Pop singer Britney Spears was granted more time with her two sons on yesterday's closed door hearing after she was praised for trying to get her personal life back under control, according to media reports today.

Spears turned up at court on time, accompanied by her parents. It was a striking contrast to weekly court sessions of a few months ago when she failed to appear or left abruptly.

Elliott Mintz, the spokesman of Spears' ex-husband Kevin Federline, said Federline was pleased by the hearing.

"At the end of this saga he is hoping and believing that there will be two children who are raised in the company of the two people who love them," Mintz said.

Spears was stripped last October of legal and physical custody of her two sons. She lost the right to visit them in January but Federline agreed in February that Spears could occasionally see the boys under supervision.

The singer has turned her life around in the past two months after a year of bizarre behavior. She laid low and avoided the cameras. She spent time with family members. She found work, and succeeded at it.

She returned as a guest star on TV sitcom "How I Met Your Mother" and is set to reprise her role as a office assistant on the show in May.

"We are so pleased at Britney's progress and we are very appreciative of the court's recognition of this progress," her parents said yesterday.

Spears is due back in court in July for a further progress report.