You don’t need to wait for the first parent-teacher conference to determine if your child is starting out on the wrong foot. Chances are, there will be plenty of warning signs.

“Often by the time the school contacts you, it's pretty serious,” says LouAnne Johnson, author of School Is Not a Four-Letter Word: How to Help Your Child Make the Grade (Hyperion, $19.95). “You need to be on top of it.”


Following are the signs to watch for:

Changes in behavior. Says Karen Levine, author of What to Do . . . When Your Child Has Trouble at School (Reader's Digest, $12.95): “Young children may start doing things like chewing on clothes, being reluctant to go to school or talking about themselves negatively. You can send the teacher a note, or call and simply ask, `My son has been anxious about school lately. Have you picked up on anything that we can work on?'”

Shifts in friends, from those who earn good grades to those who don't. It's important to find out what your student is doing in school, Johnson advises. “Sometimes this will signal a major shift in thinking about school.”

Failure to talk about school. Even adolescents usually have something to say, Johnson notes, so this is a cue to talk to your child. You may then need to call the teacher or the guidance counselor.

"Hatred" of school. Younger students either love school or hate it, Johnson says, so if your child says he or she hates school, you need to find out why. “It may be that someone is picking on him,” she says, “or that he's not happy with his grades. Contact the teacher as soon as you can.”

Refusal to hit the books. Allen Guippone, executive director of the Huntington Learning Center in Calverton, says that decreasing reading comprehension could be the problem for a child who is suddenly reluctant to do homework or stops reading for pleasure. “Approach your child's teacher for extra help,” he advises.