For kids to get a good start in life, it’s important that they are able to study properly and take school seriously. You can help them with this by creating a study room for them to do their homework in and revise for any exams. The younger you start this practice, the better. Here’s how to design a room that gets them into the habit of studying hard.
Designate a special room
First of all, it’s important that there is a specific room for your kids to study in. Ideally, they should only head into this room to study, and shouldn’t use it for other purposes. This will help them to focus more. Of course, you may not have enough room for a study room in the first place, in which case you should be looking for a new home. You can use sites like OpenAgent to search in your area, which should help with school placement. If you can’t move home, you can section off a part of their bedroom for studying. This may not be as effective, however, as the temptation of toys will be close by.
Get the right accessories
Your child should certainly have a desk or table to work on which can hold all of their work, as well as a sturdy chair. They also need a wall calendar which you can use to create a study schedule. Write down any homework deadlines or exam dates on here so that they know what they have to aim for. This also teaches your child how to manage deadlines and time. You should have in-boxes and out-boxes for work that needs to be done and is ready to be handed in. A clock should be included so that your child can keep an eye on the time.
Get it organised
Kids are notorious for being messy, so it’s up to you to teach them to organise their work. Have a peg by the door for their school bag, and encourage them to bring work right to the desk when they get home. You can also bring in filing cabinets, shelving, and drawers. All work that is no longer needed should either be thrown out or filed away. This will keep the desk itself as a clean and tidy space. Any reference materials that they need can be kept shelved away unless they are actually in use. Make an inspection before bedtime to ensure that they are keeping to tidy habits!
Set study times
Most importantly, make sure that your child uses the study room regularly. You can choose to set an hour of study time a day, for example, which must be observed every day. This will help them to get into the habit of finishing work off and making sure it gets done. When there is no set schedule, kids can be tempted to leave work to the last minute or even pretend they don’t have any left to finish. Keeping set times of day for study will allow them to focus on the work instead of trying to make excuses so that they can go and play! If they really have finished their homework, you can encourage quiet reading time or even play some extra study games with them as a reward.
Instilling good study