Raise Smart Kid

• Communicate to your child that true success in school is not so much about getting top grades. It is about developing a lifelong love of learning and enjoying the socialization in the classroom.
• Children do better in school when they know that their parents care what they are learning and doing.
• Give importance to early learning. Students who learn more in kindergarten are more likely to go to college – and earn more.
• Homework teaches kids valuable lessons in independent thinking, responsibility and pride in accomplishment. Make it an important part of your kid’s after school activity.
• Do not praise your child for his inborn intelligence. Praise him for making an effort or doing hard work, even if he fails. Making an effort is what your child can control, and is a very important success trait, while being innately smart is a given. Also, children who are complimented on their intelligence are much more likely to run away from challenging new tasks that they could learn from. This is because they do not want to see themselves as deficient in anything, or experience situations that contradict their image of themselves as being "great".
• Do not make excuses for your kid for why they are not succeeding in school. Instead, focus on finding solutions.
• It's OK for your child to get in trouble sometimes. It builds character and teaches life lessons.
• Limit use of new technology. When your child devotes too much time in addictive video games, social networking, and watching tv or video, he is not engaged in learning or exercising his brains through complex thinking.
• There are findings that indicate that “paying” your child to excel in school is a good idea, according to this article.
• Don’t allow your kid to stay up late. Staying up late leads to learning problems, mood swings and depression. It also makes him inattentive and fat.
• Schedule a regular reading session when everyone reads independently. It is important for your child to see you read. Besides modeling your behavior, he will have good memories of your reading sessions. This will make him more likely to be a reader.
• You can teach your child to love writing by making him keep a journal or a diary, or create his own book.
  
• If you have the patience or the inclination, consider the benefits of homeschooling your kid

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