Many parents will be starting to feel the exhaustion from getting back into school and extracurriculars.

We often go into the new year with high expectations of ourselves - like completely homemade school lunches, no takeout, keeping on top of house work - but quickly realise there was a reason we weren't accomplishing all that last year.

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A new report this week found nearly 90% of Auckland primary school say there's an increasing number of new entrants starting school without bare basic skills like being toilet trained and talking properly.

These are 5 year olds who are otherwise capable, but some stage of their early childhood seems to have been neglected - they can't even identify the letters of their name or hold a pencil.

As harsh as it may be, the blame does have to land somewhere.

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Schools have started back up and we all, obviously, want our children to do well.

Parents will be doing drop off and pick up, making sure the homework is done and forms are signed, keeping an eye on grades and reports.

But how involved should parents really be in their children's education?

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