Parents can and should prepare their children to learn and prepare them to do their best in school. Involved parents have several things in common. They make time to do things with their children. Involved parents display a positive attitude about school and learning in general. By promoting a "can do attitude" in their children, involved parents can be a catalyst to their offspring. Finally, parents can demonstrate that they are life-long learners by modeling certain kinds of behaviors, such as reading and involvement in hobbies.

The key areas that parents should address are: simple things that can be done in home; activities in which they can get children involved; and how to work with school and teacher. Parents do not have to be experts in field of education to be a valuable resource and supporter of it. They do need to find time and spend that quality time with their children. Remember general rule of "children thrive on attention, no matter what age."

The six basic things that parents can do at home with their children are: 1) start with lifelong skill of reading, read aloud everyday starting with short periods which increase as children grow older; 2) discuss what is being read, asking questions and encouraging comments and predictions; 3) model habit of independent reading because children will eventually be reading independently, too, and they need to see that; 4) have reading materials available at home which should include books, magazines and newspapers of interest (the public library and garage sales can be an inexpensive sources); 5) have frequent talks about school and everyday life with children, to help them become good listeners who will be able to follow directions and pay attention in school; and 6) and make children establish a regular homework habit in a quiet, adequate space which can be (and needs to be) monitored frequently by parents. With each of these basic elements key is consistency and longevity.

Reading is most important determiner in how well a child will do in school and in life. Reading can open a child up to world of knowledge like nothing else can. It is important that process start long before a child enters school. The only person that can establish that needed foundation is a child’s parent. There are so many things that a child can learn from a parent about everyday activities and from being read to by a parent. Besides that, it can be an enjoyable experience for both child and parent.

It all begins in infancy when a child hears voices. A parent needs to do a lot of talking to a child. The talking will lead to reading, which can be done as early as six months old. As children hear words and sounds, they begin to try and emulate what they are hearing. Their responses include cooing, giggling, and eventually actual words. Out of many things that can be done, here are a few that a parent can do: frequent talking, frequent reading, singing, smiling, and gestures. It is very important that there is eye contact between parent and child so that child learns to listen and focus. Listening is one of four components of language development which also includes speaking, reading, and writing.

As talking leads to reading, selections should be chosen carefully based on simplicity, size, attractiveness, and interest. Reading aloud to a child should be done several times a day for short periods of time and should become increasingly longer as child becomes older. The real key is being consistent with routine and praising child throughout entire process. Building a child’s confidence and self-esteem is a by-product that will spill over into other facets of life.