Fresh Air Skylight SystemsWith summer winding down and the busy back-to-school season picking up, it’s the perfect time to optimize the potential study spots in your home. Whether you need to transform a bedroom nook into a dedicated homework spot or update a corner flex space for quiet study, the way you design these environments can play a critical role in your child’s focus and overall productivity.

A key, yet often overlooked, element of a healthy learning environment is daylight design. By bringing abundant natural light through skylights to your study space renovation, you add in daylight that benefits the entire family.

But just how do skylights help with your child’s focus, well-being, and even math homework? Let’s talk about it! 

How does natural light support children’s growth and learning?

When we design spaces for our children, we want to give them every possible advantage. Natural light is one of those advantages. Natural light has a significant effect on our circadian rhythm, and a recent study has linked this effect to better mood regulation and sleep quality. To summarize the findings: students who spend time in naturally lit spaces are more attentive, feel more motivated, and perform better academically. By contrast, spending more time in poorly lit environments can lead to eye strain, slower reaction times, and mental fatigue.

Adding a skylight to your child’s study area or even in the playroom can help ensure they’re consistently getting the daylight their developing minds and eyes need to grow and thrive. 

Can a skylight improve focus and productivity?

Maintaining concentration during homework time can be challenging. It can even be tough for adults working from home! Fortunately, bright, natural lighting is a powerful way to keep us all more alert. Studies show that time spent working in natural light leaves us with higher energy levels than the same amount of time spent working under artificial lights.

Access to the outdoors is also a key factor in cognitive performance and focus. Students who have access to green views and natural light through windows and skylights — and access to fresh air through venting skylights — experience a faster recovery from stress and mental fatigue. They also perform significantly higher on tests of attentional functioning, which gauge their capacity to choose what they pay attention to and what they ignore.

By positioning your child’s homework space under a skylight, you allow uninhibited daylight to illuminate their work. This layout also frees up valuable wall space that would otherwise be occupied by traditional windows or lamps. So  you have more freedom to decorate the space with bookshelves, science posters, or other educational materials. 

How do skylights support overall well-being and sleep? 

A successful school day actually starts the night before. Children’s natural sleep-wake cycle must be supported to help them wake up refreshed and ready to learn. The sleep-wake cycle is a key part of the body’s circadian rhythm. And morning light is the most important signal that keeps it operating regularly.

Here's how it works for children and adults: exposure to high levels of sunlight throughout the day regulates our alertness. It also manages melatonin production in the pineal gland. Melatonin is the hormone that helps us fall asleep at night. As evening approaches and the world around us gets darker, the circadian rhythm signals to the pineal gland to release more melatonin. Ultimately, this creates a more restful night’s sleep. Then, we wake up more energized for the day ahead.

When the majority of our time is spent indoors, skylights help with natural light exposure throughout the day. Venting skylights can also help with whole-home airing. This improves indoor air quality, another factor that affects well-being and sleep. 

Skylight Systems help create a healthier study space.

VELUX Skylight Systems are an effective solution to help create the ultimate learning environment in your home. In addition to abundant natural light, venting models open to provide fresh air, positively impacting your child’s focus, productivity, and overall well-being. Skylight Systems also come with remote-controlled, room-darkening shades to help manage glare and heat, so your little one can always be comfortable while learning.

If your planned study area is in a smaller room or part of a flex space in your home, a VELUX Sun Tunnel^® Skylight is also a smart solution to bring in natural light. Smaller and able to fit in more spaces than traditional skylights, Sun Tunnel tubular skylights can be installed in just a few hours from start to finish. 

Design a brighter future.

Ready to transform your child’s study area with a new daylight design? Talk to a VELUX Design and Product Advisor in a free virtual consultation about your home’s options, or find an installer near you to get started on your project.