Back to School Success Begins at Home

With the summer coming to a close, holidays and cottage time winding down, it is back to school and work. 

Although the ramped-up routines and our quest for September stability are beginning to appear a little more normal, real estate paints a different picture. Busier than ever, families are thinking about how to create successful learning spaces for homework and study. Seeing students have a successful and safe school year is desired more than ever.

It might even feel a bit desperate for families. 

Recovering from working and learning from home will still be part of the upcoming school year and the foreseeable future. The evidence is clear. Even though it wasn’t wished for by most, learning and working from home was achieved, and most students thrived, not just survived it. 

Creating a successful Learning from home space will be an ongoing need for families when they think about their house layout and environmental logistics. 

Regardless of children’s ages learning from home, there are developmental and social elements to consider, even if it is only for homework and study spaces. Add to that, if parents are still working from home while supporting their child learners, it can become stressful unless planned with the ages and stages in mind. Here are our top suggestions for home working spaces we believe help support kids and parents and keep them organized to have a successful school year. 

School Agers need…

Structure 

Develop space and decide together on times when homework or learning will be best accomplished. Routines make a difference. Children benefit from a schedule, and it helps if they are part of the plan, so they buy into what they need to accomplish in a day and where it will happen. No one wants to feel their work area is a jail seat, but children need an aesthetically pleasing workspace and quiet to focus, similar to adults.  

Interactive learning

Children are capable of learning and rich in potential. Continue to nourish a spirit and love for learning! Allow them to be researchers and break off into discovering through games, apps and google how and why things work or are the way they are. Your home offers a wealth of learning opportunities! Give yourself as a parent permission to take a break from your work to equip them with engaging learning activities that spark their interest, whether having them help you with chores like changing a lightbulb or creating a nutritious, fun snack for breaktime. Learning happens in the daily tasks of life. If you have school-age children, having a museum no-touch home is not the stage of life you are in. Let them learn, and don’t be afraid to make a mess in doing it. 

Designated learning areas at home

Homework or studying is not successfully accomplished in front of the television. Whether it is at the kitchen table or a designated desk in their bedroom, learning spaces should be where we try and keep distractions to a minimum. Children may still be having online learning at times, so it is crucial to have their own spot to be involved online while another child is also online. Kids may need a learning station in their room, even if they are younger, with the tools to succeed, such as a desk and their own computer or tablet. Creating other spaces for reading, art, and physical activity is equally important. For example, children may not always do well in a regular chair, but sitting on an adjustable rolling chair or a different seating apparatus might help. 

High school kids need…

Privacy and trust

High schoolers will want to and need to spend more time in their room, so allowing them to do that will go a long way to positive interactions when they are out. Their workload may be more intensive this year than ever, and they need a space to focus on the task at hand. Building trust and creating accountability for social media distractions and Netflix will go more smoothly if these rules are discussed and established.

A good chair and workspace

High Schoolers spend a lot of time working and may choose to do it sprawled on their beds unless they have a workspace that reflects them and what they like. Making a cool space that respects teenage growth and hormones will go a long way to keeping them productive. In addition, getting teens off beds or couches will spare families from chiropractor or physiotherapist appointments. 

Organizational Tools

Teenagers may not realize it yet, but a clean space is essential to equip them for better focus when studying or doing homework. A well-maintained bedroom that is tidy and clean will improve their success and minimize the irritation in family rules. It’s a win-win if it is an established expectation. 

Post-secondary students need…

An Ergonomic workstation

There are lots of post-secondary programs that are still establishing learn from home full-time or part-time. Post-secondary students are young adults and require many of the exact ergonomic needs as adults working from home, such as back, neck and wrist supports. An ergonomic chair, a functional desk and adequate lighting are essential for long studying and online lectures. 

Flexibility

Being a post-secondary student is not like being a 9 to 5 employee. They have class times and study periods that may fluctuate by how and when they learn and critical times during the semester, such as exams and assignment deadlines. The best thing a family can do at home to support their young adult learner is provided privacy and quiet during pressure points in the house.  

Parents need…

A good workstation

If you are also working from home, remember to think about your functional needs too! If you are supporting your child to help them be successful at school, remember you also want to be successful balancing back to school and your other juggling balls in the air, especially if you are still working from home. Parents need a place to put all the brain dumping and buckets for all the categories they manage.

Functional Furniture

Helping everyone feel they have the suitable space to succeed at school is important, but we want it to look and feel cozy at home, not like an office space with everyone’s workstations set up! Excellent functional pieces provide practical help for learners and can still blend with your taste and decor. Less is more, we always say with decorating or staging your home. We try to make everything we own to be a piece we love and need. 

Self-love for your efforts!

Regardless of how your back to school or work is looking for your family, it continues to be a challenge in setting everyone up for success. Permit yourself to navigate it all and applaud the achievements along the way while tweaking the things that may not work perfectly. 

In the end, the real estate market continues to soar because of parent’s goals to create the best home spaces for the ever-changing needs of their family. We love to help families navigate their back-to-school needs and dreams to help every learner be set up best for success, whether a new school community or more functional workspaces for everyone at home. If you want to brainstorm how to set up your family members for success at work or school, we would love to chat about it!