Child Trends is pleased to assist the Tauck Family Foundation as it sharpens its focus on programs that help children build the skills they need to succeed in the elementary school years and beyond. Through the course of our work together, four particular skills have emerged as potential areas of focus for the Foundation: self-control, persistence, mastery orientation, and academic self-efficacy. This short paper summarizes Child Trends' review of existing research and our understanding of the Tauck Family Foundation's goals and objectives. A longer paper, "Encouraging the Development of Key Life Skills in Elementary School-Age Children: A Literature Review and Recommendations to the Tauck Family Foundation," provides a more in-depth scholarly review of the research. This document is intended as a summary for a general audience. It presents: (1) A clear rationale for focusing on these four related skills; and (2) A user-friendly overview of each skill, including an understandable definition of the skill, a discussion of the outcomes it is likely to influence, and suggestions about concrete strategies that can help children improve in each area. At the highest level, these four self-management skills are important because they have the capacity to boost elementary-school-aged children's academic achievement, which is, in turn, critical for their long-term success. These skills are also malleable: They can be improved through strategies that can be used in both the classroom and out-of-school time settings. Fundamentally, these are skills that empower children--giving them some measure of control, in the face of serious challenges and barriers, and potentially providing a route out of poverty for the young people who master them.