Helping 10 Year Olds: How to Help My 10 Year Old Study Better

Helping Your Child Succeed in Elementary School

Elementary education creates a foundation for lifelong learning. The skills and concepts introduced in elementary school may become particularly important in your child's daily life as well as for his or her future education and career. The following are a few pointers to help you help your child.

What Can My Child Expect From Elementary School?

Elementary education introduces students to a wide array of subjects, such as mathematics, language arts and science. Many of these new concepts may be difficult for children to learn. However, the earlier you provide your child with good study habits, the less frustration you'll both have later.

Elementary school is not only about setting an educational background to build on later. It's also about socialization and determining what your child's strengths and weaknesses in years to come.

What Can I Do at Home to Help My Child?

It's important to create a positive, supportive and, above all, learning-friendly environment at home. Maintain a consistent schedule so that your child gets accustomed to learning at the same time each and every day. If it's possible, provide your child with her or his own space for schoolwork. Keep this space free of any distraction.

Stay in close contact with your child's teachers and any other learning professionals who may be working with your child. Monitor your child's homework, school assignments, tests and quizzes regularly in order to help ensure that he or she is progressing in school. Sit down with your child and provide any help that you can.

What Kind of Testing Is There in Elementary School?

The kinds of exams that your child can expect to take depends on the type of school he or she is enrolled in. The testing will probably be very different if your child attends a public school to if he or she attends a private, art-focused school. However, there's a fair chance that your child will be required to take placement exams every year and a strong chance that he or she will take standardized tests. What's on these standardized tests will typically be based upon the learning standards of your state. You can usually expect there to be sections for reading, writing, mathematics and sometimes social studies and science.

What Resources Are Available to Help My Child?

Educational games and activities on the Internet will help your child to practice her or his lessons in a fun and interactive way. Language arts websites have games that focus on grammar and sentence structure and games that test a child's reading comprehension. There are also many sites that will help your child with math, science and social studies. Some sites offer volunteer tutoring and homework help.

If your child is struggling in elementary school at any point, don't hesitate to ask your child's teachers for help. Many after-school programs at your child's school or at local learning centers may prove to be helpful. It may be necessary to hire a private, one-on-one tutor or a tutor who works for a large, national tutoring company. There are also many tutoring services online from which your child can get help via instant messaging, e-mail and Web cam.