Parents can play a vital role in helping teens succeed in school by being informed and lending a little support and guidance. Even though teens are seeking independence, parental involvement is an important ingredient for academic success.

Here are some ways to keep your teen on track to succeed in high school.

1. Attend Parent-Teacher Meetings

Teens do better in school when parents support their academic efforts. Attending your school's PTM is a great way to get to know your teen's teachers and their expectations. School administrators may discuss school-wide programs and policies, and post-high school options that parents and guardians of juniors and seniors need to know about.

Attending parent-teacher meeting is a way to stay informed, although in high school, staff usually set these up only when parental involvement is needed to address issues like behaviour problems, falling below grade-level expectations, or alternatively, benefiting from advanced class work.

2. Visit the School

Knowing the physical layout of the school building and grounds can help you connect with your teen when you talk about the school day.

Many teachers access to textbooks and other resources, and detail homework assignments, and test and quiz dates. Special resources for parents and students are also usually available on the notice board.

3. Support Homework Expectations

During the high school years, homework gets more intense and grades become critical.Teens learn how to balance academics with extracurricular activities, social lives, and jobs.

An important way to help is to make sure your teen has a quiet, well-lit, distraction-free place to study that's stocked with supplies. Distraction-free means no phone, TV, or websites other than homework-related resources. Be sure to check in from time to time to make sure that your teen hasn't gotten distracted.

Regularly sit down with your teen to go over class loads and make sure they're balanced, and help him or her stick to a homework and study schedule.Encourage your teen to ask for help when it's needed

4. Send Your Teen to School Ready to Learn

A nutritious breakfast fuels up teens and gets them ready for the day. In general, teens who eat breakfast have more energy and do better in school.

You can help boost your teen's attention span, concentration, and memory by providing breakfast foods that are rich in whole grains, fiber, and protein, as well as low in added sugar. If your teen is running late some mornings, send along fresh fruit, nuts, yogurt, or a peanut butter and banana sandwich.

Teens also need the right amount of sleep — about 8½ to 9½ hours each night — to be alert and ready to learn all day. But early school start times — on top of schedules packed with classes, homework, extracurricular activities, and friends — mean that it's common for teens to not get enough sleep. Lack of sleep is linked to decreased attentiveness, decreased short-term memory, inconsistent performance, and delayed response time.

You can help by reminding your teen before bedtime to turn off the phone and limit video games and TV.

5. Organizational Skills

Learning and mastering the skills of getting organized, staying focused, and seeing work through to the end will help teens in just about everything they do.

Parents and guardians can help teens keep assignments and class information together in binders, notebooks, or folders that are organized by subject. Creating a calendar will help teens recognize upcoming deadlines and plan their time accordingly. Don't forget to have your teen include non-academic commitments on the calendar, too.

It also helps for teens to make prioritized daily to-do lists, and to study and do homework in a well-lit, quiet, orderly workspace. You can remind your teen that when it comes to studying and homework, multitasking is a time-waster. Working in an environment free of distractions like TV and texts works best.

6. Offer help with Studying

Planning is key for helping your teen study while juggling assignments in multiple subjects. Since grades really count in high school, planning for studying is crucial for success, particularly when your teen's time is taken up with extracurricular activities.

When there's a lot to study, help your teen to break down tasks into smaller chunks and stick to the studying calendar schedule so he or she isn't studying for multiple tests all in one night. Remind your teen to take notes in class, organize them by subject, and review them at home.

If grades are good, your teen may not need help studying. If grades begin to slip, however, it may be time to step in. Most parents still need to help their teen with organization and studying — don't think that teens can do this on their own just because they're in high school!

We help your teen review material and study with several techniques, like simple questioning, asking to provide the missing word, and creating practice tests. The more processes the brain uses to handle information — such as writing, reading, speaking, and listening — the more likely the information will be retained. Repeating words, re-reading passages aloud, re-writing notes, or visualizing or drawing information all help the brain retain data.

7. Take Attendance Seriously

Teens should take a sick day only if they have a fever. Otherwise, it's important that they arrive at school on time every day, because having to catch up with class work, projects, tests, and homework can be stressful and interfere with learning.

Teens may have many reasons for not wanting to go to school — difficult assignments, low grades, social problems, or issues with classmates or teachers. Talk with your teen — and then with school counsellor — to find out more about what's causing any anxiety. Students also may be late to school due to sleep problems. Keeping your teen on a consistent daily sleep schedule can help avoid tiredness.

8. Make Time to Talk About School

Because many teens spend so much of the day outside the home — at school, extracurricular activities, jobs, or with peers — staying connected with them can be challenging for parents and guardians. While activities at school, new interests, and expanding social circles are central to the lives of high school students, parents and guardians are still their anchors for providing love, guidance, and support.

Make efforts to talk with your teen every day, so he or she knows that what goes on at school is important to you. When teens know their parents are interested in their academic lives, they'll take school seriously as well.

Because communication is a two-way street, the way you talk and listen to your teen can influence how well he or she listens and responds. It's important to listen carefully, make eye contact, and avoid multitasking while you chat. Remember to talk with your teen, not at him or her. Be sure to ask open-ended questions that go beyond "yes" or "no" answers.

When teens know they can talk openly with their parents, the challenges of high school can be easier to face