Environmental factors play an important part in learning. When the environment is optimized for learning, the child will be able to focus better and will be primed for learning. Hence, parents need to plan for an area in the house where the child will be able to learn conducively and effectively. When the child knows his area for learning and the expectations and tasks are clear, the child will be able to transit from one activity to another activity smoothly.

Rizal Baharom
Head of School
Dynamics International School
BSc in Psychology, Singapore

Rizal is heading the Dynamics Early Intervention Program (EIP) and Dynamics International School (DIS). Additionally, he is also an Educational Therapist with Edunamics. He has years of experience working with mainstream schools and was formerly a Deputy Head of School in an inclusive international school. His knowledge and experience of working in schools adds value to DIS and EIP, and ensure that all our students get the best preparation, development and skills possible, to succeed in our programmes.

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Here are some tips on creating the correct learning environment for the child at home:

1. Designating a space for learning.
It does not need to be an expansive space. It can be a small area at the dining table, or dedicated table and chair for your child in the corner of the living room. It needs to be well ventilated, bright and comfortable for your child to work in. Engaging your child to decorate and design the space will also increase the sense of ownership for the child in that space.

2. Setting a Routine.
After designating a space, a routine for learning has to be set in place. When a clear routine is established, your child will know what is expected of him when he is in the learning area. Having a routine gives predictability and will encourage facilitation of transiting smoothly from one activity to another. It will be useful to engage the children when setting the routine so that the child can remember that he had set it together.

3. Free from distractions.
Do ensure that the learning area is free from highly motivating materials that will take the child’s attention away from learning. It should be away from distractions like the TV, game consoles, toys and other things that will cause the child to lose focus. If the child needs visuals, then only visual cards that are relevant for the current session should be displayed or made available so that the child will not be able to lose focus by playing with the unwanted visuals.

4. Small Successes.
Parents must allow incremental progress to take place by allowing breaks in between learning and setting attainable goals so that the child will be able to achieve small successes and be intrinsically motivated to do more.