Providing an Ideal Learning Environment

If you are a homeschooling parent already, or if you are considering homeschooling, one of the things that you must decide is whether your children are getting the best educational experience possible.  There are many points to take into consideration when you begin to prepare the best learning environment for your children.

First, each child is different.  Because of this, what worked for your older child, or your sister’s child might not work for your child.  When you begin to set up your homeschool you will need to pay attention to the way your child learns and choose a curriculum that will play to his strengths, and support his weaknesses.
You will also need to consider whether your child is a visual learner, or an audio learner.  Some children are kinetic learners, which means that they need to move, or touch things to learn, it is a more physical type of learning.  Asking that child to sit still and listen to lectures on headphones would work against that child’s style.

Once you have figured out what kind of learner your child is, and have chosen a curriculum that will work with your child, you are ready to look at the rest of the environment your child will be expected to learn within.
It can be argued that the more comfortable your child is the more open he or she will be to learning.  Since you have control over your child’s environment it is easier for you to make the environment ideal.  Set the temperature of the room where you child will attend school to a temperature that is comfortable for him, that may be warmer or cooler than is comfortable for you but remember that you are providing the environment for your student.  Likewise, the light level of
the room should be set for your student.  Some will want lots of natural light; others might like it darker and cozier.
Another thing that goes into setting up an ideal learning environment is the amount of sound and distractions that will confront your student.  Some students need it to be completely quiet, without distractions to learn their best, other students can listen to music as they study, or even have the television on.  Some student will not be able to tolerate the
noise of siblings, or your teaching a different subject to other children while they are trying to learn.  Other children seem to thrive in the noise and chaos of multiple children learning multiple subjects at the same time.

Consider where the student will be educated as far as seating arrangements as well.  Some students will do fine sitting in an office chair at a desk.  Others may want to sit on the sofa.  When my ADHD child was younger, she had an exercise ball as her chair at the desk.  The subtle adjustments to her balance to stay on the ball let her work off a little bit of energy on a constant basis.  Don’t be afraid to think outside the box where the location isconcerned.  If you child learns while hanging upside down off of the sofa, or wants to recline on the floor, bounce on the exercise ball, or jump rope, as long as you can provide their instruction and they are learning, then allow them to help determine the setting.
Finally, consider what time of day the child is most alert and most receptive to learning.  Some children are morning people, awake with the sun, ready to eat breakfast, dress, and begin their day.  Other children, particularly pre-teens and teens, tend to be more alert in the later morning or afternoon.  There is no point in forcing education at 7:00 am if the child is simply not comfortable learning at that time.  It will be frustrating for all concerned.

Some people will read these adaptations to traditional learning environments and think that I am advocating “babying” the student.  While babying is not the term I use, I would argue that if you have the opportunity to produce the environment where a child can truly excel in their education then isn’t homeschooling the perfect opportunity to provide that environment.  Certainly, at some point the student will need to conform to the outside world, but giving the child the best possible start will mean that he or she will learn more, and be able to apply that learning to their future endeavors.