Did you know that nine months of weekly piano or voice training raises young students' IQ by three points?

From listening to classical music in the womb, to AP music theory in high school, it's well documented how music helps developing minds. High school music students score higher on the math and verbal portion of the SAT. Young children perform 34 percent higher on tests measuring proportional reasoning, and after three years of study pattern recognition and mental representation of music students is greatly enhanced. Here are resources that can help you hack your child's developing mind.

It's commonly known that kids should wake up and eat breakfast to increase performance at school. Eating breakfast boosts energy, memory, and attention span. But did you know that good nutrition--from the womb through adolescence-- promotes healthy and well developed brains? Here are some resources to guide you through nutrition that will have your kid energized, and getting smarter by the day.

Video games change your brain. The combination of concentration and the brain's reward mechanisms strengthen neural circuits and promote learning. This can be a good, and a bad thing (think habituating an addiction to games, or helping you learn). Contrary to previous criticisms, it has recently been found that violent games do not particularly lead to aggression in players save in those who are already predisposed for violence.

What many video games do develop, however, are increased gray matter in the brain, better memory, spatial navigation, strategic planning and fine motor skills. Check out our resources for how to use video games productivelly in your child's life below.

This shouldn't be a mystery to you, but when parents feel like children need to begin competing for top schools, careers, and so on at an early age, play often falls through the cracks. Kids need to be kids! Part of being a child is having unstructured time with which to use your imagination, to problem solve about the world on your own, and to develop as a young person. After all, kids won't have someone to plan their every move for their whole lives. Best to let them learn how to learn on their own. Below are some resources on how to get the most from times when you're kid is playing.

We know it's easier to hook your kid up to the 300 channels you have, or their Xbox, Nintendo DS (name your console of choice). Or maybe you're kid uses educational software, or is doing extra programs to learn a new language. But the truth of the matter is that your kid needs to be outside. They need to be getting exercise, interacting with other children, learning about the world, and perhaps surprisingly, developing their minds.

Exercise builds brain cells in the dentate gyrus region (responsible for memory and memory loss), helps aids attention span, and increases self-correcting ability. Here are some resources to explain the role of exercise in developing your child's brain.

We all know that reading can open up the world to you, particularly for younger children. You've also probably heard that continuing to read later in life can lower your chances of developing memory loss or Alzheimer's. But did you know that even being read to can light up your brain and yield brain growth? What about the fact that reading deeply (particularly fictional texts) can increase your ability to be empathetic to others? Besides the actual knowledge you gain, and the new places you can explore, there are a number of unexpected benefits to reading. Here are some resources about why reading from a young age is imperative for good brain growth in your child.

If you're already a parent, you know the horrors of a child who doesn't get enough sleep. Chances are, they'll peter out in about a day or so, but there's still something to be said for keeping a regular sleep schedule and normal sleep patterns. Though children will spend more time asleep than awake through the first two years of their lives, sleep rhythms will even out as your child ages. It's important to keep tabs throughout adolescence, as abnormal sleep patterns can harm scholastic, social, and emotional development, as well as deter normal brain development. Here are some resources to inform you about your child's sleep needs, and help promote usual sleep patterns.

It's obvious that self esteem is important to a well rounded and happy child, but it also plays a role in helping your child intellectually and in school. The ability to feel free to question and participate in discussions are school, as well as ensuring that your child isn't focused on insecurities and negative attention-seeking behaviors. The key: praise effort, not intelligence. Here are some resources to help evaluate your child's self-esteem, and tips for boosting it.

Learning languages is fulfilling, and a useful skill later in life, but did you know that learning more than one language actually changes the structure of your brain? Particularly at a young age, the learning of two or more languages promotes mental flexibility similarly to learning how to juggle. Memory and spatial intelligence also develop. As very young children's' brains are developing the fastest they ever will be, young childhood is the best time to take advantage of the brain's changeable nature and learn a new language. Below are resources to help you and your child learn a new language.