With the crucial second school semester in full bloom, this is the time most parents feel they’re in the loop on how their kids are doing in school. They know which subjects are hard or easy and what makes their child’s teacher tick.

But it’s also the time some parents overlook other aspects of the school experience that can impact learning.

So consider a mid-year check up to identify problems and figure out how to resolve them before you are caught off-guard. Here are 6 areas to explore and tips to make things go more smoothly .

 1. Academic progress

Classes often get harder now and high-stakes testing is approaching. Teachers will decide if your child will be promoted or retained so it’s best to have a handle on current grades and test scores. If things are going well:

Have a parent-teacher conference. Review test scores and grades and get suggestions on how to improve school performance.

Hire a tutor. Consider a retired teacher or even a high school student.

Schedule upcoming class projects.  Mark due dates on a calendar so your child can allow time and effort to complete the science fair project or extended book report.

 2. Attendance and tardies

Next to grades, the highest correlation to school success is showing up in class on time ready to learn. Many parents are shocked to discover their kids are “missing” classes and marked absent.

Review their record. Don’t forget to look at attendances and tardies.

Find a solution for lateness.  If your child is chronically late waking up, get him an alarm clock. Or communicate with the teacher on a daily or weekly basis until the problem is resolved.

 3. Lack of friends

Friends play an enormous part of not only our children’s self-esteem but also school success. A lack of friends or rejection makes concentrating on those school assignments more difficult. While your child doesn’t need many friends he does need one loyal buddy and the kind of friends who value education.

Draw a map. To see if your child has peer support, ask him to draw a map of school locations where kids are most likely to be excluded: school cafeteria or playground. Where are other kids in relation to your child?

Get ideas from teacher. If your child has few or no friends or is rejected, as the teacher for friendship-making suggestions. Also, find group activity to support child’s passion. School-aged children choose friends based on similar interests so identify your child’s passion or interests and then find a group activity with same-aged peers that support it.

4. Activity overload

Many students take on more activities after the holidays, which may contribute to stress and cut into energy and time needed to devote to school-work.

Cut back.  See if your child’s schedule is balanced and allows downtime to relax or be with friends. If you sense overload mode, suggest that your child cut one thing to free up time and give him a chance to decompress. Cutting just one thing can make a big difference.

5. Sleep deprivation

A lack of sleep can have a serious impact on children’s to learn and perform at school. Missing one hour of sleep prior can affect as much as one grade on the test the following morning.

Get a bedtime schedule. Take note of whether your child wakes up groggy and unrefreshed. If so, restore a routine bedtime schedule. Often after the holiday break that routine decreases. Research finds sticking to a routine bed time is the best way for a night sleep.

Get unplugged.  Turn computer and TV off at least 30 minutes prior to bedtime –flickering lights affect REM. And remove cell phones after lights out (62% of kids admit they use it after the lights go out and their parents are clueless).

6. Poor Nutrition

Are mornings rushed and your kid is missing that crucial first meal? Not good, because a healthy breakfast is important for concentrating and keeping stamina up.

Offer healthy food options.  Consider ready-to-go bottles of orange juice or milk, low-fat yogurt, apples and whole-grain English muffins.

Beware of coffee. The consumption of coffee, caffeinated sodas and energy drinks are a growing trend for teen energy and can rob sleep. Restock your fridge with easy to grab bottles of water for backpacks.

The secret is to identify simple things you may overlook that can affect your child’s learning success. Then find a solution that works for your family and commit to implementing it until you reap positive change.

Michele Borba is a psychologist and TODAY contributor. For more parenting solutions go to Dr. Borba’s website: www.micheleborba.com and follow her on twitter @MicheleBorba.

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Bribing kids to eat their broccoli, banning sweets and offering too much 100 percent fruit juice can backfire on even the most well-meaning parents. Here are 8 feeding mistakes parents too-often make:

Mistake 1: Telling kids to clean their plate
For the most part, healthy young children eat when they are hungry and stop when they are full. As a parent, you don’t want to mess around with their internal cues by encouraging or bribing them to “clean their plates” and eat past the point of fullness.

Instead, provide small-moderate portions at meals and encourage your kids to eat until they are comfortably full. Teaching your kids to be “in tune” with their own hunger and fullness cues will allow them to have a comfortable relationship with food and avoid overeating as they grow older.

Mistake 2: Offering sweet rewards
Trying to get children to eat their vegetables can be downright frustrating – and parents often resort to bribery. Does this sound familiar? “Eat your broccoli and you can have ice cream for dessert.”

But unfortunately, this technique teaches our kids that broccoli and other vegetables are “less appealing” because their consumption requires a reward. At the same time, this approach positions dessert as the prize, something to be valued over other foods. 

Plus, multiple studies have shown that, in the long run, preference for foods decreases when kids are given rewards for eating them. Bottom line: Keep dessert a separate entity versus the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.

Mistake 3: Serving up too many snacks
Constant snacking throughout the day translates to calorie overload – plus, can leave kids uninterested in nutritious food (like chicken and vegetables) at mealtime when lunch or dinner rolls around. 

Try to stick to a consistent meal and snack schedule. Allow at least 2 hours between snacks and meals.  No more than 2-3 snacks a day, and limit them to about 150 calories apiece. 

Mistake 4: Filling up on empty liquid calories
An eye-opening study in the journal Pediatrics found that today’s youths take in 10 to 15 percent of their total daily calories from sugar-sweetened beverages (like soda, sports drinks, and fruit drinks) and 100 percent fruit juice.  Further, kids’ average daily caloric intake from these beverages increased from 242 calories to 270 calories over the last 10 years and continues to rise.  Most of these drinks are sources of empty calories, meaning they provide simple sugars but little else in the way of nutrients — plus, high-calorie beverages do not trigger the same satiety mechanisms as solid foods.  This means that your kids are unlikely to feel full from drinking lots of soda or juice, and therefore will not innately compensate for the extra liquid calories they slurp up, which can inevitably pack on the pounds.

Your best bet is to limit the beverage choices offered in your home to water (including seltzer and sparkling water), low-fat milk (after age 2), and diluted 100 percent fruit juice on occasion.  Don’t introduce young kids to sugary waters, juice drinks, or soda at a young age.  Set a good example, and don’t drink them yourself!

Mistake 5: Giving in to kids’ dinner demands
When it comes to mealtime, kids inevitably request pizza, chicken nuggets, pasta, burgers and fries. Instead of accommodating unhealthy requests, parents should take charge — nix sugary breakfast cereals and pastries in the am, and provide ONE universal meal for dinner each night (of course, try to take your kids taste preferences into account). 

In fact, you can even learn to prepare healthier versions of your kids’ favorite meals by making simple swaps in the kitchen: use lean meats (like ground turkey in place of fatty ground chuck), low-fat dairy (cheese, milk, yogurt) in place of full-fat varieties, and lighter condiments. If they love chicken nuggets and fries, prepare “baked” nuggets with “oven roasted” potato fries and a green vegetable. If they like burgers, make lean turkey burgers. If they crave pasta, try whole-wheat pasta with marinara and turkey meatballs.

And there’s no need to rely on “kid foods” every night of the week.  Continually try out new foods and recipes -- healthy renditions of beef stir-fry, chicken parmesean, even hoisin-glazed salmon -- and make it a policy for your kids to take at least one bite.  If you encourage them to sample new foods regularly, as they grow older and their taste buds evolve, they’ll be more likely to enjoy a healthy variety.

If they don't want to eat what's being served for dinner, I suggest offering one "back up" meal that doesn't require the stove or oven (this way you’re not a short order cook) — perhaps a bowl of whole grain cereal with skim milk and bananas, or maybe a peanut butter & jelly sandwich.  This strategy gives the child some power, parents some less-exhaustive options, and puts boring limitations on dinner so your kids are more likely to venture out and try new things on the table.

Mistake 6: Letting kids overdose on screen time
According to a 2010 Kaiser Family Foundation report, in a typical day, 8 to 18-year-olds in this country spend more than 7½ hours using media (TV, music, computer video games, etc.). That’s almost a full work-day of media time each and every day! When kids are parked in front of the tube, they’re totally sedentary and eating up time that might otherwise be spent playing or moving around. Plus, there’s a good chance they’re mindlessly snacking on junk food while watching their shows — and also being bombarded by unhealthy food ads. SO it’s actually a TRIPLE whammy of unhealthy habits.

Set house rules on television time, and limit your kids to their favorite shows. Only have the TV on at set times when people are watching a designated program — don’t keep it on as background noise all day long. And definitely don’t allow the TV to be on during mealtimes —when it can distract them and interfere with them listening to their body’s natural fullness cues.

It's also a good idea to keep TVs and video game systems out of their bedrooms and store their electronics (cell phones, video games, iPads, laptops, etc.) in a public space at the end of the day so they’re not staying up late to use them at night.

Mistake 7: Letting kids stay up late
Sleep deprivation messes with appetite cues. It increases levels of hormones that make kids hungrier and decreases levels of hormones that keep kids feeling full, so tired kids are more likely to want snacks and nibble and graze throughout the day. Plus, if your kids aren’t well rested, you’ll have more issues getting them up in the morning in time to eat a healthy breakfast (and skipping breakfast makes them far hungrier in the afternoon/evening hours).

What to do: Set a firm bedtime, have a routine in place and get your kids ready for bed at the same time each night.

Mistake 8: Using strollers excessively
Strollers are a wonderful necessity, but using them excessively as your kids get older robs them of exercise — and reinforces the idea that it's okay to be sedentary. Whenever possible, encourage toddlers and young kids to walk on their own instead of being pushed in the stroller (when you're out for a walk, try 10 minutes in the stroller and 10 minutes out). And make sure you’re phasing out the stroller as your kids get older — lots of parents wheel kids around after 3, when they are certainly capable of walking.

For more information on healthy eating, visit joybauer.com and follow Joy on Facebook and Twitter.

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