Tips for making great home learning spaces

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Posted: January 31, 2021 - Homebuyer's Blog

Virtual learning has caused our homes to take on larger roles these days. Hartz Homes knows that at-home learning has challenged parents with crafting the ideal workspace that will facilitate education, discovery, play, and achievement. With this is mind, here are five tips to help you build an effective workplace that your child will enjoy. (Photo: The alcove off the kitchen in the Hunter model makes an awesome learning area.)

1) Carve out a purposeful space

Kids need to have a designated space for learning — a place that their minds and bodies will associate with work, creativity, and discoveries. This workplace can be at the dining room table, a beanbag on the floor, at a desk, or a cozy corner complete with pillows. It should be comfortable, reasonably spacious, relatively free of distractions, and tucked away from household foot traffic. It should also be an arm’s reach away from supplies your child will need for that day’s learning, such as:

Ideally, the space should be reserved for times of active work and learning. Children should be encouraged to take breaks, eat meals, and have free time elsewhere away from their workspace. But the important thing is that your child identifies their space as a place to learn, and they are comfortable returning to it each day.

2) Pay attention to lighting

The most effective learning spaces are those that are well-lit. Natural light and other sources of blue light are shown to increase productivity, alertness, and focus in children.

If you can, position your child’s workplace near a sunny window or in a room that gets plenty of natural light. If your home or space lacks natural light, blue-enriched LED lightbulbs are also effective.

3) Quiet is key

Children are much more vulnerable to the impact of noise. Studies have demonstrated that noisy classrooms can be detrimental to student focus, engagement, memory, and overall learning. The same applies to noisy learning spaces at home. The quieter the space, the better optimized it is for learning.

However, certain kinds of music, like classical and ambient, can help boost productivity by strengthening the auditory, visual/spatial, and motor cortices of the brain. If your child enjoys listening to music while working, encourage quiet classical music or instrumental sounds that don’t contain lyrics. Your child should avoid high-tempo music like jazz, pop, and hip-hop, and should not work with the television, radio, or videos playing.

4) Give your child ownership

Allow your child to make their learning space their own. Encourage them to choose where they would like to set it up (using the above guidelines). Have them personalize their space with colorful artwork, signs, and decorations. They can add pillows, blankets, and even stuffed animals (as long as they aren’t distracting) to help to make the space feel more comfortable, familiar, and inviting. If a child feels they have ownership over their space, they will be more motivated to use it and care for it.

5) Use what you already have

Learning spaces don’t have to be fancy or equipped with the highest-end supplies. You don’t need to spend a fortune on organizers, bookshelves, buckets, and bins. At a time when social distancing is of utmost importance, there is no need to take unnecessary trips to the store, when you can fashion an effective student workplace with ordinary materials you likely already have.

A coffee table or foldout table can easily transform into a desk. Cover with a tablecloth to protect from pencil or pen marks. Shoeboxes or other cardboard boxes can be repurposed into storage bins or organizers.

Please check out these new home communities from Hartz Homes:
Armitage Pointe of Addison, Illinois (Chicago area new home construction)
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Nantucket Lakes of New Lenox, Illinois (Chicago area new home construction)
Park West of Manteno, Illinois (Chicago area new home construction)
Playa Vista of Plainfield, Illinois (Chicago area new home construction)
Shannon Estates of New Lenox, Illinois (Chicago area new home construction)
Sky Harbor of New Lenox, Illinois (Chicago area new home construction)
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Hartz Homes has new home communities in:
Addison, Illinois (Chicago area new home construction)
Aurora, Illinois (Chicago area new home construction)
Bolingbrook, Illinois (Chicago area new home construction)
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Mokena, Illinois (Chicago area new home construction)
Plainfield, Illinois (Chicago area new home construction)