If this is your first year as a homeschooling family, or if you have been homeschooling for years, it is important to prepare your child’s learning space for academic success. Many homeschooling parents believe it is important to consider a child’s learning style when creating their learning space. A child’s learning style is their natural way of processing information in different learning situations. As a parent, when you better understand your child’s learning style, you can become better partners in the process.
What is Your Child’s Learning Personality?
One important aspect of a child’s learning style is their learning personality. A child’s learning personality is how they naturally express interest in learning. When your children learn outside the traditional school environment, it is important to consider their learning personalities as well as their preferred learning environment. The following factors can contribute to a child’s learning environment:
- Physical location – at home or in a classroom
- Physical position – sitting, walking around, laying down
- Sound or lack of sound – quiet, ambient noise, or music
- Color of the room
- Awareness of self
- Time of day or night
Does your child need a completely quiet place to study for an exam or does he concentrate better while listening to music? Are her best papers written while she is sitting at a desk completely clear of clutter, or while she’s lying on her bed surrounded by pillows, books, papers, and the family pet?
Fix Your Homeschool Space to Maximize Learning
Dr. Patricia Tanner Nelson from the University of Delaware said, “Make your home a place where it is easy to learn.” When students take the time to create their learning space with consideration for personal preferences and learning style, academic outcomes improve. Make the most of your school year by setting up your student’s ideal workspace.
Consider the following ideas:
- If your child’s learning style is relating/inspiring, he or she probably enjoys cooperative learning and group discussions. Think about ways to get your student involved with other children. Many students receive the benefit of joining a wide range of online clubs for grades K-8 and 9-12, and interacting with other students virtually.
- If your child’s learning style is thinking/creating, he or she probably is a creative person who likes time to dream, think, and wonder. Consider making a quiet, comfortable retreat for your student, where he or she can imagine the possibilities related to what they are learning in school.
- If your child’s learning style is inventing, he or she probably likes projects, design, and research. Their ideal learning space might include supplies for making prototypes, access to reference materials for research, and space to spread out and working while bringing new ideas to life.
- If your child’s learning style is performing, he or she probably likes to entertain people, participate in a variety of shorter activities, and experiment with many kinds of quick learning exercises. Your child might learn best in an environment that provides the opportunity to showcase talents, allows breaks for physical exercise, integrates games and enhances learning with posters, maps, and audiobooks.
- If your child’s learning style is producing, he or she probably enjoys a sense of order and thinks in a logical, sequential manner. Your child would enjoy a learning space that is carefully organized, with shelves, bins, and folders for all of their books, papers, and other school supplies. Consider a wall calendar or planning to keep track of due dates, and think about using a daily “to do” list that can keep your child on target by checking off completed work.
Need some inspiration? Check out what these students have done with their learning spaces. This Pinterest board, “Set Up Your Learning Space” is filled with more than one hundred snapshots to provide you with ideas on how to set up your child’s learning space in a way that will best match their learning style.
