How does your school deal with kids not sitting still in class?

[sardam]

DS2 has issues sitting still. Nothing new except his teacher isn't dealing with it the same way as in the past. I know she is having a hard time this year as there are 7+ kids with the same problem.
However if he is spinning and such at carpet time one day she'll have him sit in the office at recess the next day which then gets us a note home saying he was antsy, fidgety, and not sitting still the end of that day and you can see how this just goes in an endless circle.
I've had ideas like can he at least get some fresh air and sit on the wall outside? Or walk around with a teacher on duty? It always goes in spurts. He'll be fine for 6 weeks then has a bad week or two, then fine for 6 weeks. We are so close to the end and yet at this rate it is going to be a loooonnnnngggg 17 days!

Anyone have any other ideas?

[Ingalls]

My dd had recess threatened to be taken away for not getting something signed once, so I went in and spoke to the vp. I do not agree with kids missing recess unless
their actual 'offence' was recess related. like if they bolted and ran off school property, or they keep beating up kids, something like that, ok, they might miss recess. But otherwise? KIDS NEED BREAKS! They're KIDS.
Luckily my vp agreed with me.
I'd tell them you do not want him losing recess, ever, unless it is for a logical reason. Not sitting still in class means missing recess is the LAST thing he needs!

Just some ideas: gym ball to bounce gently on, maybe? what about some kind of balance thing like a bosu, but not so tippy...so he can be rocking it while sitting?
What about some carpet with a high pile, the kind so that when you swipe it one way it is different looking than the other, or like microsuede pillow maybe, same
idea....just ideas, I don't know if they're practical.
Good luck.

[gogomom]

My DS's (grade 6) teacher sends him into the hall if he is disturbing other students.

The problem I have with this is that he sees going into the hall as a choice now - like something he can choose to do when he's bored with class and doesn't want to do anymore seat work.... I would much prefer that they make him complete work at recess because he's truly upset when he looses recess and it will make him work harder the next day to not disturb other students.

I guess each kid is different in how they react to these things.

[sardam]

For my child I agree with Ingalls and have talked to my VP about it and apparently haven't gotten too far with it. I'm talking with her tomorrow morning again. He was recently given a ball to play with for sensory amusement but his teacher doesn't like the different larger items, other kids have had them short term this year.
Gogomom I agree if that is a consequence he cares about then it makes sense to do, however my son doesn't care so all it is doing is upsetting his teacher more which she doesn't seem to get.

He is in grade two if that makes a difference. He is old enough to know better, but still young and immature in some ways.

[smelltheroses]

Children do not get enough recess anymore... not like we did when in school.. they have shortened it to add more "curriculum" which is unfortunately very very difficult (especially for boys!) they learn so much differently than girls. They really should NOT be expected to sit for such long periods of time without getting their energy out. That's why so many children are labelled now a days, in part because they are boys born with high energy and need to get it out! It is so unrealistic I feel the school expectations. Good thing we are planning to homeschool. I don't like the school system for the most part.

[momx2]

They really should NOT be expected to sit for such long periods of time ...... That's why so many children are labelled now a days...... It is so unrealistic I feel the school expectations. Good thing we are planning to homeschool. I don't like the school system for the most part.

I completely agree! I feel strongly that it is unrealistic and I think unnatural for young children to sit for extended periods of time. We also homeschool but and I could not imagine my son in school. Sorry Sardam I don't have any advice and I hope something gets worked out for your son. It must be hard for teachers to work in such a system, but also so hard for parents when you have a teacher not willing to work with you for your children.

[M2M]

Markus sits on a yoga ball so he can bounce, he also goes to a room that has a seat with pedals like a bike, and he has a desk just for standing at the back of the room

[Mommato4]

Get ccac involved he may need a sensory break. My son cant sit still at all he gets 4 to 6 or more breaks on top of recess and lunch.

get him fidgt toys he can well figit with. At the desk get rubber bands or bungie cords and tie them to the legs of the desk for fidgity feet.

[BabyLove]

We have a class where a number of kids in that class have a tough time sitting for long periods of time so they began leaving them outside when they first get to school for 30 minutes to play and burn off their excess energy. Then they have their usual 2 breaks in the day (we are balanced day). It has really helped the class as a whole!

[Carol]

My middle son is exactly the same way and I also believe it's a veryhigh expectation for some kids to have to sit for a long period at such a young age. I have no real advice, just empathy with your situation. My son does have fidgets which help somewhat.

[luckymama]

I agree that it is a really long time for kids to sit. They are still so young. Too bad something can't be figured out where kids are learning at the same time as releasing energy. Like tying in exercise to their learning.

[one ordinary girl]

They need to have more physical breaks. I can't think of what they are called but it's something like QPDA or something similar where through out the day they just stop what they're doing and they play a song that gets them on their feet dancing, jumping moving. I think this should be done in both the am and pm. Kids need to move!! I'd talk to the teacher or even the learn support teacher. We have kids at our school who have cushions they sit on that allows them to move in their seats.

[melissawilliam]

What I found interesting in your post is that he is fine for 6 weeks then has 2 bad weeks. Is the teacher just not informing you that it is always the same? Is there something different during those weeks? If he is capable of controlling himself for all that time then I would be thinking he is choosing to act up the other times. This would not be ADHD or a hyperactive issue, but sounds like something very different, and without being there I can't give "real" advice.

If he is just having trouble sitting during seat work then allowing him the option of standing at either his desk or a desk/table near the side of the room. On the carpet allowing him to hold a small squish toy (with rules surrounding it and him understanding WHY he is allowed it), or allowing him to sit at his desk or fidgit near the back of the carpet. I don't see a student having trouble sitting as a reason to punish them, so I wonder if it isn't that he fidgits but that he is distracting others or making sounds or talking without sharing turns?

If it is quite a few students in the class, then adding in movement works, for example in math adding in songs they can do actions do, and 3-part math allows students to spend most of math class with their group.

I do find some comments funny. Recess/breaks are the same length as when I was a student in grade school (I am 36). Now, in primary schools work to make sure there are group times and exploration times and inquiry and math games, etc, whereas when I was in grade school we were expected to sit in our group/row and do independent work even in the primary grades. There are more people diagnosed with ADHD now, primarily because of how many adults are getting diagnosed and we now diagnose ADHD-inattentive, which a basic description is the "daydreamer" in the 1980s we diagnosed only the hyperactive kids usually and gave ritalin which had a lot of side effects, whereas now we have drugs without most of those side effects and diagnose hyperactive and zoned-out/daydreamers. (although I do agree that family drs and most pediatricians should NOT diagnose ADHD or other mental health issues and should leave that to the professionals - if the pediatrician has been trained in mental health as a focus then that is fine, but if they had other focuses then they shouldn't).

This was a picture shared in one of my fb groups last week

[luckymama]

I homeschool. I look at my kids and how they have grown and it is pretty interesting. I think some kids develop and mature later than others. My daughter for years would daydream and not be able to concentrate. If I was reading to my group of kids I would have to ask her if she was listening. She usually wasn't. She would cry because she was frustrated with herself for daydreaming. Same went for a lot of subjects. She is 11 now and that is mostly gone. It just took her longer than my others. I would just call her back to attention or find other ways to keep her attention. My son who is 9 now would have had a hard time sitting still. If he is doing work he is fine. If I am reading he is laying all over the floor, fiddling with things.... If I ask him a question he can answer it easily. He learns better when he is moving. I think all kids are different and learn differently so it is hard for some children to sit. Hopefully he will mature and be able to sit.

[Ingalls]

Melissawilliams I don't get how you think recess lengths are the same?
When I was a child we had two fifteen minute recesses, and one fortyfive minute recess. That's 75 minutes.
Now my kids have one twenty minute and one thirty minute recess. That's 50 minutes.


I wonder if the schools ares till doing dpa? (daily physical activity) I asked mine and neither kid thinks so. DS says they just don't do it at his grade level, he assumes. DD
says sometimes they get to listen to a song as they get ready at the end of the day and if you get ready fast you get to dance a bit, but that's just some days.