Do you have a student in 6th grade or above?
Older students naturally have a heavier workload with lengthier readings and weightier material. As students mature, assignments take longer and require more thought. Today’s tip deals with older students and something we’ve discovered by trial and error through years of schooling 4 boys.
For older students, having a quiet place to work with less interruptions is key.
Our older boys do MUCH better with school when they have a quiet place of “their own” to work. Even though our boys are different from one another personality-wise, they each came to a time when they craved personal space. Working in a space with less interruptions was key in their ability to focus during the middle school and high school years.
What are some possible places to use as quiet work spaces?
With our oldest son, we acknowledged the need for a quiet work space and allowed him to work in our bedroom. There were less distractions for him in our bedroom than in his bedroom. As he matured, he later worked in his own room. Then, after we built an addition onto our house, he worked in the new addition. Our next son also did better after he gained a quiet table of his own in our new addition. These days our third son has taken our second son’s place at the addition table. Our fourth son works in his bedroom spread out on his carpeted floor.
Get creative in thinking about possible work spaces in your home.
I encourage you to get creative in thinking of possible quiet work spaces in your home. Some personal work spaces may require more monitoring than others. For example, I had to check on my oldest son more often when he was working upstairs in my bedroom. During those years, I sent a timer with him so he would know when to come back downstairs. If you have to utilize a space on a different floor, it can still be a workable solution. Even with the extra monitoring required, I still found the positive changes in my son to be worth the extra effort.
No matter what type of learner you have, a quiet personal work space can positively impact your child’s attitude and work habits.
I cannot begin to tell you the change a quiet space produced in each of our older boys’ attitudes and work habits! This is true in spite of our four sons being uniquely different in so many ways. No matter what type of learner you have, it will pay dividends if you can give your older child a quiet work space.
A quiet work space means fewer distractions and less interruptions.
In a quiet space there are fewer distractions and less interruptions. In their quiet work spaces, our older sons got more done than when they were working near the rest of us downstairs. Try creating a quiet, personal work space for your older child. See if you think it improves your child’s attitude, focus, and/or work habits. You may find your child gets more done in less time and does better work too!
Blessings,
Carrie
