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My husband and I were alarmed at our younger daughter's work habits. Although she did her homework every night, she did it with her back on the floor and her feet propped up on the bed, with rock music blaring in the background, and with a phone in one hand while she wrote with the other. It wasn't until we realized that her papers were always well organized and very well written, and noticed that she consistently scored near the top of her class, that we decided to stop trying to change her way of doing things. We're still not sure how she manages it, but it works for her.

The essence of good study habits does not lie in any particular strategy, but in the student's motivation. While a good workspace should certainly be provided, students can and do flunk classes while working in such a space, while others do extraordinary work with habits that appear sloppy or disorganized to their parents. There is no one best way to study. Parents should provide a suggested way to proceed, but intervene only where the quality of the work indicates a need for improvement.

Long before your child starts school, you should begin to instill the love of learning that is at the heart of most outstanding academic performance. Read to your child, and be sure your house is well stocked with books and toys that stimulate his imagination. If his questions are answered, he'll continue to ask them, but if he learns that his parents don't know and can't bother to find out he'll stop caring. The more his curiosity is stimulated, the more likely he is to be motivated to work hard and follow through to get the answers he wants. Let him experience mild frustration so he will develop confidence in his ability to overcome obstacles.

Begin to instill internal motivation in your child as soon as possible. All children go through rebellious phases, and if your child's reason for doing well in school is to please his parents, his work may well decline as he struggles for independence. Let your child know the satisfaction of a job well done by doing your own tasks to the best of your ability, and finishing what you start. Make sure he knows that although you like him to do well, doing well in school is something he does primarily for himself, so he can be proud of himself and so he will be able to be anything he wants to be when he grows up.

Encourage good study habits by providing a quiet, well-lit place to work that is stocked with all the necessary tools, but judge his habits by results, not outward

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