– Discover more great advice with our Parents' Education Guide
We all need our own bit of private space at home. But when it comes to learning this is essential. A comfortable, well-organised and well-equipped study area can have a major impact on your child's ability to learn.
The most obvious location is their bedroom. But some fundamentals should be considered.
First off, it should be established from the off that this is their space to work - not wherever they choose around the house. It puts them in the right state of mind every time they close the door.
A good desk is fundamental, especially for those in secondary school. If you can squeeze in a proper, solid office desk all the better – it looks business-like and will have adequate storage, including a file drawer. Ensure there is good quality light with an additional desk lamp to avoid eyestrain.
Creating plenty of storage and shelving space around the desk makes it easy to organise books by subject and find material for reference. A corkboard and plenty of stickies are useful, although there are good digital versions of these.
Don't overlook the chair. Just because they're young doesn't mean children don't need a proper, ergonomically-balanced seat. They're going to be spending a long time in it and the last thing you want is for them to start struggling with RSI issues at such a young age.
Explain the rules about sitting up straight (not easy for teens, it has to be said) and have the monitor at arms length and the top close to the eye line.
Teenagers are notorious for clutter and mess – it's how they're wired at that age - but you have to convince them that it's not acceptable around their workspace. Throwing clothes on the floor is one thing, losing your revision notes in piles of paper is another.
Hammer home the idea of organisation. It makes life so much easier and they'll come to their senses eventually. The chaos in my son's room slowly subsided as he grew older but the message still has to be conveyed sometimes.
Having said this, try to avoid setting too many rules – especially when it comes to their work environment. Not everyone works well in total silence. Listening to music can be conducive to learning (assuming the volume isn't at stadium volume) whereas having the television on is a distraction.
Encourage them to decorate the room to their own taste – it's a home study not an office. Colours, posters, hanging mobiles all make the statement that this is their personal haven.
Computer equipment is an essential part of the learning process today. However it's important you establish that there is a difference between the PC, laptop and games console.
The temptations of games and social media are potentially huge – but a computer provides a wealth of knowledge and the ability to arrange information impressively. Just as you rarely use pen and paper at work now, so is the case with you son or daughter at school.
Ensure all hardware is correctly set up, that the computer has enough memory and runs at good speed. It's possible to obtain discounts through schools on software such as Office that they will be expected to master for presentation purposes.
Encourage them to back up their work and make sure there aren’t wires trailing everywhere - never mind health and safety, it's just asking for a plug to get ripped out at the wrong moment mid-essay.
Just remember though: if their study space ticks all these boxes you won't be able to complain if they spend all their time in their bedroom.
– Enter a prize draw to win an Inspiron 14z Ultrabook from Dell