Parents are always asking me what they can do at home to help their child succeed in the classroom, so I’ve decided to weigh in the next few weeks with some thoughts from my point of view. And here’s the first way to help your kid do well in the classroom:

Allow your child to have some responsibility at home.

But wait, isn’t this suppose to be about being a better student? Yes, and it starts by having responsibility at home.

Most students who succeed in school do chores at home. Chores teach a child how to take personal responsibility, manage time, and work – three qualities which all good students must possess. Making contributions to a family by working also helps a child build a healthy self-esteem.  Many parents don’t require children to do chores because the kids are too busy or the parent is a control freak and can only have it done his or her way (trust me – I have words for these topics in later posts). A few years ago a neighbor told me that her son did not want her hanging out with me because he was afraid I would rub off on her, and he didn’t want to start doing his own laundry. Really? (There are plenty of other more worthy reasons not to hang out with me – obnoxious sports fan and country music lover are a good start).  I’m amazed at the number of seniors in high school who look through their lunch and complain about what their mother has packed for them to eat. Don’t think you are helping you child by making it easy; you’re really just hurting them.

A good way to tie home and school together is to have your child be responsible for packing his or her lunch, gathering supplies for the next day, laying out clothes the night before.  The older the child, the more responsibility.

What is one step you can take this week to give your child more responsibility at home?