Homeschool Ergonomics

I recently listened to a Life Kit episode (NPR) about ergonomic issues around remote working or learning. Their expert advisor was Meg Honan from the Department of Occupational Medicine at University of California San Francisco — their web page on the topic is full of good stuff.

Here’s a quick bulleted summary:

• Lift your head and lower your arms
  • Top of monitor should be at eye-level
    • Helps: laptop wedge or external monitor
  • Keyboard/mouse at resting elbow level
    • Otherwise hunched over and lifting arms (like praying mantis)
    • Most desks/tables too tall
      • Raise height of chair or sit on pillow
        • Keep feet flat, though, to support lower back
          • Find platform/footrest for feet if don’t reach floor
        • Pillow at small of back also helps with lower back
    • Helps: detached mouse/keyboard
      • External mouse also avoids ergonomic problems with trackpad
  • “Heads down, arms up” position makes you achy, sore, tired
• Switch positions
  • Don’t stay in one position for too long
    • Use new tasks to move around and adopt a new posture
      • Walk around during calls
      • Play breaks/Brain breaks
    • Break up your day with walks, stretches, etc.
      • At least once per hour
      • Get fresh air and sunshine
      • Balance 2D screen time and 3D work
        • crafts, chores, games, etc.
• Keep consistent structures/routines
  • Get buy-in and input from everyone involved
  • Invest time and effort to get and stay organized
  • Rotate activities to help maintain motivation
  • Set goals; keep to-do list
  • Work on one thing at a time
    • Eliminate distractions
• Be kind to eyes
  • Avoid glare: Sit perpendicular to window
  • Good lighting
  • Adjust screen brightness
  • Use max screen space
    • Watch lecture/lesson AND take notes on a separate surface
    • Project onto TV screen (smart TV/Apple TV)
• Consider ears
  • Headphones (with microphones)
  • Don’t blast volume
    • Decrease background noise
• Pay attention to discomfort
  • If discomfort/pain lingers for days, or builds, it could be serious
• You’re a person, not a product
  • Socialize with friends, family, colleagues regularly
  • Create wellness boundaries
    • e.g., no tech during meals

It’s made me reflect on the homeschooling space I’m planning for the new home. It’s connected to a screened-in porch because we wanted to encourage the kids to go outside as much as possible. Along those lines, we want to put in enticing or interesting features within direct visibility from the porch — perhaps a mud kitchen or a hammock or a vegetable garden or game equipment. The porch area would also be handy for messy activities like art or science experiments.

I’ve decided not to give individual kids their own desk in the homeschool space. Instead, there will be a central table (at the proper height for working, not eating) and learning stations at edges and corners of the room. I can vary the furniture so that some spots encourage standing while other spots encourage other postures, like playing on the floor or reaching up to a shelf. I’d like to put a computer at standing height for the younger ones in one corner of the room, but I’d also like to set up a cheap projector to project the computer screen onto a blank wall.

I’m also going to try to minimize clutter in the room by paring down the materials visible and available. There will a couple perennial supplies — pencils, paper, glue, and so on — but I’ve been inspired by Montessori classrooms to keep a clean, minimal aesthetic and rotate out activities and supplies.

I try not to get sucked into Pinterest vortices, but I’ve drawn a lot of inspiration from Tinkerlab and Fairy Dust Teaching.