Does your child have the best place to study? by Zoe Dunn

Back

Does your child have the best place to study?
by Zoe Dunn

Does your child have the best place to study?

If your child gets bored, loses concentration or gets tired quickly when he or she is trying to study, maybe you should reorganize the area where he or she normally studies or does their homework. Don’t worry, it’s not necessary to change the whole room, but with a few changes it’s enough, and soon you’ll see that their attention will increase, and their grades will improve too.

1. Situation of the desk.
What does your son or daughter have in front of them when he or she sits down to study? Have a guess… the wall? Maybe it’s full of his or her favourite pop idols or film stars? If often your child turns round to look at the door thinking that they heard something or that someone has come into the room, this position for the desk constantly distracts them from doing their work. The best position is when your child can see the whole room, or at least the door. It’s also fundamental not to overcrowd the desk with things that don’t correspond to that place, like a mobile phone, mp3 player, make-up, photo of the girlfriend or boyfriend …etc. All these things distract their attention to other subjects which have nothing to do with studying. The height of the desk like the chair is also very important, they should both adapt to the height of the child.

2. Untidiness.
As I mentioned earlier, it’s very common that the desk has lots of objects on it that don’t correspond to that place. An untidy desk doesn’t help your child to concentrate. The materials for studying should be within easy reach, so that he or she won’t have to search the room if a notebook or a pencil is needed.

3. Lighting.
You should make sure that there’s good lighting on your desk for your child, natural light is the best option given that it stimulates general well-being and aids efficiency when working. If your child is right-handed, it would be a good idea to place the desk in such a way that the light enters through the window from the left. It isn’t convenient to mix natural and artificial light. It’s recommendable that there’s vertical light from the ceiling and a lamp on the desk to see clearly the details and small letters in a book.

4. Ventilation.
A well aired room before starting studying or doing homework will increase the mental capacity of your child. Remember that an increase in Carbon Dioxide in the air causes tiredness and triggers off headaches. It it’s cold you can ventilate the room when your child takes a short break, which are of vital importance so as not to saturate the brain with floods of information.

5. Air temperature.
Investigations situate the temperature for mental activity between 20 and 22 degrees C and humidity 50% to 65%. If the air is too hot or the humidity is too high the concentration time lessens to half of the usual 25 minutes. Plants are an excellent way of regulating air humidity.

6. Noises
Noise is the factor which influences attention. Make sure that your child’s study area is isolated from exterior noises like the television, neighbours’ arguments, etc... Silence is the state which favours concentration and helps learning.

I hope that these 6 tips have served you some help; they gave me an excellent result with my own children.
If you like my article you can visit me at: http://alittlebitabout.com
Happy Reading!
Zoe Dunn

Author's Biography:

I'm an English teacher, actually living in Spain, I have my own web page http://alittlebitabout.com about different topics including teaching, travel, art, alimentation etc.

Posted on: February 5,2007

Email: webmaster@alittlebitabout.com
Website: http://www.alittlebitabout.com/