One of the most dramatic routine shifts caused by the pandemic is the fact children still can’t go to school in most cities due to the risk of contagion. This has led parents to seek out alternative ways to continue their children’s education in some way while schools are still unsafe, which leads us to homeschooling.

Obviously there are many challenges to homeschooling, but today we’re focusing on the basics to get you started: how to set up a room for homeschooling and ideas to make it more productive!

Turns out there’s a lot you can do to ensure a healthy and comfortable environment for learning, and getting this step right will make your homeschooling journey a lot easier on you and your children.

“We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them. – Albert Einstein

Keep things in the right place

You’ll probably gather an assortment of educational books and tools while researching homeschooling ideas, and the reason you want to keep them organized isn’t just for the obvious practicality. The real reason is because it makes it easier for children to quickly find material they’re interested in. 

Even when not in study hours, they’re much more likely to reach out for a book if they can quickly find them!

Keep a calendar

Deciding what will happen on a daily basis is stressful for you and your children. Instead, set up a calendar that your child also has access too in order to keep things moving forward. Obviously you can make adjustments when necessary, but having the week laid out in this manner is much better for starting the day with the right expectations.

Create separate areas for studying and playing

We all need breaks to retain the information we learn and give ourselves a break. The brain is sort of like a muscle – you can train it to handle a heavier load, but even then, every muscle needs time to rest. It’s the same principle here.

A good way to ensure your child has a proper off-time is to set up a different area (it can be in the same room) especifically for taking breaks and playing. The change in setting helps in solidifying the idea that there’s a time for learning and a time for playing, which is a very healthy way for a child to grow up in.

Painting the walls is a great way to make the room more fun and visually distinct as well, so consider that if you want to make things more interesting. Neutral wall colors are better to concentrate, while vibrant colors can encourage them to brainstorm on new ideas and puzzles. 

Make it bright

Humans are hardwired to work better during the day – our natural cycle is to feel sleepy during the night and more active when the sun rises. Children tend to respond very well to this so it’s crucial that whatever room you choose has access to plenty of natural sunlight.

You can achieve this by having large windows and you can remedy this even further by adding a large mirror to a wall. This will virtually expand the room and allow more light to reflect all around, thus making the room brighter without the need for another window. It’s an important aspect to consider when coming up with a homeschooling room set up

Use technology cleverly

Though we highly recommend leaving phones out of the classroom, there are other ways you can use technology for educational purposes.

The problem with phones is that they’re a really distracting device, and even though there are tons of high-quality educational apps for smartphones, every phone is also hampered by the amount of unwanted notifications and other prompts that can easily break the flow of studying.

However, you can use projectors or televisions for the sake of watching educational videos or movies, as well as presentations that you can design yourself on PowerPoint or Google Slides. When homeschooling, it’s important to break up the rhythm with something different every now and then as it keeps children interested and helps them learn in a more visual manner.

Create interesting activities

The usual school set up of standing by the chalkboard and talking for hours can get tedious very fast. There’s nothing wrong with talking and explaining things in this manner, but anyone – even adults – know that relentless explaining gets hard to follow after hours, even if the subject isn’t particularly hard to understand.

So break it up with creative activities for kids! Turn any given subject into a drawing session, or a dynamic activity, a pop quiz with a point system, paper crafts, etc. There is an endless sea of fun activities that children love, so take inspiration and try something new!

Display artistic creations

Displaying your child’s artistic creations is a great way to show them their work is appreciated and makes it a much more rewarding activity in general. You can take a small portion of the wall and hang all sorts of creations there, since they should be making these regularly during the  activities we’ve discussed before.

Refresh your study room with a new coat of paint to improve mood and concentration. Get free quotes from local painters today!


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