Homeschooling And Furniture Challenges In the Home

Ergonomics (Photo credit: Army Medicine)

by Lance Winslow

You may not consider ergonomics relevant to your child's studies, but it is an important factor.

If you are homeschooling your kids at home you might wish to consider what many educational researchers have discovered over the last good many decades. It matters, and it is important, so let's talk shall we?

Let's say you are really getting serious about setting up your homeschooling to the point of determining the types of desks and furnishings you might use in your home to accomplish this task?

Well, then if that's the case you've probably ditched the concept of the kitchen table as the perpetual place of scholastic achievement; well, in that case good for you.

Now then, rather than just going down to IKEA or perusing the Walmart online store, maybe you might wish to partake in a little ergonomic advice?

There was an interesting article in the New York Times on January 7, 2013 titled; "Ergonomic Seats? Most Pupils Squirm in Classroom Classic" which discussed how new desks and chairs of today look and feel quite a bit different than they had in our parent's or grandparent's day.

If your child is forced to sit down in an uncomfortable chair day in and day out, for often 2-3 hours at a time, you are doing your kid a severe injustice.

Doing homeschooling work on the couch or on the living room floor may seem like a comfortable classroom, even fun, but over time this will become tough on your child's physical development, causing them soreness, tiredness, and fatigue - which also means they will be learning less and slowing their education process.

Do you remember the old school desks that we see at antique stores? Well, those just will not do, and will cause back problems. You can't solve these problems with more comfortable cushions.

Likewise, just because your kitchen table and chairs seem to be the correct size, height, and shape for eating, doesn't mean they are the best place for studying. Still, you'd be surprised to know that most homeschooling parents do use "the kitchen table" as their classroom.

If your children are using the couch to watch discovery channel shows as a supplement, that's fine, but you should have them taking notes and that means they really need to be sitting at a desk, just as if they were working on a computer. What's the solution to the ergonomic issue for homeschooling?

Simple; do your homework and don't take this challenge lightly, understand the risks and benefits and you'll be glad you did. Please consider all this and think on it.

Lance Winslow has launched a new provocative series of eBooks on the Future of Education. Lance Winslow is a retired Founder of a Nationwide Franchise Chain, and now runs the Online Think Tank; http://www.worldthinktank.net

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