Homeschooling? Keep an eye on air quality in your home classroom

Until recently, homeschooling rates in the US remained steady. But the arrival of Covid-19 meant families across the country had to adapt to a new world, where learning from home became the norm.

Homeschool numbers doubled in 2020

According to the United States Census Bureau, the number of families opting to homeschool doubled at the start of the new school year in 2020, when compared with the previous year. And although many schools have reopened in recent months, thousands of families feel homeschooling is the safest option, for the time being at least.

What does your homeschool look like?

Homeschooling can take on many forms, from the ‘pandemic pods’, the term used to describe small groups of children gathering for in person learning, to one-on-one learning at home. Whatever model you choose, your children are spending a large part of their day in an indoor space that is not school.

Indoor air quality impacts our ability to learn

Covid-19 has shone a light on air quality in schools, but have you ever stopped to consider how indoor air quality is affecting your child’s ability to learn?

Whether it’s in the office or the classroom, we’re all too familiar with the dreaded afternoon slump. It’s that time after lunch, when home time is still a long way off. Much of this feeling can be attributed to poor indoor air quality. Airborne pollutants have an acute impact on our brain, slowing us down, they make it difficult to concentrate or stay focused on a task. Emerging evidence points to cleaning up the air, as a way to boost performance at work and at school.

One study from Annenberg Brown University found that running an air purifier in a classroom to improve air quality, boosted test scores in the same way as reducing the class size by 30%.

In another study, this time from a team at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, poor air quality was linked to a decrease in cognitive function, including an inability to focus and lower response times.

Austin Air is the only air purifier for your homeschool classroom

Whether you see homeschooling as a temporary measure or you’re in it for the long haul, it is vital that your child’s learning environment is the best it can be. Our air purifiers use technology recommended by the CDC and WHO, to effectively remove a wide range of airborne contaminants.

Choose Austin Air and give your child the chance to perform to the very best of their abilities.