Helping Your Child Succeed in School: Ages 5 to 9 (continued)

Children tend to argue over the same space (even in a big room). By having an area of the floor marked off, each child has a place that feels like his own.

Having a special place at home helps children to focus on what they are studying.

What You Need

• Space - even a tiny area will do
• Small table
• Chair
• Lamp
• Small floor covering

What to Do

• Find a quiet study area away from the TV and radio for each child (even those not old enough to have homework yet).

• Put a rug or a section cut from an old blanket or sheet on a small area of the floor. Use this to mark off each child's private study space. Put the table and chair on the floor covering. This space does not have to be in the same place all the time. If the table is lightweight, the floor covering can be put down any place it is out of the way (such as near the kitchen if a child needs help as you are fixing dinner). It can also be put away when it is not being used.

• If the study space will always be in the same place, let the child try out different arrangements of the furniture to see what works best. Make sure she arranges the lamp so that the study area is well lit.

• Have her label items with her name. 

Making Money

For children ages 7 to 9

Help your child learn about money.

Children can be confused by money. Some might think that the larger a coin is the more valuable it is - so a penny or nickel would be more valuable than a dime. Playing counting games at home can be valuable in helping children deal with numbers and math concepts in school.

What You Need

• Dice
• Pennies, nickels, dimes

What to Do

• This is a good game to play with the family. Have each player roll the dice and say the number. Then give the player that number of pennies.

• When a player gets five pennies, replace the pennies with a nickel. When he gets ten pennies, replace them with a dime.

• The first player to reach the set amount - 25 or 50 cents, for example - wins.