Make sure that your child knows that you are interested in his progress in school by keeping in touch with the teachers. Instead of waiting for report cards or interim reports, ask your child when his teachers have their free periods. Call the teacher early in the school year and ask if it's OK to call once in awhile to get an update on progress the student is making. This is especially important to do if your child is not sharing his schoolwork with you and you don't observe him spending much time on homework. If you find out that your child is not completing assignments on time, ask the teacher to sign an assignment sheet each day, verifying the work the student must do at home.
Create a special area in your house for your child to do her homework each night. This should be away from distractions such as television and the computer. If a computer is necessary to complete the assignment, check in from time to time to ensure the student is working on the assignment instead of playing games or socializing on the computer. Provide a desk, light, writing utensils and paper in this work area for your child. By creating a special area of the house to complete school assignments, you will demonstrate the importance of school work.
After the student completes his homework assignment, review it with him. Ask him to explain the assignment and how he completed it. If the work is in a subject in which you do not have a strong background, ask your child to teach you what he learned in class and from the assignment. Show genuine interest in the information your child is sharing with you. This will help him understand that you are interested in what he is learning and that if it's important to you it should be important to him as well.
Keep track of your child's schedule throughout the week and the weekend. As students get older, they start participating in activities such as organized sports, clubs and jobs. Ensure that your child is not scheduling so many of these activities that she doesn't have time to complete her school work. Explain to your child that if her grades start to slip, there will be consequences such as giving up specific activities such as sports or hours at work. Do not cave on these rules because the enforcement will help your child learn that schoolwork is just as important as these other activities that she might place a higher priority upon.
Encourage your student to learn more about areas that interest him than just what he is taught in school. Help him choose books on subjects that interest her. These subjects do not have to be educational; they could be about sports, future careers or hobbies. By reading, your student will learn about subjects, but it will not feel like an assignment to the student.