Environment for Learning

This is one of the most neglected aspect of learning. A good environment is imperative for optimal learning.

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Physical Environment
This refers to the tables and chairs, the temperature of the surroundings, the noise level, etc.

For this, usually a comfortable table and a comfortable chair is good enough. The room must be airy enough and it is not warm or stuffy. The tip here is to omit stuff. While you are coaching your kid in his learning, make sure:

- you are not playing games on your iphone
- the TV is not on
- you are not working on your computer

Anything that distracts your child is bad here.

Emotional Environment
For parents, this might be the trickiest to handle. We are emotional creatures by design and tends to get frustrated when the child is not progressing according to our expectations. We raised our voices. We banged the tables. We used threats. Maybe some of you are not guilty, but I am.

That is why I often suggest to parents to hire a private tutor instead of coaching their children themselves. It will be less emotional for you and your kid this way.

As a parent, I have to constantly check myself when I am coaching my sons in their learning. Every time I raise my voice, I have to curb the growing feeling of helplessness and frustration. I have to remind myself that the process is more important than the result. Love for learning is what I want for my children. And raising my voice will not increase their love for learning. It took me years of practice before I could be patient with my children on their learning. If you are also struggling with this, it is normal, but you have to work on it to prevent further damage to your kid.

If your kid cries at the study table due to your pressure, then you have a lot to work on for the emotional environment. In order for the child to be motivated to learn, he must at least feel safe emotionally in the situation. A crying child will mean that he is learning out of fear or out of fulfilling the expectations of someone else.

To create a suitable emotional environment, you MUST NOT:

- raise your voice
- reprimand
- threaten to take away privileges (like play time)
- be sarcastic

You MUST:
- be gentle in your instruction
- guide when the child makes a mistake
- encourage when the child feels like giving up
- ask questions to uncover hidden problems
- engage your child in a meaningful way

Social Environment
This applies when you have many children learning together. It is very important if you are a teacher handling more than 40 students. The dynamics of this will show when you have one student being ostracized by the rest of the class. This will definitely result in his learning to be disrupted.

I often counter this before it happens. I will share stories in class about cohesiveness and appeal to their empathy for ostracized pupils. So far so good.

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To motivate your child to learn, we have to tackle the environment for learning. In my opinion, the physical environment can always be controlled easily. It is the emotional environment that is difficult. Remember, your emotions will affect your child's emotions and in turn, it will affect your child's motivation for learning.

If you think it is easy for me, you are wrong. I cannot remember how many times I have flared up in front of my kids. I cannot remember how many times I asked my wife if I am a bad father/teacher to my sons. I cannot remember how many times my elder son cried because I was too harsh on him. It all boils down to expectations. Sometimes, I forget that Zenith is only 4 years old.

Two things helped me to be more patient: my wife and my journal. I will often talk to my wife about this problem and she will 'catch' me when I get too angry. I am a very intra-personal person and writes in my journal nearly everyday. I will write down my mistakes and my strategies to curb those mistakes when I encounter them again. Over the years, I get better and better. Now, I still get angry when my sons are slow in their learning, but I am able to control myself better.

I want to nurture their love for learning.

Let's all work hard together!

little motivator