Communicating with your child's teacher is one way to help him succeed at school. But just how often should you contact the teacher，and what questions should you ask？How can you help your child succeed in school？

Jerry Parks，a social studies teacher is. to share his thoughts. Parks keeps in touch with parents through emails，class websites，and phone calls. " Parents who take an active interest in their children's work and school well-being are one of the biggest contributors to my students' success，"Parks says. Children of involved parents typically have higher self-esteem（自尊）and have fewer behavior problems in school. And students' grades usually improve when their parents become involved.

Parks suggests the top 6 ways parents can help their children succeed in school: first，make sure your child is at school every day possible. Missed work is generally more of a loss than made-up work is a gain；second，set a time and a place for your child to do homework. If he does not have homework，have him use the time to read；third，keep in touch with teachers，but don't do it too much. Most teachers appreciate parents caring enough to keep in touch a few times a term but do not appreciate parents expecting to contact on a regular basis. Besides，it seems appropriate to ask the teacher whether she thinks your child is giving his best effort in class and whether she has noticed any significant changes in your child's behavior or grades. More importantly，teach your child to build a character—it will improve social and academic skills more than anything else. Some things are simply wrong，and the world your child will grow up in will punish crimes，so give your child a head start. Last but not least，make time every day to talk with your child about the day's activities. Let him know you care，and really listen to what he has to say.

How to Help Improve Your Child's Confidence

How can you help your child become more confident in school and prepare him for the stressful situations which inevitably(不可避免地)arise?

School Can Be Frightening for Kids

【小题1】 . Certainly, we get nervous from time to time, but it is easy to forget how the world looks to a child. Of course, some children , have more self-confidence than others, but for others, the school can appear to be a pretty frightening place. Helping your children to build their own confidence now will help them develop important skills that will help them throughout their lives.

【小题2】

Children like it when you pay attention to them. When your child is telling you something  that happened, do your best to give him your full attention and actively listen. 【小题3】 . You should make sure your body language communicates that you are listening as well. If you catch yourself not listening, ask your child to repeat himself and apologize for being distracted( 精神无法集中的).

Helping Kids Outside of School

Outside school activities are rarely a bad thing, so give your child encouragement to try new things. Clubs and groups are great opportunities and good places for your children to make new friends. 【小题4】 .

Being Open towards Your Child

This is a simple tip, but one to live by. 【小题5】 . Make sure your child realizes that you are a part of his team when he is facing difficulties. The world is much less frightening to a child who feels he is not alone.

   "Which college are you going to？"Many high school students are often asked this question. For some，the answer is Harvard，Stanford，Princeton or another famous university. For others，it might be State U，a small liberal arts college or even a community college. Whether high school students' answer is a private top college or a large public university，it should be their best-fit choice.

Admission rates（录取率）of some of the country's top universities have been dropping for years up to now，with many admitting less than 10 percent of applicants. This makes these colleges all the more desirable to some applicants because they think being admitted to one of these highly selective colleges makes sure of success.

The truth is that the name brand doesn't make a college a good choice for you. Just ask one of the students who were admitted to all eight Ivy League colleges this year. He turned them all down to attend the University of Alabama，which best met his financial and academic needs.

Just like anything else in life，when something is a good fit，it works. Students that attend colleges that match their academic，social and financial needs，while still providing an academically challenging environment，are more likely to graduate on time. On the other hand，students who attend colleges that are not a good fit are more likely.to struggle，feel anxiety and stress，and fail to get out in four years. In fact，some of the colleges with the highest graduation rates aren't in the Ivy League.

It's a good fit that leads to good results — not the name of a school. Just look at some of the colleges with the highest starting salaries. Colleges like Montana Tech and Oregon Health & Science University are among the top 10 colleges with the highest early-career salaries-with Stanford and the Ivy Leagues only making the top 25.

No single college is going to be a great fit for every student，and this especially applies（适用）to the Ivy Leagues and other well-known colleges. That a college just has a famous name doesn't mean it's going to make sure of success in college or your career.

   Some of my fondest memories with my family are from when I was in middle school， when the three of us enjoyed trips that I remember vividly to this day. But during my younger days， like 4 or 5 years old， we vacationed in places like Cancun， Jamaica and Hawaii and I can't tell whether I actually recall those memories or whether I'm filling in the gaps through photo albums.

A frequent discussion I have with my coworkers and friends，' who are also in their 20s， is how we wish our parents had taken us on more vacations when we were much older. What I suggest is to hold off on those grand vacations until your kid is about 12， when they can begin to understand what a privilege is， and you can save the international travel until they're in high school. Of course， I do understand that sometimes， it's not the kids but the parents who just want to enjoy a vacation. But in other cases， when the main goal is to create family memories， you can still accomplish that in other ways.

It wasn't until college that I realized how important travel is， and I can't tell you how many times I've thought about wanting to redo those family trips now. Especially during a time in my life when an international trip is outside of my budget， I think about how much money my parents spent on our vacations that ended up being a complete blur.

I'm not telling you to deprive （剥夺） your children of fun family memories， either. I'm simply arguing that you should travel locally or within your state. Although your little ones might not care about the destination， they will remember that you are all together and have a great time. That's the  most important thing， anyway.

   I strongly believe that if a child is raised with approval，he will learn to love himself and will be successful in his own way. Several weeks ago，I was doing homework with my son in the third grade and he kept standing up from his chair to go over the math lines. I kept asking him to sit down，telling him that he would concentrate better. He sat but seconds later，as if he didn't even notice he was doing it，he got up again. I was getting discouraged，but then it hit me. I started noticing his answers were much quicker and more precise when he stood up. Could he be more focused while standing up？

This made me start questioning myself and what I had been raised to believe. I was raised to believe that being a quiet，calm child was a sure way to success. This child would have the discipline（自制力）to study hard，get good grades and become someone important in life.

Now those same people perhaps come to realize that their kids are born with their own sets of DNA and personality, and all you can do is loving and accepting them. As parents, throughout their growing years and beyond that, we need to be our kids' best cheerleaders, guiding them and helping them find their way.

I have stopped asking my son to sit down and concentrate. Obviously, he is concentrating just in his own way and not mine. We need to learn to accept our kids' ways of doing things. Some way may have worked for us but it doesn't mean we need to carry it through generations. There is nothing sweeter than being individual and unique. It makes us free and happy and that's just the way I want my kids to live their own life.