Finally someone nails it as to why our kids can't sit still

I've actually said to people that if I could choose my students based on tree climbing ability, I'd probably have a very good class.

Schools should listen to people like pediatric occupational therapists more often.


Why So Many Kids Can't Sit Still in School today

 

This makes so much sense. We are harming our children with some ridiculous trends in education. Whatever happened to developmentally appropriate practices?

 

Great article. The trick is to convince the school board about it. Made mostly of educational people hopefully and not lawyers like mine.

 

Thanks Sarge!!! I know when I taught 1st I was boy heavy in my 1st year because most of parents knew me when I subbed. They always liked how I would let the kids wiggle & be kids. I always felt like when I was in the other classroom like "This teacher must think my classroom is chaotic...hers were always so quiet & still. I know she would suggest ADD A LOT!!! I had 6 & & yr olds...time & place. When I could see we were losing focus I would have them stretch with me (we pretended to be trees) Or I would say shake those silies out just for a min & it was always better!!!

 

Does that explain why my 16 year olds can't sit still either?

 

Before we take notes in class I always have my kids stand up, walk around their desk a few times, speak to a neighbor, stretch, then sit back down. Today I even had them do five jumping jacks because they looked so out of it. Not really the same thing as these first grades, but 8th graders sure need movement as well!!

 

Several of my grade 7 and 8 students need to stand while they work and some alternate between sitting at their seats, sitting on the floor, and standing at the back counter. I have a hard time sitting still during a meeting; I can't imagine having to do it for 6 hours a day!

 

Absolutely! My grade 2s know that they can work however they are comfortable as long as they are working. We move around a lot. I was actually reflecting today how little time my students spent in their desks. We were too busy!!

 

I don't see this as having anything to do with our education system, developementally inappropriate..etc. I see this very simply as parents do not invest the time into getting their kids active in sports and/or play after school. It is just to easy to let kids play on electronic devices, than supervise or participate in active activities after school.

 

We've got probably 100 parks in my part of the county and every single one of them has multiple sports being played and practiced there just about every day of the week. It was a rare child at my old school that wasn't just about over-scheduled with outside activities - most of them physical. It is during daytime classes that kids are struggling to focus and sit.

 

I'd like to give kids around 45-60 minutes for recess in the middle of the day. 15 minutes is not enough! The long breaks are more than necessary, and I've seen and heard about them implemented well in other countries. Afternoons are a tough time to keep kids focused, and I think a long break in the middle would help tons.

I would also like them to have longer mini breaks in the middle of the day. Adults get these types of breaks at conferences and regular workdays, and I'm not sure why children aren't given the same time to recharge.

 

Yes, this article is right on target. I try to get my students to move around more in class anyway I can. I even have them take notes off each others backs with strips of notes taped to each others backs. They enjoy this and it gets even the shy students to interact a bit.

I know even as a teacher, I hate taking a class where I have to sit all the time. We all need breaks to move around, especially elementary age boys. Thanks for posting this Sarge.

 

According to the article it is not the lack of recess time. It is the lack of core strength. My school has just about the same amount of recess time as my elementary school 20 years ago. kids run around and play on the playground almost exactly the same. Kickball, soccer, football, jungle gym, tag..etc. About 45 minutes a day of school time.

What changed, imo, is what happens after school. While many kids are in sports, as the article states, 2 days is not enough. My kids are in a sport, 2 days a week, 45 minutes each day. 20 years ago a kid would have logged that hour and a half and another 1/2 hour on Monday before dinner.

What I see are kids spending HUGE amounts of time on tablets and portable electronics devices. Far less time today, seems to be spent playing outside with friends, climbing trees, building forts..etc. I work at a "neighborhood" school, we have 2 huge bike racks for students to park their bikes...they are completely empty, they were full when I was in elementary school.

When I was a kid, everyone I knew used to check in with parents when they got home and then out the door they went for the next 2-3 hours to play before dinner. Now, where I live, it seems to be very close to 100% organized playdates. I would never allow my kids to come home from school, and say "going to the park, be back in a few hours", they are always under our supervisión or another trusted adult. It is very very different today to get the same type, intensity, and amount of play that my generation got.

Play at school is almost, not quite, but very close to the same as when I was in school, the after school play is very very very different.

 

I didn't live in a neighborhood where we could just run around outside (no sidewalks - not safe), but I had a really big yard and was outside a lot. I remember playing in my friends' yards a lot too. We were outside all the time.

That's what I wonder - if kids have plenty of after school activity (parks, sports, etc) and it's all because they don't move enough at school, then why is this a new problem? When I was in elementary school, I remember sitting. A lot. I think brain breaks and movement and sitting different places around the room are relatively new common practices. I don't remember any of that being commonplace. But why wasn't this a huge problem in the 90s, too? Or earlier?

 

Exactly. If you have kids, look at how their activities have changed.

I have kids, I remember being a kid, there is NO COMPARISON whatsoever, to how we "played". A child's after school play in terms of intensity, time, and activity today is very very different. It takes far more effort as a parent today to make sure your child is getting this "play".

I also think it is interesting what Upsadaisy said "that many kids are over scheduled" refferring to afterschool play. There was far less "scheduling" of play for my generation, we just played with our friends, so much today is playdates or very organized and adult run sports times.

 

A little less than 20 years ago (about 1998) I played sports afterschool - I did recreational soccer in the town's soccer league. The practices were 45 minutes once a week, then a ~60 minute game every Saturday.

So yeah... Not everyone is or was a sportsaholic.

Some kids don't like to play sports for fun.

 

A follow-up article: http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs...wrong-ways-to-get-kids-to-sit-still-in-class/

 

I'm 41 and can't sit still during a workshop or church. I'm still half asleep and find my self fidgeting as I type this! LOL

 

Moving around is built into science. They need to get up and get their materials, wander around to other experiments and take a look, etc. But they still probably don't get enough time. I agree with Pashtun that this is probably something parents should be taking care of at home, allowing students to wander, explore, and play. I remember my elementary years after school were spent exploring the neighborhood, going to the park, pretending to be CIA agents, etc. It was actually probably dangerous because our parents weren't around to supervise us, but that was the kind of neighborhood we lived in.

Once we got our first game system in the neighborhood, that changed drastically. We opted to spend more time indoors at the house of the kid with the newest game system or games.

 

No, your missing my point. 20 years ago they participated in sports 2 days a week for 45 minutes, same as today, however, there was 17 other play sessions before, after, and on every day the rest of the week. Today, the activity IS the 2 days sports practice.

My point is today the "playtime" is the 2 day sports practice, 20 years ago kids were doing far more playing sandwiched around and between those 2 days of sports events. They were doing more fort building, capture the flag, climbing trees...etc. NOT just playing sports.

So Bros, do you think kids are as physically active after school today as nearly 20 years ago when you were in elementary school?

 

I think this is a dramatic oversimplification. I was a pretty sedentary kid. I'd guess that 75% of the kids I've taught the past three years got more physical activity after school than I did. I don't think you can just say that kids today don't play after school while kids 20 years ago did. Some kids in my room go home and are balls of energy until lights go out. Some of us 20 years ago were perfectly content to go home, sit in a chair, and read until the lights went out.

For what it's worth though, we always had two recess periods from kindergarten until 6th grade... one was typically at the end of the day, the other was attached to lunch (lunch was 35 minutes, but the lunch ladies let kids outside after ten minutes if they were done eating).

 

I think that too much time is spent on electronic devices at all times of the day, actually.

 

Of course, some kids did do this. I think it is a mistake to think that electronic devices have not reduced physical activity in our population.

As Peregrin said, when game systems came out it changed things, kids went to friends and played the games indoors, now you see kids simply stay at home, play the games, and communicate with friends over the voice chat. Things have and are changing, I really cannot see our population of elementary students being as active now as 20 years ago on the whole.

But, you could be right grade3, I just do not see it. I am pretty active with my kids, and I can tell you, they play physically FAR less than the average kid I knew in 4th grade.

 

It can't only be the result of physical inactivity during the day. But the rushing around on schedule, the stress of that, the topical treatment of curriculum areas, the lack of time for anything - all of that has its cost and contributes to lack of focus, in my opinion.

 

Has this changed though Upsadaisy. School today seems very very similar to school 20 years ago where I went.

Standardized tests, pressure for grades, topical teaching of math...etc.

I do think expectations and excuses have changed for our kids.

EDIT: I also think expectations for teachers is what has changed most significantly.

 

In the lower grades, I think it has really changed. Many of the standards I am expected to teach my 3rd graders now I did not learn until I was older. We did a lot more 'thematic' units and learning when I was in school, along with more arts and crafts, projects, etc.

 

Good points amakaye, I would agree with some of those. I think many teachers can still do thematic units if they choose to(not all, but many) and I think the pendulum is coming full force back to doing projects.

 

I read this article a few months ago, and it just makes so much sense!!!

I honestly don't even think it's a school problem. My students have recess for 35 minutes every day, and three days a week they have gym for 30 minutes. So they are getting at least 60 minutes of movement almost every day at school, and I still see about 1/3 of my students struggling to sit for even 2 minutes. I try to keep all lessons under 10 minutes at the very most, and I do a lot of hands-on partner work, where they're moving around the room. As the article states, these things help, but it's not enough.

This past summer I took a walk every day. I would walk for about 1-2 hours around my neighborhood, passing through many parks and residential areas. I would go at different times of the day: morning, afternoon, evening, night. I can count on one hand the number of times I saw a child outside (not including organized sport leagues). I understand that parents work during the day, but I was still amazed to not see ANY kids outside EVER. We had an absolutely beautiful summer, too: almost no rain, and temps were usually in the 70's.

 

Pashtun, I think it has changed. School days are over-scheduled and I think we are asking children to do more than they are capable of (a generalization, I know) and at lower grades. There is so much more packed into a shorter time these days - and the year effectively ends at the date of standardized testing. That's ridiculous. There is no time for relaxation in the classroom, barely even time for read-aloud or silent reading that isn't dictated by the teacher. My school days were too long ago to realistically compare to today's world, but I taught in a private school where we were encouraged to have fun with the kids and allow for down-time. This doesn't exist much anymore even in independent schools. I think it's a shame. Too many kids seem to wander around in a daze, not really benefiting from our higher expectations. And, yes, I think there are totally unrealistic expectations of teachers today as well.

 

I don't know what this means.

Most elementary teachers I know do lots of fun things regularly throughout the school year with their students.

What did this look like 20 years ago?

I remember sitting in school for 6 hours a day, taking standardized tests, pressured to learn "stuff" I did not want to learn, having to pass classes in high school or not graduating, teachers stressing students out over their tests, phone calls home for me not doing projects, homework, same amount of subjects...etc.

The changes I do see for students are my school lunches were far better 20 years ago than what is served today. We had gym teachers and art teachers 1-2 times a week, now it is left more to the classroom teacher. Self contained special ed classrooms versus least restrictive environment.

The biggest change I see is teachers being held accountable for their teaching....evaluations tied to results, pay, the way they are treated...etc. I suspect (can't speak from experience, but have heard this) teachers' opinions about student progress was taken more seriously 20 years ago, while today it will require data to back it up.

To date, I find 4th grade common core standards to be developmentally appropriate.

 

But truthfully, kids DID spend more time outside being active in the past, bros....playing tag, swing sets, throwing a ball, riding bikes, etc. not necessarily "sportsaholics", per se, but definitely more active than kids today. I RARELY see the kids in my neighborhood outside.

 

I did not casual play with the people on my neighborhood as whenever I left the house after school, I would be beat up because I was disabled. Slurs were provided by parents of the children for their usage. The children brought the implements with which to beat me.

 

It is not about you Bros, it is about elementary kids in general.

Do you think elementary kids are getting as much physical activity after school now as kids did 20 years ago?

 

I'm going to look back 50 years and my answer is, Yes. Furthermore, I live in Florida now and the kids play a whole heck of a lot more here outside than on LI when I was growing up. But, they also play soooo many hours on devices and of course we didn't have the option. An etch-a-sketch was considered high-tech.

 

I honestly don't know the answer to that, because I don't know what my students do when they go home. I know that I was almost never inside in the summer. I'm not sure what my students do all summer, though.

 

When I was a child, we only played inside if we had bad weather. The entire neighborhood of kids played outside. There were no "devices" and it was a beautiful time.
Recess at school was usually twice a day (I believe!) and of course we had "Phy. Ed." When I got home from school, I changed into play clothes and was outside until supper, then back outside until bedtime. In our area, our summers are fantastic and yet we rarely see kids playing outside. I always remark, "Where are the kids at?!" I wonder if one reason is that more moms are working and the kids are in daycares, thus we don't see them in their yards?

 

Nothing makes my heart sink more than when a kid tells me they "did nothing all summer--just watched TV and played Xbox."

 

Ugh Ama.. I hate that. My aunt babysat us when we were young so we always had someone to play with...gosh I don't remember being in much unless it was rainy. Outside playing, climbing trees, riding bikes, going to roller skating rink! Winter sledding, building snow forts & snowmen & snowball fights...Heaven forbid we made tunnels in the snow that my uncle piled with the tractor...so fun!! Oh I also had a pony, so we rode a lot & we also had a trampoline... we had the most fun (even when we moved from family) on that thing...summer ran a sprinkler under it & we made it a fort & would camp under it!!!

 

No, they are not....and in my area of Jersey, outside activity really has never featured beating up the kid with disabilities. How horrible to ave experienced that, bros. I grew up here, my kids lived here since grades 3 and 7... They and I were always outside. I just don't see it now.

 

My kids were always outside when they were little--in the backyard, riding bikes up and down the street, at the park around the corner, playing road hockey or basketball. I don't see many kids outside now in part, I believe, due to the fact that parents are nervous about having their kids out of their sight.