A successful school attitude is built on confidence. Parents want totreat mistakes as opportunities to learn and encourage children to askquestions. Otherwise, children may lack confidence because they view askingquestions or making mistakes as signs of weakness, rather than strengths thatwill help them learn more.

Some children feel insecure about trusting their own judgment and abilitiesbecause they depend too much on other people for direction and approval.Parents want to avoid only saying, "Good job." Instead, describe whatmade it "good" and point out any effort or improvement the childshowed. This helps children know what to do next time and not need constantapproval from others.

Parents also should avoid paying children for good grades or giving stickersfor success. They usually discourage children or they might work in the shortrun, but won't teach self-motivation.

To succeed in school, children need two crucial skills:organizational skills to get their materials home and back to school and timemanagement skills so they complete their work.

Every child needs to be at least somewhat organized to succeed in school. Atthe least, parents need to provide children with organizational supplies. If achild or parent is not naturally organized, it's helpful to have a reliablesystem to follow.

Be sure your child's "system" is simple. I tend to be moreorganized than most people, but don't go so far as alphabetizing my soup. Yet,I once had a teacher present an organizational system for my third grader thatwas so complicated it took me several weeks to figure it out. In theend, I scrapped it and helped my child come up with a system that would workfor her and still meet the teacher's goal of being more organized.

An organizational system must meet the needs of parents, teachers andchildren, but be easily adaptable to a child or teacher's particular needs. Akey feature is getting color-coded folders for each subject so children canquickly find their subject materials at a glance. Color-coding also helpschildren file their assignments correctly, so they will bring home theirassignments and return them to school.

In the past, pulling together such a system took a lot of searching, but nowthere are products like the Mead & Scholastic pre-organized color-codedschool supply system for children in grades 3 ? 6. This unique system includesall the necessary supplies in color-coded subject-specific formats and evenincludes curriculum-specific reference materials. So if children (or parents)forget how to convert Fahrenheit to Celsius, or what a preposition is, it's inthe front of that subject's notebook.

To teach children time management and good study skills, establish aconsistent routine. Let children choose whether they will always do theirhomework immediately after school or after dinner, if they need some time tounwind or play before sitting again.

Provide a specific uncluttered space for homework. Be available forquestions and support, but don't hover or do too much for children. Instead ofgiving children answers, ask questions that help children figure out the answerindependently. This provides children lifelong learning skills.

Success in school is like a three-legged stool in which the parent, teacherand student each play a vital role. The parent's role in school success is thatof a "supporting cast member." Parents can best support the child andteacher by being encouraging, helping children get organized and teachingchildren to be independent, instead of doing too much for children.

Parentscan learn more specific details about helping children succeed in school byvisiting a special page I've created at my website: www.ParentsToolshop.com. Just go to the homepage and click on "Back-to-School" tips. It will take you to a pagewith links to a baker's dozen (13) of articles and back-to-school resourcesthat will be available throughout September.