Watching your child leave for their first day of school can be a very emotional moment for a Mother and Father. When the time comes, and you need to hand over the torch of knowledge from parent to teacher; it can be the most dreaded moment in their lives.
With this enormous transfer of responsibility to a completely external, unknown force, it is incredibly important that we are asking the right questions such as: How are you going to give my child the best education?
Nowadays, this question has come to light in more ways than one; particularly when considering higher education. However, what could be making an educating environment the best?
In some schools across the UK, teachers have planned non-negotiable seating plans for children of all ages when in education. This is due to the fact that they believe that when children have chosen their own seats there will be disruption and lack of attention to the lesson.
From a recent study conducted by www.debate.org, 85% of Parents have said that allowing a child to interact with their friends in the classroom, should be reconsidered and brought back into action. This is because children tend to interact within the lesson and activities in more depth if they are in the comfort of spending time with self-selected peers.
Not only this, many teachers have come to the realisation that allowing a child to make their own decisions can help them learn to make good choices.
In a proven study, children are more disciplined and focused in the classroom if they are given the responsibility of choosing their own seat. Off-task behaviours like ‘fidgeting’ had decreased by 25% when they feel comfortable with their peers.
Furthermore, giving a child some time to blow off steam, not only breaks up the day but improves motivation in the classroom. Kids are built to move, and having more time for unstructured, outdoor play is essentially like a reset button. This does not need to increase the length of the school day nor take time away from classroom activities.
There are studies after studies that have affirmed the importance in play for a child’s mental and physical health. We have even written an article on it Benefits of creative play in early education.
In some circumstances, a child would feel respectful to their teacher if they are given the chance of making the decision of sitting where they want. Some children feel less inclined to co-operate in the class and are more likely to be disruptive if they do not have the chance to carry out necessary activities as a child.
Moreover, dividing large tasks into smaller tasks has been proven to increase the percentage of work done at school. Studying an entire chapter in one go can be difficult for a child. It always helps to break it down into sections of pages or paragraphs so that the child feels a sense of accomplishment when they have finished a small task.
Understandably, a 10-minute time limit to complete a task is likely to perform better than if you need to complete it in an hour. A teacher should understand that the average time for an adult to concentrate completely lasts up to 42 minutes can you imagine how much that would decrease in a child? Therefore, shorten the deadlines for shorter tasks, don’t make it any more daunting for a child than it already is.
In Summary, we have found that a child would co-operate well and more effectively in an environment that they enjoy and feel relaxed in.
At Early Learning Furniture we provide an extensive range of classroom furniture designed for primary schools, pre-schools and nurseries. Our early years’ furniture includes classroomtablesand chairs, school classroom storage and classroom trays.
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