When it comes to learning environments, people often have a stereotypical image of the entire setup. When we at Excelsior American School, positioned among the top CBSE schools in Gurgaon, asked some of our students and their parents about their ideal learning environment, most said it would be a quiet, orderly space with a desk, chair, and neatly arranged books. While there’s nothing wrong with the idea and, in fact, such setups are really great, the fact is that today’s students require a more creative and stress-free environment for limitless learning.
Hence, through this blog post today, we want parents to reimagine learning environments and create innovative yet really useful, learning-friendly home environments for their children’s overall growth. If you believe you need a ‘large’ home to pull off such ideas, our tips will make you understand that your home’s size is unimportant in the entire process. So, if you’re ready to find the most effective learning spaces hiding in plain sight and make them your child’s learning spaces, follow the tips shared below.
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Rethink Educational Spaces
You have to start by changing your old definition of educational or learning environments so you can fully embrace the innovative ones. Through this blog post today, we at Excelsior American School would like to challenge the notion that learning can only happen at a desk or a designated study area. We believe different parts of the home spaces can be used as powerful centers for hands-on learning and skill development.
For example, you can convert your kitchen into a study lab where kids implement what they learn. If you want to strengthen your younger children’s maths foundation, ask them to use measuring cups and scales to use the concept of fractions and weights in real life. You can tell them to double or halve recipes by implementing multiplication and division concepts.
Those with an OTG in their kitchen can demonstrate how baking soda causes substances like flour to rise, turning the baking session into a fun chemistry class. Similarly, you can use different house spaces to teach different things. It will add a ‘fun’ element to learning, and your kids will look forward to learning instead of running away from it.
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Embrace the Power of Controlled Chaos
Parents can panic at the thought of inviting chaos at home, but we aren’t talking about creating messy environments. The key is ‘controlled’ chaos, which converts even the smallest organized disorders into catalysts for creativity, independent thinking, and problem-solving. If you’re new to this concept, it refers to creating an environment that’s flexible, open to exploration, and stimulating.
Basically an environment where materials are easily accessible, experimentation is encouraged, and perfection isn’t the goal. To get started, you can establish tiny art corners, building zones, and invention boxes in different parts of the house. Fill them with safe supplies and encourage your kids to make something using these materials.
Avoid adding prescriptive toys or kits that have only ‘one’ right way of using them because they hinder kids’ creativity. Such environments spark curiosity, encourage exploration, and teach kids to think outside of the box.
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Establish Family Learning Ecosystems
We at Excelsior American School highly recommend this tip because it not only fosters lifelong learning motivation in kids but also creates plenty of opportunities to strengthen family bonds. This tip requires you to foster a home environment where every family member, regardless of their age, is both a teacher and a learner. There are numerous ways to implement a family learning ecosystem, but we recommend starting with the easiest method, like the ‘Question of the Day’ method.
To practice this method, you must create a daily family ritual where a thought-provoking question is posed to the family. If you’re just starting, your family dinner time can be great. Once everyone sits for dinner, members can take turns to select questions for the day, like what’s the most interesting thing you learned today? If you could invent anything, then what would it be and why?
Encourage everyone in your family to participate and follow the previous day’s questions to show the value of ongoing learning. It may seem trivial at first, but such rituals can encourage critical thinking in your kids, expose them to diverse perspectives, and improve their communication skills. All this will benefit them throughout their academic journey and beyond.
Conclusion
We at Excelsior American School, recognized among the top CBSE schools in Gurgaon, understand that every parent wants to offer the best learning environment to their children, but they often hold back because of a lack of guidance. If you feel your kids aren’t reaching their full potential by studying in traditional learning setups, you can help them by creating innovative and immersive learning environments at home. While there are endless ways to create learning-friendly home environments, you can start by implementing the three tips discussed in this blog post.
Since all these tips are unique, you may require additional time to fully understand and implement them, but the results will be worth your efforts. We recommend sticking to one tip for at least a month before switching to the next because results won’t be instantaneous. Remain patient and ask everyone in your family for equal participation. The results will leave you impressed.
