How Hard and How Far Should We Push Our Children Academically?

In the news several weeks ago, there was a report of a mother who was at her wits' end with her child who refused every one of her attempts to motivate him to embrace his schoolwork.

Pushed to the limit, she somehow got him to stand on a street corner wearing a sandwich board that said something like, "Honk if you think I need an education."

Though her tactics were rash, certainly humiliating and possibly irrational and unacceptable, there are times when almost all mothers wonder what we can do to help our children live up to their potential.

Says one of our very own Moms Council members, "My son runs hot and cold with school work. I know he's smart and I know he has talent, but there are times when he just won't give his all and won't show any initiative. He gets a bad grade here and there.

I'm having a hard time figuring out where to step in with help and how much help to give. Should I give my own ideas or work off of his? It's so tough because he needs to learn how to study and figure things out on his own yet...he needs a push. The hard part is figuring out how much of a push to give."

So our question today is:

How hard and how far should we push our children academically?