Reading
The foundation of a child's education is how well they read. Let's face it, good readers do well in school, and poor readers do not. Even people who don't enjoy reading can be good readers. To help your child in school, parents who don't enjoy leisure reading still need to demonstrate its importance to their children. Children's first reading "lessons" can begin in the womb. There is a body of research that supports the idea that the fetus responds to reading aloud. Even if parents don't read to their unborn children, all children should be read to daily starting from the first few days of life until they can read on their own. Even then, emerging readers are delighted to show off their newfound skills by reading to their parents. What a motivator for them! To get an older, reluctant reader to improve, have him or her read to a parent or younger sibling as a meal is being prepared, for example.
Requiring a child to read consistently is very important, but it should not be a case of "Do what I say, not what I do." So, parents will need to be early and consistent role models for their children. Also, it might be wise if parents don't tell their children that they, themselves, don't like to read when the children are young. If the child is a reluctant reader, they won't be able to use that as a reason to avoid reading. If parents aren't leisure readers, they can still let their children see them reading: e.g., reports for work, magazines, news articles, etc. Children should remember seeing their parents reading throughout their childhoods.
To help your child in school aside from being a good role model, an important ritual to establish is to implement a family silent reading time at least five days a week. That means that the television and other distractions are turned off, and everyone in the family grabs a book, a magazine, etc. at the same time. For 30 minutes, everyone reads. Sometimes, someone can read aloud a short passage that really excites or confuses him or her. Even the non-readers in the family can have an audio book to listen to (with headphones) while they follow along during this time so that this becomes routine to them as well.
Study Environment
Once your child is school-aged, you can help your child in school by providing the best study environment for your children. Study time should be consistent and includes both homework AND studying! Most children think that completing written assignments is all they need to do, but they also need to study. The promise that a child can watch television or play video games "When you finish your homework" is a major reason that children do not study. Usually, there is the mad rush to complete the written work just so they can go do something more enjoyable. It should be noted here that parents need to help their children manage their time so that they do not have too many extracurricular activities each week. A good rule of thumb is no more than two extra activities—one physical and one non-physical is preferable--each week. Sometimes children are just overscheduled and overwhelmed doing too many things that they have nothing left when it's time to study.
Teacher-Parent Partnership
Parents should view teachers as partners in their children's education. That means that no disparaging comments about the teacher should be uttered in front of the child. (Of course, if needed, parents should seek administrative intervention for serious problems with a teacher but not with the child's knowledge.) Parents need to be actively engaged in monitoring their children's performance and progress.
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