Soundproofing a Homeschool Classroom

If by the time you read this, COVID-19 is no longer an issue, then great! While homeschooling and virtual learning has always been around, it’s been more prominent during the pandemic. Either way, we want to help you set up the best possible homeschool learning environment for your kids, whether or not it was ever part of your education plans.

Soundproof a Classroom

Now, whether you’ve always chosen homeschooling as opposed to the traditional classroom, or if you have no other option, you should be able to create a productive learning environment for your kids within your home. This means having a room quiet enough so they concentrate on their school work, and so no one else in your house is disturbed by the schooling.

If your kids are doing virtual learning at home versus having an in-person teacher at home, that can make a different in how you’ll be soundproofing the classroom.

Soundproof Doors for Homeschool Classroom

One of the main ways you’ll need to treat a homeschool classroom is by using sound blocking materials. This will help to make sure that your kids are able to concentrate on what’s being taught and on their school work.

When you use a room in your home as a classroom, it’s reasonable to expect some disturbances. For example, if you have other younger kids that aren’t yet in school or a partner who works from home, it’s probably hard for them to be silent all the time. Luckily for you, it’s possible to soundproof the room you’ve decided to use as the classroom.

If too many distracting noises are making their way into the classroom from the rest of your house, you may need to consider a soundproof door cover. Doors are usually the biggest culprit for unwanted sound leaks, as long as the noise isn’t coming through a shared wall. Depending on the typical volume of the noise outside the classroom, it might be necessary to add a door sweep and weather strips around the door for extra soundproofing.

Soundproof Room Dividers

We all know kids can get distracted pretty easily, and if the noises aren’t already enough to distract them during a lesson, imagine being able to see everything going on right outside your home classroom. This is fairly common in open floor plan homes, you can’t get a lot of privacy, or peace and quiet when you really need it.

If you have a home with an open floor plan, then you may not have a door to soundproof, but don’t worry, there’s a solution. Soundproof curtains don’t need to be used over a window or a door, in fact, they can be used on their own as a soundproof room divider. This helps to keep out distracting noises and any distracting activities going on in the next room. For example, maybe the dining room doubles as the home office, and the living room doubles as the classroom, but the soundproof curtain will help keep those separate.

Using Soundproof Room Dividers

Ideally, having an existing door would help with some extra soundproofing, but soundproof curtains can still block out about 21-25 decibels, or 60-80% of noise on their own. On its own, a soundproof curtain can help to reduce the sound of other people talking, television noise, music and more.

Acoustically Treated Classrooms

If your kids are doing homeschool virtually, there can be some issues with echo in the room they use. This can make it difficult for a teacher or other students understand what they’re saying whenever they try to answer a question.

In a normal-sized room in a house, there’s really no need to install any professional quality sound absorbing panels. Excess echo in homes can usually be “treated” by furnishing a room with furniture and even just some area rugs. You might notice that whenever you’re in an empty room, the echo is pretty bad, but once you put the furniture it, you forget it was ever there.

So, whether your kids are homeschooling in person with an instructor, or doing virtual school, it’s important that they have a good learning environment. Distracting sights and sounds aren’t conducive to keeping kids focused, so if you have been having issues it might be time to consider soundproof curtains.