Make A ‘Homework Mat’ For Your Kid

One thing I don’t like about homework for young kids is the fact that after they’ve just spent a whole day sitting at a desk at school, we direct them to another desk at home. It’s inhibiting. Their bodies are wiggly and restless and begging to move.

That’s why when my kid heads back to school, I’m going to create a “homework mat.” It’s an idea shared by Otis Kriegel, founder of elementary education resource The K5.

You simply take a yoga mat or other portable floor covering — I’d go with blue or green to improve focus — and throw it on the ground whenever it’s work time. There, they can stretch and shift around as they hone on their subtraction skills. “I guarantee it will increase motivation,” Kriegel says. (He notes that kids should also have a dedicated table or desk somewhere, but they don’t have to stay there.)

What’s great about the homework mat is that kids can move it from place to place — say, if their little brother just got a new recorder and is practicing “Billy Boy” in the living room, or if they just need a change in scenery. Children actually retain more information when they change up their study locations.

Use the homework mat in tandem with these other concentration hacks for kids. I might get my own mat and work alongside my kid. I rather like the idea of editing stories while in cat pose.

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