4 Ways to support your child at the beginning of school

What’s up? It’s Seth with sethpro.com. Today I’m going to give you four ways to support your child, right at the beginning of the school year.

By now, you are in the second or third week of school, something like that. So I’m going to be telling you what to do right now in terms of how to support your child at the beginning of the year.

1. Bookmark the grade portal

Number one: what you want to do is bookmark the grade program in your browser. However your child’s grades are shown online, bookmark it so it’s very easy to find.

If you use Google Chrome, activate the bookmarks bar and place it front and center so you can access it anytime.

What happens is that students who work with their parents often don’t check grades until a month or two later. Within six to eight weeks, kids often go through a “dip,” and part of the reason is that parents don’t really know what’s going on.

They ask, “How’s school going? Are you doing well? Are you finishing your homework?” and the child says, “Yeah, yeah, leave me alone, everything’s fine.” But that’s not always accurate.

So you want to bookmark the grade portal and check it at least once a week. I like Sunday nights because it’s a good time to recalibrate.

You don’t have to talk about grades all the time—in fact, you probably shouldn’t—but once a week is very reasonable.

Right now, bookmark it, check it today, and look carefully at missing and incomplete work.

If your child is resistant, you’ll take one approach. If they’re not resistant, you’ll take another.

If your child is not resistant, you can go to them and say, “Hey, I checked your grades. We need to talk about a couple of things.”

If they are resistant, you can say, “Hey, I checked your grades. Do you want to chat about it? I printed them out—do you want them?” and put it in their hands so they take ownership.

It can also help to compliment them, for example: “Even though you’re struggling in one class, I’m really proud of you for what you are doing well.”

At the beginning of the school year, your child may not have many grades yet. Try not to panic if you see an F.

Early on, even one zero plus a couple of A’s can drop a grade significantly.

Of course, you still want to address it.

Your child may say, “The teacher hasn’t graded it yet,” or “I’ll turn it in tomorrow,” or “I’ll talk to the teacher.”

But often, that doesn’t happen, so it’s better to be proactive.

You can say, “Cool, why don’t you email them?” or as a parent, you can email the teacher:
“Hey, my child said they’ll come by tomorrow—can you please remind them? Thank you.”

Keep emails short, clear, and polite. You are on the same team.

2. Help reorganize the backpack

Next: help your child reorganize their backpack.

Even in week two or three, many kids already have missing papers or things in the wrong place.

If your child allows it, you can do it for them. If they prefer, do it with them.

Today (Sunday is ideal), go into the backpack and check every pocket. Pull everything out, unfold crumpled papers, and review everything.

You’ll often find things like:

• “Oh, I forgot about this”

• “I was supposed to turn this in”

• “I didn’t realize I was missing this”

Check every folder too, because kids often mix subjects—math in science, science in history, etc.

They don’t yet have strong executive function skills, so help them reset everything.

I call this a “reset” or “overhaul.” Get everything organized so they can start the week properly.

3. Email the teachers

Next: email the teachers.

Even early in the school year, if your child struggles, it’s helpful to reach out.

You can say something like:
“Hi, I just want a quick update on my child. Are they turning in work? How are they doing in class? Thank you.”

Keep it short and bullet-pointed.

You can also ask:
“Please let me know briefly how things are going—just a quick overview is fine.”

This helps you catch problems early, before the “dip” happens later in the semester, when it becomes harder to fix things.

4. Protect quality time with your child

Finally, the most important thing: quality time with your child.

Don’t let school talk take over every conversation.

Of course, you need to discuss school sometimes, but keep it structured—10 minutes, then move on.

Your child needs to feel emotionally safe and not feel like school is constantly being brought up.

Plan quality time intentionally. Do things together, like:

• watching a movie

• going to an event

• doing an activity

• having a relaxed evening together

During that time, don’t talk about school.

Many teenagers may seem like they don’t want time with parents, but most still value it deeply—they just don’t want it to feel like pressure or criticism.

So separate “school conversations” from “connection time.”

I hope these tips help you start the school year strong. The goal is not perfection, but steady progress—better organization, better independence, and a stronger relationship with your child.

Take care.