How to create a positive learning environment in your home

Learning to study can come as a bit of shock to children when they realise that life isn’t all about drawing pictures, colouring in, and playing.

By the time your child reaches Year 2, they should be used to sitting down and doing some work. If they aren’t here are some tips to help you create a positive learning environment in your home:

1. Create a love for learning
Simple things like going to the park, the zoo, museums can be educational if you make a plan to teach them about the history of the park, the plants in the park, what types of animal groups zoo animals belong to etc. It at least opens the conversation and gets them used to discussing their understanding of a subject and their learning experience with you.

2. Wisdom comes from what goes in
Brain food didn’t just earn its name for fun, you now! If you can supply plenty of antioxidants, omega-3 fatty acids, complex carbohydrates and other nutrients, they will help to fuel your child’s brain, protect their brain from wear and tear and help with concentration.

3. A quiet space
A house full of children will seldom have absolute silence, but you should work with what you have. If you don’t have a spare room you can turn into a study, maybe you can set up a desk in your child’s room. Or place a desk and chair in the garden shed for them to get away from the hustle and bustle of the home so they can concentrate.

Whatever your situation, you can achieve a working atmosphere if you really put your mind to it. Failing that, there’s always the library.

4. Lead by example
Don’t hide away when you’re doing your work – let it be clearly visible to your child what working really looks like; especially if your work is paper based.

If you cultivate an environment where work is the done thing, your child won’t feel like they are being punished when you ask him or her to put in an hour or so of work themselves.

If possible, you could sit in the same room or at the same table together, so they don’t feel alone. Two’s company, after all.