At home learning spaces are becoming more of a popular necessity since our country has been hit with the Coronavirus. In March, schools and even some daycare facilities closed, causing students to have to learn from home. With the new school year starting, some parents have chosen to keep their children at home in a full e-learning school or even a hybrid one.
Whether you have school-age children or toddlers, an at home learning corner can be beneficial to your child’s learning atmosphere. A dedicated home learning space can help develop your child’s creativity, sharpen their focus, and increase their motivation to read and learn.
In this week’s blog, we will cover how you can carve out a space in your already busy home to invite a spirit of learning.
Benefits of a learning space
Having a dedicated area in your home for learning can foster a positive, focused and motivational experience for your child. This can help your child view education as a priority in your household and help them understand that they can learn anywhere, not just at school. An at home learning space can also help set routines that support your child to learn independently. This can help set your child up for success in the long run.
Set the space
Finding an area in your home to set up a learning space may not be as hard as it sounds. There are many ways to create this space without giving up a huge section of your home. You can dedicate a corner of a room or you can also create learning spaces that are more flexible. For example, pull out the same foldable chairs and tables when it is time to learn. This provides consistency for your child. When they see that table and chairs, they will know it’s time to learn! You can also create a learning box you can bring to the kitchen table each day. Your learning space could even be a specific lap desk in the living room.
Lessen distractions
A child’s attention span is an average of 3-5 minutes per year of a child’s age (for example: a three-year old would have an average attention span of 9-15 minutes). Because of this, it’s important to remove distractions from your child’s learning space. Make sure the television is turned off and phones are put away during learning time. You can also fill the space with fun, education focused items. This can help put your child in a learning atmosphere, mentally and physically.
Be sure the space is decluttered to help your child focus on the learning opportunity in front of them.
Add the essentials
Making your child’s learning corner comfortable and tailored to their likes and needs goes a long way. Think of it as if you were decorating your office – you would want a comfortable and effective place to work.
Make the space visual, but don’t over do it. Too many visual pieces in the space can actually become a distraction for your child and make it hard to focus. For example, you can hang up positive affirmation word posters, letters of the alphabet, colors and numbers. Shy away from posting “rules” as that may disrupt the positive flow of the space.
Add learning games and books that correlate with your child’s age and development level. For example, sensory bins can be set up for your child starting as young as 6 months of age. For more information on sensory bins, view our ‘Links to Resources’ below. Add a book bin or shelf to encourage reading. Whether your child can read or not, our TALK. READ. SING. Community Initiative encourages parents to read to your child from birth to help build brain development.
Success for children starts at home. Positive parenting and the encouragement of learning outside of the classroom will help your child succeed on their life journey. Below are some examples of learning spaces you can try at home!
Links to Resources
Why at home learning spaces matter