The U.S. Census Bureau has released new data from 2009 that sheds light on the lives of children, and what role certain activities play in their academic performance.

Using statistics from the Survey of Income and Program Participation, the organization created its Selected Indicators of Child Well-Being (A Child's Day): 2009. This series of tables revealed insight into how children under the age of 18 spent their days and how much they interacted with their parents.

In 2009, half of children between the ages of 1 and 5 had a family member read to them at least seven times a week. Not only were these interactions high among families that were above the poverty level, but these reading activities have also increased among less affluent families over the past 10 years.

As more children acquire the skills they need to read at a young age, the number of students who are taking advanced placement and honors classes is also growing. The organization found that between 1998 and 2009, the percentage of individuals who were 12 to 17 years old and enrolled in gifted classes increased from 21 to 27 percent.

If children display signs of above-average intelligence, parents may want to have them take a kids IQ test to see if they have advanced learning needs or are considered to be gifted. 

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