The children gathered in my intervention groups are full of energy, just like your typical five, six, seven, and eight-year olds. They are constantly either leaning back in their chairs, sitting on their knees on their chairs, or abandoning their chairs altogether to crawl onto the table.
It can be challenging to find the perfect balance of flexibility when trying to have empathy for children and their need to move (especially given their limited amount of recess time) and the more traditional behavior expectations that kids should sit still to focus. How can a teacher allow for movement so that kids can take in the information and be ready to respond, but not moving so much that they're bouncing off the walls or falling out of their chairs? How can a teacher help kids to calm themselves enough to listen, attend, work, and engage, but not be so calm that they're mentally checking out? We are requesting five adjustable wobble chairs so that my students can stay focused on the text and engage in deeper thinking and rich conversation.
For some kids, "adding a sensory component or enhancing the existing sensory features of an activity can be helpful to promote attention and engagement". With those words, Pediatric Occupational Therapist, Claire Heffron of The Inspired Treehouse, solidified my motivation to obtain seating that would enable my needy students to focus. Heffron describes the Wobble Chair’s base as slightly rounded on the bottom which allows for a gentle rocking movement. I believe this type of movement would be the best kind of movement to help my students stay in their seats and focus while simultaneously getting to wiggle without distracting others.
About my class
The children gathered in my intervention groups are full of energy, just like your typical five, six, seven, and eight-year olds. They are constantly either leaning back in their chairs, sitting on their knees on their chairs, or abandoning their chairs altogether to crawl onto the table.
It can be challenging to find the perfect balance of flexibility when trying to have empathy for children and their need to move (especially given their limited amount of recess time) and the more traditional behavior expectations that kids should sit still to focus. How can a teacher allow for movement so that kids can take in the information and be ready to respond, but not moving so much that they're bouncing off the walls or falling out of their chairs? How can a teacher help kids to calm themselves enough to listen, attend, work, and engage, but not be so calm that they're mentally checking out? We are requesting five adjustable wobble chairs so that my students can stay focused on the text and engage in deeper thinking and rich conversation.
For some kids, "adding a sensory component or enhancing the existing sensory features of an activity can be helpful to promote attention and engagement". With those words, Pediatric Occupational Therapist, Claire Heffron of The Inspired Treehouse, solidified my motivation to obtain seating that would enable my needy students to focus. Heffron describes the Wobble Chair’s base as slightly rounded on the bottom which allows for a gentle rocking movement. I believe this type of movement would be the best kind of movement to help my students stay in their seats and focus while simultaneously getting to wiggle without distracting others.
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