Learning at home with children

1. Learning strategies for learning at home

The Learning at home is influenced by many factors. Often children have difficulty concentrating because too many distractions are present and they prefer playing in the children's room to learning. In addition, their attention span is initially very short. Children first have to learn to concentrate on one thing regularly and for a longer period of time. Learning motivation seems to decrease over time.

To prevent this, you should place one thing particularly in the foreground when learning: fun! First and foremost, it is important that your children experience feelings of happiness while learning and are excited about new knowledge. Then the chance is much greater that they remain motivated in the long term and learn voluntarily. Create a feel-good atmosphere in which there are no unnecessary distractions and the joy of learning is at the forefront

Why is learning so important?

Always make clear to your children why they are learning. Because first and foremost they do it for themselves. Set small goals together and link them with special rewards that will motivate your children on their own. For example, explain to them that they are learning to write in order to send dear Grandma a greeting card, which she will be very happy about. Subgoals help not to lose focus.

In general, it is helpful to link the learning material to everyday situations (e.g. math to calculate the ingredients for a delicious recipe). It is also important that you are a good role model . Familiarize yourselves with your children's learning materials, show interest and acquire sufficient knowledge. Because parental ignorance can also be a major challenge when learning at home – and that is exactly what you should avoid!

Try these learning strategies:

Sit down together at the table and have your children explain to you what they are working on. But only help them if they explicitly ask for it. When they slip into the role of the teacher, it fills them with pride and they associate positive feelings with the learning material. That is highly motivating. Your praise increases the feeling of success and also has a motivating effect.
You can also support your children by trying out various learning methods together. The one that works best for you, integrate into a learning plan, so that you find the perfect balance between learning sessions and normal everyday life with fun. Never put your children under pressure to achieve the best possible results. Then they lose the joy of learning. They then associate learning only with negative feelings.
So that children enjoy learning at home, a calm, relaxed and tidy learning environment is also important. Because when the little learners are unaffected by external stimuli and a restless environment, they voluntarily take out their learning materials on their own to do something for school.

2. Creating pleasant learning spaces at home

In kindergarten it's romping, running, playing. The change to school means adjustment: full concentration, sitting still and learning great new things. So that the little ones can apply what they've learned after school, they need a suitable learning space. Only then can they really complete homework and co. productively and with concentration.

The topic of back health and the correct sitting and learning posture at the desk play a very important role in this. Because schoolchildren spend an average of about nine to ten hours a day sitting: on the way to school, in the classroom, while eating, doing homework and in front of the computer or TV. This often leads to tension and the so-called “school headache”.

The proper learning environment counteracts this. If you observe the following points, nothing stands in the way of learning success:

Make the learning environment bright, quiet and visually appealing. Soft colors like light blue are particularly suitable.
Visually separate learning and play areas. Place shelves as room dividers or differentiate the areas with different wall colors.
Do not seat your children with their backs to the door or facing the window – that only distracts.
Place the desk sideways to the window if possible, so that enough light can come in from outside. Because nothing beats daylight.
Pay attention to your children's personal needs. For right-handers, the light should fall on the work surface from the left; for left-handers, from the right.
If it is dark, use an adjustable desk lamp. Energy-saving bulbs are often too weak for this; LED lights with a natural color spectrum are better. A bright, matte work surface relieves the eyes.
Keep TVs and game consoles out of sight, to avoid distractions.
Align the PC screen for digital learning in the children's line of sight. The top edge should be roughly at neck height. A distance of about 50 centimeters between the screen and the eyes is ideal.
Pay attention to ergonomics. On a suitable children's desk chair, your children sit best upright with both feet on the floor. This sitting posture protects the back.
Adjust the children's desk to the correct height. This supports your children's upright sitting posture. Check regularly whether the settings still fit.

3. Materials & accessories for learning at home

A tidy desk is half the battle for learning success. Order ensures that your children can fully concentrate on their school things. Whether a sturdy file holder, a practical "landing spot" for loose sheets or a clever folding paper bin: Clever organizational aids bring order to your learning materials.

If the space in the apartment is not enough for a dedicated learning area or if siblings share their room, other solutions are needed. Whether dining room, living room or kitchen – all these rooms can be converted into learning places.

So that the children can learn undisturbed, it is important to record learning times in a weekly schedule. Fixed times are necessary to make it clear to all family members that during the recorded learning hours no disturbances are allowed . Full concentration is required.

Before you then start with the learning in the living room, kitchen and co. starts, it is advisable that you prepare all required materials. Here too, as with a desk: Order is half of life. With the right storage boxes and writing utensils, tidying up afterwards is easier.

In general, you should store all instructional materials in a separate place . This can, for example, be a shelf just for school supplies. That way you can convert the repurposed learning area back for everyday things and there is also a certain “spatial separation” from the learning material. This is important for the balance between school stress and everyday life at home.

4. Finding the right sitting position for learning

An upright sitting posture is enormously important for your children's health: Regularly ensure that your little learners are not hunched over their schoolwork. Because an incorrect sitting posture at the children's desk and incorrect height settings of table and chair can lead in the long term to posture damage, back pain and muscle tension lead. To promote healthy sitting, we have described here how the correct sitting position looks:

The sitting posture depends crucially on whether the table and seat height are adjusted to the children's body size are.
If everything is set correctly , the sitting position almost follows naturally.
Nevertheless, you should from time to time check whether the settings still fit, because children grow quickly. Our tip: Check the settings every six months of desk and desk chair and adjust if necessary. In general, the following rule of thumb is helpful as an orientation: The seat height corresponds to the knee height and the tabletop is at elbow height when sitting upright.
When the workplace is set correctly, your children should adopt the following posture: The thighs rest on the seat, both feet are flat on the floor, the legs form an angle of about 90 degrees or slightly more. Also, the angle between upper and lower arms should be at least 90 degrees.
With an tilted tabletop , the elbows are ideally two to three centimeters below the table edge. The back rests against the backrest. This supports and protects the lumbar and shoulder area.

Instructions & checklist for correct sitting

5. Concentrating while learning at home

After some time, even the most attentive children can experience difficulty concentrating occur. The body craves movement and every little thing suddenly seems more interesting than the learning material. But what if inner restlessness, lack of concentration and reluctance to learn become the permanent state?

Often parents immediately suspect an attention or hyperactivity disorder. You should always consult a doctor about this. Depending on the diagnosis, therapy or medication may then be helpful. In addition to hyperactivity, nutritional deficiencies may be the cause of the inattention. Also, you should discuss it with experts.

In general, it is normal for your schoolchildren to become inattentive after a certain period of time.movement even a good measure, to remember a few vocabulary words after all. However, if your kids are plagued by inner restlessness, it helps to leave the school's instructional materials aside temporarily.

Our tip: Take breaks! After just twenty minutes the little children's heads smoke and they need a short physical activity break. Just let them fidget, stand up, get some fresh air, drink plenty and provide healthy snacks. That makes learning much easier!

6. Relaxation while learning at home

It is also good for your kids to calm down during breaks while learning. For this, this breathing exercise is perfectly suitable, which you can do together with your children:

Sit down, lie down or stand up. For children, the cross-legged position is often the most comfortable.
Breathe in strongly through the nose and out through the mouth.
If you have done this two to three times, feel with your hands on your belly how it moves up and down with each breath.
You can let your children discover diaphragmatic breathing playfully or guide them consciously. If you choose the latter, let your little learners breathe in and out sometimes slower and sometimes faster.
Count your breaths so that you focus on yourselves and are not distracted by anything else.

7. Tidiness for a better learning experience

An an orderly learning environment promotes learning success. When the desk is tidy and even the smallest compartments are in order, children are not so easily distracted from the task. In addition, they have a good overview of their school supplies. That saves time: They use their learning time effectively and can then look forward to great leisure activities.

How do you motivate your children to keep things tidy? Create small incentives and bring some fun into your tidying actions. Since your children only learn through repetition, it's best to incorporate tidying into your routine. At fixed times you then get to work together. You can sort folders and other materials as well as toys in the children's room by color, sort out old items or start a small tidying competition.

More about organizing school supplies

8. Time organization

So that the learned material also sticks, repetition and regularity are important. A learning plan can help you plan learning times and use them effectively. Take into account the individual learning pace of your children. They also no longer feel overwhelmed by a whole pile of tasks. They learn to do everything in stages.

Download weekly planner for pupils

9. Introduce rituals

Make joint learning and working times with your children into a ritual, by setting fixed times. During these times, your children follow self-determined rules of behavior, which enable effective work and learning. They put phones, tablets and the like aside and focus exclusively on homework and other to-dos. It greatly motivates your children when you, as parents, are there. They do not feel alone in their learning situation and see that you can also work with concentration.

It is also helpful if you have a fixed daily structure to stick to. In addition to breaks and exercise sessions, the shared lunch or packing up the school bag are small rituals, that promote a good learning rhythm.

10. Success in learning at home

To achieve learning success, children need time to learn how to learn. Not all children are immediately exam-ready or fit for the next learning content after the first learning sessions. Therefore always prepare learning sessions well. Together, decide which tasks your children want to work on and define small subgoals. Not all tasks can be completed in one day.

This only leads to overload, which you want to avoid. Every child learns differently. Therefore you should start with easy tasks and then raise the level step by step. Adapt entirely to your children's learning pace. Also, not every 'little learner' is suited to every subject. In one subject or another they simply need a little longer. You should accept that with patience and find ways to support your schoolchildren as best you can. In your learning sessions, generally switch subjects after a few minutes. Similar learning content should not be learned directly one after the other, otherwise your children will confuse the details.

Basically: Combine learning with fun - it greatly increases motivation! For example with games that challenge the children's language, arithmetic and problem-solving skills.

11. Praising children correctly

Praise for effort and endeavor ist wichtig. When children are praised for things they can influence themselves, like studying on time, perseverance and ambition, it gives them a big dose of motivation to keep going and also to master difficult learning tasks.

Experiences of success increase motivation to learn as does the right praise from you, the parents. You should above all highlight the hard work and the commitment of your children and appreciate. This is much more important than making grades the main focus.

So praise your children whenever …

... have made an effort – especially in subjects that are difficult for them.
... they have made an effort to start studying on time and prepare for tests and exams.
... they learn independently and do their homework.
... they ask for support because some task or other doesn't come so easily to them. They admitted that and are therefore open to new knowledge they didn't know before.
... independently reflect on perceived poor grades or seek feedback to improve on their own.

Above all, convey to your children that also mistakes are allowed and they are therefore not immediately any less good. From mistakes, poor grades and even occasional disinterest they also learn for life.

Frequently asked questions about learning at home

How can we structure the learning sessions at home?

In your study plan, it's best to record together with your children at the beginning of each school semester or quarter, which learning content should be worked on in the coming days and weeks should. Plan several subjects for each study day – preferably at least two, to have enough variety. However, the contents should not be too similar.

Your children should always prepare their study sessions well by placing all important materials together on the desk. Then you can get started. Let your children first work independently.

How can learning at home be connected with learning at school?

So that what you learn at home matches what you learn at school, it is important that you always stay up to date.touch base with your children's teachers. But also bring your learning mice and ask them, what they talked about at school and which assignments they received. Then together create a learning plan, in which you note when you study for each subject and complete the homework.

How can we make breaks while studying at home active?

When learning at home, breaks are essential. Whether relaxation through quiet activities or rather the more action-packed option – there are different ways to use breaks actively and recharge your energy:

Popular with children are sports exercises, that challenge them and are fun at the same time. movement games as well as shorter workouts create the perfect balance to schoolwork and long periods of sitting. In general, physical activity is healthy for body and mind.

For kids who prefer to take it easier, short walks in the fresh air are a good idea.

You can, however, also creative activities take on. Maybe you paint colorful artworks together that come from pure enjoyment and aren't based on any craft template.

But other craft projects offer a good balance to everyday school life.

Shape your free time in whatever way feels best and right for you. You will surely great family time spend together.

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