It's a new school year. The headline of a local paper reads: "Only 179 Days To Go". An area supermarket chain, trying to be cute in advertising school supplies, runs a radio ad where the word "school" is never spoken but is always negatively referenced: " Remember that place where you had to sit still all day . . ." A DJ on a radio station interviews children on the first day of school. "What is your favorite part of the day?", the announcer asks." "Recess!", answers a little girl with a lisp. The DJ rewards her response with laughter and a prize - prompting the next three kids to come up with variations: "Recess." "Lunch." "Going home." More laughter. More prizes.

Argh! There's something very wrong with this picture. Just what are American values around education anyway?

Remember our babies? Every moment was a moment of learning. Everything in the environment was touched, smelled, tasted, turned over and examined. Every day was filled with curiosity and insatiable exploration. Watch any two year old and you'll see a learning machine. Talk to a preschooler about almost anything and you'll find yourself having to think about it in a new way. Put a three year old on a playground where no one speaks his language and watch how easily he learns words and phrases by the end of the day.

Learning and, more important, the drive for learning is a natural part of being human. The greatest gift we can give our children is an a life-long enthusiasm for learning new things. Here are some of the ways that families with successful students keep that enthusiasm for education alive and well.

• Keep reading to your children, even when they are able to read by themselves. It's well documented that kids who are regularly read to do better in school.

• Turn off the TV during the week. Roll it into a closet if you have to. If people need background noise to work, use a radio. If TV isn't available, you won't have to argue about it every night and kids won't rush through homework to get to a certain show.

• Set aside a time and place for doing homework. It doesn't have to be fancy. Many families just clear off the kitchen table after supper. The important thing is that the kids get the message that doing their homework is the first priority in their evening.

• Do your "homework" while the kids are doing theirs. Homework time can be time for balancing the checkbook, reading up on something, doing paperwork from the office, or writing a letter. It's important that kids see you engaged in reading, writing, and figuring things out.

• Check homework for completeness and neatness only. On math papers, insist that your kids show their work, not just the answers. Kids need to know that how they present their work is an indication of self-respect and respect for others. Teachers need to see your children's mistakes in order to understand what they do and don't understand. It does not help your child when you take over and "improve" what they have done.

• Be genuinely curious about what your kids are learning and what they think about it. Help your children think critically about what they read by asking them for their reactions to the material.

• Establish a family policy that papers that receive less than a B for a grade get done over and resubmitted - regardless of whether the teacher demands it. Think about it. A grade of B or below means that your child hasn't learned 20% or more of what the teacher wanted her or him to know. Use school papers as part of a learning process between your child and the teacher. Have your child keep submitting work until the teacher is satisfied that your child knows the material. Ultimately, it isn't the grade that is important. It is whether the child has mastered what has been taught.

• If your child has special needs or learning disabilities, find out what she or he needs from you to support what is being taught in school. Be an energetic advocate for alternative programs within the school. Almost every kid can learn. The adults in their lives just have to figure out how to teach them.

I'll know that this generation of parents has been successful at supporting good education in our schools when I see a June headline that reads "Only 89 days left to go before kids get to go back to school". I'll know that we really value our schools when a radio ad begins with something like "Remember when you got to be in a place where you had to do nothing but learn new things every day?" . I'll know that our kids are getting the right message when a DJ asks, "What's your favorite part of the day?" and kids say things like "Writing stories." "Figuring out stuff in the science lab." "Talking about new ideas." Then we'll all deserve prizes.

Dr. Marie advises:

The most important factor for keeping the joy of learning alive for your children is to be joyful about it yourself. Parents who are attentive and excited about their children's schooling (and their own) usually have children who are attentive and excited about school.