What can parents do to better ensure a better student -- both scholastically and socially? Here are some tips.

Before you improve study habits, you have to find out if the child has any study habits. First, make sure your student has a good place to work, with a comfortable chair, a large writing surface and a place to store books and other supplies. This work area should also be quiet enough to foster concentration.

Teach your student how to be organized. Are all the material needed to study on hand? Have your student collect the books, handouts, notes and exercises related to the test topic. Make it clear that reading the assigned material means understanding it, which often means reading it more than once. You can take an active role by quizzing the child. Doing poorly on your quiz will teach the lesson to be better prepared for the real one.

Most parents develop some type of system for keeping track of their responsibilities at work and at home. Likewise, parents need to help their children learn to schedule their lives responsibly and get things done on time. For many families, a big calendar with large open blocks works best. Use it to track short-term and long-term projects and after-school activities. For homework assigned on Monday that's due the following Monday, you can help your child break down the requirements into manageable chunks. This will help you, too. For example, you may need to drive a child to the library for research. By having the project outlined on the calendar, this trip can fit into your schedule as well as your child's. Fewer surprises mean less tension between you and your child.

Extra-curricular activities play an important role in a student's education. Help your child learn to set priorities so that he or she can do as much as possible but still keep up with homework and family obligations.

Your student's first priority should be school. This means allowing enough time to get homework done. After that, you need to add in things that are important to your family. Are household chores a consideration? How about family time? Bedtime puts a cap on how late the schedule can run. Let your child join as many activities as can fit in the schedule, while still maintaining good grades and completing chores. If activities have to be cut, let your child make the choice about which ones.

Every parent is concerned about their child joining the "wrong" crowd. Kids who do well (scholastically or socially) tend to hang out together. Kids who do poorly and who don't want to be in school also group together for mutual support.

Before criticizing any of your child's friends, find out more about them. Don't assume that because kids dress differently or dye their hair that they get bad grades. If you find out that your child's friends are causing trouble at school, make it clear that you do not want your child spending time with them. Instead, encourage your child to develop friendships with kids whose values are more like those of your family.

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