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strong start,

bright future

helping your child succeed in school

U.S. Department of Education
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Parents will always be a child’s first and most important teacher. 

And parenting is the most important job that every parent takes on.

—Secretary of Education Arne Duncan

For children to be successful in school, parents must be actively 

engaged in their children’s learning. Many studies show that parents’ 

involvement in school is more important to their children’s academic 

success than the parents’ level of education or income. By showing 

interest in their children’s education, parents can spark their children’s 

enthusiasm, showing them that learning, both inside and outside of 

school, is enjoyable and rewarding. 

Parents can help children succeed by participating in school or other 

learning activities, reading with their children, assisting with homework 

assignments, and talking with their children’s teachers. Parents can 

share the goals they have for their children with teachers to make sure 

that teachers hold all students to high standards of performance. Most 

states have voluntarily adopted rigorous college- and career-ready 

standards to better ensure the success of all learners.

To help children reach those standards, this brochure, based on the 

Helping Your Child series of publications for parents and families, has 

been designed to provide parents with the latest research and practical 

information to help them support their children and ensure their 

children’s success in school and in life. Further, it builds upon the idea 

that all children benefit from quality early learning programs and 

effective preschool experiences. 
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tips for parents

As a parent, you have a special interest in your child’s education. As you 

become more involved, here are some basic tips that you may use at 

home: 

✪ Encourage your child to read. It’s the single most important thing that 

you can do to help your child succeed in school. Read with your child 

right from the start, and make sure there are lots of reading materials 

in the house.

✪ Talk with your child. Talking and listening are major components of 

children’s school success. By having many opportunities to use and 

hear spoken language, children are given a tremendous advantage, 

picking up the language skills they will need to do well in school. 

✪ Monitor homework, and how much time children spend watching 

television, playing video games, and using the Internet. Help your 

child get organized and provide a quiet place in the home for him or 

her to study. Limit the amount of time your child spends watching 

television, surfing the Internet, and playing video games. Help your 

child learn to properly and effectively use the Internet.

✪ Encourage your child to be responsible and work independently.

Make it clear to your child that he or she has to take responsibility for 

actions both at home and at school. 

✪ Encourage active learning. Listen to your child’s ideas and respond 

to them. Active learning also can take place when your child plays 

sports, acts in a school play, plays a musical instrument, or visits 

museums and bookstores.

If we want America to lead in the 21st century, nothing is more 

important than giving everyone the best education. 

—President Barack Obama
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helping your child 

with test-taking 

You can be a great help to your child if you follow these tips about tests and 

testing: 

Don’t:

✪ Get upset because of a single test score.

✪ Place so much emphasis on your child’s test scores. Too much pressure 

can affect his or her test performance.

Do:

✪ Encourage your child and provide praise for the things that he or she 

does well.

✪ Meet with teachers and ask for test preparation activities that you and 

your child can do at home. 

✪ Make sure that your child attends school regularly.

✪ Provide a quiet place for studying at home and make sure your child is 

well rested on school days.

✪ Provide books and magazines for your child to read at home.

✪ Help your child avoid test anxiety.

You can help reduce test anxiety by encouraging your child to do the 

following:

✪ Plan ahead. Start studying for the test well in advance to avoid 

“cramming” the night before. 

✪ Get a good night’s sleep before the day of the test. 

✪ On the day of the test, read all directions carefully before beginning work. 

✪ Look quickly at the entire test to see what types of questions are on it. 

This tactic will help determine how much time to spend on each part of 

the test. 

✪ Skip difficult questions and go on. If there is time at the end of the test, 

return to them and try again.
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resources 

This brochure was drawn from the larger booklet in the Helping Your 

Child series, “Helping Your Child Succeed in School,” which provides 

parents with information, tools, and activities they can use at home 

to help their children develop critical skills for academic success. For 

more information on helping your child succeed in school—along with 

a variety of other topics—visit the Helping Your Child series Web site at 

http://www2.ed.gov/parents/academic/help/succeed/index.html. 

For more information on how you can help your child succeed 

in school, take a look at the following resources from the 

U.S. Department of Education and other organizations: 

U.S. Department of Education: www.ed.gov or 1-800-USA-LEARN

Parents Families Webpage: 

http://www.ed.gov/parent-and-family-engagement 

Federal Resources for Educational Excellence (FREE): 

http://www.free.ed.gov/ 

Early Learning

http://www.ed.gov/early-learning

Connectivity/Technology

http://www.ed.gov/edblogs/technology/connected/

NOTE: This document contains information about and from public and private entities and 

organizations for the reader’s information. Inclusion does not constitute an endorsement 

by the U.S. Department of Education of any entity, organization, or the products or services 

offered or views expressed. This publication also contains hyperlinks and URLs created 

and maintained by outside organizations and are provided for the reader’s convenience. 

The Department is not responsible for the accuracy of this information.