Q: Since my son was in kindergarten, I've communicated with his teachers and volunteered in class. He's now in fourth grade and resisting my involvement. He's doing well. Should I back off? I don't want to be a helicopter mom.

A: Unless you're doing his homework, laying out clothes for him each morning, and taping a note to his lunch bag to remind him to eat, you're a far cry from a helicopter mom.

Stay involved; just leave a lighter footprint. As kids get older, we want them to assume independence along with responsibility. One of the key reasons your son is doing well in school is your involvement all these years. You sent a clear message: School is important.

There's no shortage of data showing that kids whose parents are engaged in their education have an edge in academic achievement throughout school.

A study released last fall, "Does Capital at Home Matter More than Capital at School? Social Capital Effects on Academic Achievement," is particularly intriguing. It suggests that parents may have more influence over their children's academic success than schools themselves.

Study authors (Toby Parcel, Ph.D, North Carolina State University; Mikaela Dufur, Ph.D, Brigham Young University; and Kelly Troutman, Ph.D, University of California-Irvine) analyzed the achievement levels of 10,000 12th graders in math, reading, science and history. They matched the students' scores with the level of their "family social capital."

Family social capital included such measures as: Does the parent check the student's homework? Does the parent attend school meetings and events? How often do students report discussing school programs, activities and classes with parents? How much trust does the parent have in the child?

Those students in families with high levels of family social capital were more successful than those with low levels of family social capital.

"Our study shows that parents need to be aware of how important they are, and invest time in their children -- checking homework, attending school events and letting kids know school is important," says Parcel. "That's where the payoff is."

The researchers also looked at "school social capital," a school's ability to serve as a positive environment for learning. This included measures such as student involvement in extracurricular activities, teacher morale and the ability of teachers to address the needs of individual students. The researchers found that students with high levels of family social capital and low levels of school social capital were more likely to excel than students with high levels of school social capital but low family social capital.

"In other words, while both school and family involvement are important, the role of family involvement is stronger when it comes to academic success," Parcel says.

So stay involved in your son's school life, but instead of volunteering in his classroom, contribute in other ways: Tackle a PTO project; serve on a parent advisory committee; spearhead a club such as robotics; or help in the lower grades. Ask the principal how best to apply your energies. When one student's parent is a role model at school, every student benefits.

(Do you have a question about your child's education? Email it to Leanna@aplusadvice.com. Leanna Landsmann is an education writer who began her career as a classroom teacher. She has served on education commissions, visited classrooms in 49 states to observe best practices, and founded Principal for a Day in New York City.)

Q: My son's fourth-grade teacher says he should read more for pleasure. My sister says boys read more if they have an e-reader. If I get one, will he really read more or just play video games?

A: It depends on the guidance you give him and the limits you set. "Managing screen time is a big challenge for parents today," says Francie Alexander, the chief academic officer of Scholastic Inc. She cites data from the recently released Scholastic 2012 Kids and Family Reading Report, adding, "The vast majority of parents think their children spend too much time playing video games or visiting social networking sites. Half of parents feel their children do not spend enough time reading books for fun."

The study, done last fall, shows some evidence that tablets can increase the time a child spends reading for pleasure. "We learned that kids who read e-books are reading more -- especially boys," says Alexander. "Half of children ages 9-17 say they would read more books for fun if they had greater access to e-books. That's a 50 percent increase since our 2010 survey.

"We learned that struggling readers like e-books because they feel 'cool' and can read material at a lower level without anyone knowing or judging it."

But don't think an e-reader will turn your son into a bookworm. The real impact comes when parents commit to key behaviors at home. For instance, the study shows that children who read most frequently for pleasure have parents who model reading.

"Not surprisingly, when parents are frequent readers, their kids are also frequent readers," notes Alexander. "The second factor is access to a large collection of books and reading materials in the home -- these have a greater impact on kids' reading frequency than household income."

Fourth grade is a critically important year in building reading stamina, advises Alexander.

"The coursework requires that students read complex texts, for longer periods of time," she says. "There's no way they can get enough reading practice at school to build this stamina and develop a content-rich vocabulary."

To raise a great reader, incorporate these behaviors into home life:

-- Be a reading role model for your children -- let them see you reading every day.

-- Fill your home with books and reading materials -- magazines, newspapers, comic books, how-to guides and reading materials that tap into your children's interests and passions.

-- Read aloud to your children -- even after they turn 8. Don't stop -- kids love to be read to! "It's quiet, cozy time kids crave," says Alexander. "Reading aloud shows your kids that reading is fun, builds their vocabularies, develops background knowledge they will need to understand meaning and texts when they read on their own. It can inspire a lifetime love of reading!"

Build reading into your children's daily schedule -- create reading routines at home -- using print, digital or both. The habit of reading on their own each day will grow with them over time.

(Do you have a question about your child's education? Email it to Leanna@aplusadvice.com. Leanna Landsmann is an education writer who began her career as a classroom teacher. She has served on education commissions, visited classrooms in 49 states to observe best practices, and founded Principal for a Day in New York City.)

Q: Our elementary school launched a science fair and I couldn't convince my third-grade son or fourth-grade daughter to enter. I want them to like science. Are science fairs old-fashioned?

A: Definitely not! Science fairs have increased, thanks to a national emphasis on STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics), but not all elementary schools are on board.

Many elementary teachers, charged with heavy reading and math teaching requirements, skimp on science. The U.S. Department of Education says that elementary students receive, on average, only 2.3 hours of science instruction per week, compared to three hours 20 years ago.

Want your kids to love science? Parents have to sow the seeds, and now's the time, says Bill Nye, television's "Science Guy."

"I can tell you as a guy who worked on airplanes, ships, oil wells, airborne electronics and even ballet shoes -- everyone who works on those things for a living got excited about science before he or she was 10 years old," he says.

Here's how to sow those science seeds:

-- Make informal science a priority. Kids who excel in science have parents who stimulate interest in exploration. They visit science institutions such as parks, aquariums, science centers and natural-history museums.

"They use the language and skills of science," says Nancy Bourne, an award-winning teacher at Beacon Cove Intermediate School in Jupiter, Fla. "Curiosity -- asking questions -- is at the heart of science. Every day there are hundreds of things to observe, inquire and make hypotheses about. Pick one and model scientific thinking: 'Let's observe these interesting clouds! Are they darker than those we saw yesterday? What direction are they coming from? What weather will they bring?'

"When you observe differences, record observations, make hypotheses and identify patterns, you help develop science skills."

-- Add a big dose of science to your media diet. "Subscribe to kids' science magazines and websites, and download science apps," says Bourne. "Ditch junk TV and choose instead the great science programming on TV and online, such as National Geographic, Discovery Channel and Bill Nye's 'Consider the Following' (billnye.com). Track progress of the Mars Rover, for example.

"For thrills, you can't beat Discovery Channel's groundbreaking footage of a giant squid, 'Monster Squid: The Giant Is Real,' airing this month. Follow up with the book 'Here There Be Monsters: The Legendary Kraken and the Giant Squid' (Houghton Mifflin, 2010) that weaves scientific discovery with historical accounts."

-- Incorporate science into family reading time. "There are hundreds of compelling science books," says science educator Sandra Markle, whose latest book, "Snow School" (Charlesbridge Publishing, 2013), shows how a mother snow leopard teaches her cubs to survive in their harsh home.

Books like these are fun to read aloud, and can be followed up with family activities, like those suggested on Markle's "Write On!" blog (sandra-markle.blogspot.com). Each year, the National Science Teachers Association publishes the year's best science books for young people. Go to nsta.org/publications.

-- Advocate for STEM excellence. Check out Change the Equation, a nonpartisan effort to promote STEM literacy. Find effective programs to improve STEM teaching at changetheequation.org.

(Do you have a question about your child's education? Email it to Leanna@aplusadvice.com. Leanna Landsmann is an education writer who began her career as a classroom teacher. She has served on education commissions, visited classrooms in 49 states to observe best practices, and founded Principal for a Day in New York City.)