’s job and if she refuses to do her job, there must be consequences.  The effective parent is the one who can impart the importance of completing tasks, whether Janie is buying into it or not. 

Should kids experience difficulties with schoolwork, the parent must stay in contact with the teacher until the problem is solved.