Junior high and high school students are particularly vulnerable if they are not well organized. Check in each week to review your child's ability to use the system you have developed together. By making it a point to be connected to their child's school life, parents glean insight and gain invaluable information about how to assist children throughout the year. School events, activities and teacher-parent conferences provide avenues for contact. Staying in touch with your child's school environment allows you to be ready to troubleshoot obstacles that arise, particularly if you are trying to turn around a child's previous negative experience.
Some children are more capable of organization than others.
Those who need greater assistance may require that you connect them with resources that are available in the school environment but which they have simply ignored. Make dinnertime a place to gather and review your days. This is your time to nurture and be nurtured through a sense of belonging, so make them positive interactions. In other words, check in with your youngsters and your spouse, but keep the goal of your interaction supportive and nurturing. Protect this time from negative stresses by devoting separate time to the specifics of a crisis or a highly stressful problem later that evening.