What time of day is best for effective learning?
You have probably heard of people saying “I’m a morning person” or “I’m an evening person”, meaning that person does better in their daily activities at different times of the day.
This suggests that for learners the best time of the day may vary depending on the person and that effective learning for an individual will vary accordingly.
But what does the research say about the best time of the day for learning? Some research says that we learn better at different times of the day. For example, R Thayer suggests that effective learning is best carried out in the late morning and early evening. As a parent need you concern yourself with this?
Well, as a parent working with your children and helping them with their learning this is something to bear in mind. Our advice is to see and hear at what time in the day your children perform best at their learning and try to fit in with this to get the best effort from them. This will lead to better and more effective learning.
The time of day factor is something that parents need to be particularly aware of during vacation and holidays from school. Do your children learn best in the late morning and early evening as Thayer suggests or at some other time? What does your research with your children conclude? When in the day does your children’s effective learning occur?
The thing is to – “do what works”.
Whatever time of day is best for your children make it fun and they are much more likely to be motivated and to retain what they have learned and to undertake real and effective learning.
