It sounds like a punishment, but in fact a homework room is a dedicated space where children can study in comfort and they are all the rage, says Jacqueline Wake Young.
It’s a phrase sure to strike dread into the heart of every schoolchild – the “homework room”.
Worst of all, it’s not at school, say in the library or a sectioned-off part of the classroom, but in their own home.
And there they were thinking Halloween is scary, when actually it’s interior design that is the stuff of nightmares.
A homework room is any space where children can knuckle down to their studies – and sorry kids, it’s the latest interiors trend.
The idea has developed from the now ubiquitous home office, the thinking being that if adults have somewhere to work in the house, then children deserve the same.
It’s a place for a desk, a chair and other things pertaining to studies, such as a computer, notebooks, pens, calculators, text books, art materials and so on.
As bleak as it surely sounds to any young person, setting aside a dedicated space for homework can actually be fun, which is of course how you will sell it to them should you decide your family needs one.
Most activities can become more exciting when you have to invest in cool new stuff to take part in them – anyone who has ever joined a gym and then rushed straight out to buy a yoga mat and matching water bottle knows that feeling.
What to keep in mind is that homework rooms are not the same as home offices, despite them being along similar lines.
They can and should be pretty and playful according to each child’s likes and interests and kitted out with bean bags for reading, comfy seating for writing as well as pictures, toys, pens, pencils and colourful stationery.
The aim is to make them as appealing a space as possible, somewhere a child actually wants to be while being conducive to learning, away from the television and other distractions.
Done well, a homework room will make homework more fun, which is of course the second thing you will tell them.
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