Fountainhead Montessori Blog

3 Ways the Home Environment Impacts Success in the Classroom

Written by Shandy Cole | Feb 9, 2021 7:27:21 PM

The home environment and the classroom environment can have a reciprocal impact on one another. The things that happen at home can impact how your child does in the classroom. Likewise, the things that happen in the classroom can affect your child at home. Carefully choosing the school your child attends will help ensure that you are happy with the ways that the classroom environment impacts your child outside of the classroom. Understanding the ways that the home environment impacts success in the classroom will help you know which steps to take to ensure that your child is set up for success.

The home environment contributes to the physical condition of your child

The physical condition of your child is impacted by factors such as food, physical activity, and sleep. Getting a healthy and well-balanced breakfast before school will help your child have the energy necessary to start the day off strong. Plenty of physical activity after school and on the weekends will help your child stay in a good physical condition, which will impact both physical and mental functioning. A good night of sleep will help your child be able to focus on schoolwork and have energy throughout the day. Each of these factors can impact your child’s success in the classroom.

The home environment impacts the mental and emotional state of your child

The mental and emotional state of your child can impact success in the classroom. If you have a chaotic morning at home because everyone is running late, your child may arrive at school feeling distracted, overwhelmed, or upset. On the other hand, when you have a morning that goes as planned, your child can arrive to class focused on the day ahead. There are a variety of elements in the home environment that can impact your child’s mental and emotional state. Taking steps to ensure that the environment of your home supports a good frame of mind – especially the morning routine – will have a positive impact on your child’s success in the classroom.

The home environment supports or negates the things that are taught in the classroom

If you can reiterate the things that happen inside the classroom in your home, it will have a positive impact on your child’s success in the classroom. For example, in the Montessori classroom, students are provided with opportunities to engaged in focused and self-directed learning. You can support what happens in the classroom by creating similar opportunities for your child at home. You also have the ability to negate the things that are taught in the classroom if you do not have a clear understanding of how your child’s program approaches learning. Gaining a clear understanding of what happens in the classroom and supporting that in your home is an important part of helping your child succeed at school.

Teachers and parents are both important to the success that students experience inside and outside of the classroom. The class and home environments can be aligned to support the success of the child. A few proactive steps at home can have a big impact on how your child does in the classroom.