1. Build self-confidence
Self-confident children tend to do well. And their success makes them even more confident in themselves. Parents build children’s confidence by taking a real interest and delight in their activities and by praising effort and achievement.

2. Have high – but realistic – expectations
Children need to be challenged but they also need success. Getting the balance right is one of the greatest challenges of parenthood.

3. Foster good relations between home and school
Children tend to do better at school when they see their parents and teachers supporting each other and sharing common expectations.
4. Encourage independence
Good learners take increasing responsibility for their own learning. It’s fine to help the children, but be careful not to take over. If their homework becomes the parents’ homework, then it’s the parents who will be doing the learning.

5. Don’t place too much emphasis on tests or on comparisons with the performance of other students
Schooling is not a race designed to separate winners from losers. Only a small part of what it hopes to achieve for each child can be precisely measured. A child’s real success can never be properly defined in terms of the weaknesses and strengths of other children.
6. Think about homework
Think, first, about its purpose and its place in the balance of a child’s daily life. Establish a set routine and a quiet place where homework can be done. And, remember, one great reason for giving homework is to teach self-reliance.

7. Monitor TV-viewing and the use of computer games
Have a policy on how much time is to be given to the TV and the computer. Ensure that plenty of time is available for play, hobbies, exercise, family conversation – and homework.

8. Encourage reading
Children who are read to, from the earliest age, and those who enjoy recreational reading are usually very effective learners. Their language has been enriched, the experiences have broadened, and their imagination has been touched.

9. Don’t be a perfectionist
Nothing kills confidence and good learning more than continued criticism. Learners need to feel safe, as well as challenged. They need to be able to take risks, make mistakes and learn from those mistakes without being shown that their efforts are never really good enough.

10. Provide a balanced life
Sport and other organised activities have their place in a child’s balanced life. But children need time for other things as well. They also need time to play imaginatively, to read, to relax, to enjoy company and pursue hobbies. They need time to live fully as children.