9 tips to help a child who stuggles to sit still

Written on 26th Mar 2015 by Sylvia Lowery

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Is struggling to keep still and pay attention a problem with the child or the environment? This is a question that I have had to ask myself over the years as I have sought to home educate my five children. Alex has always struggled to sit still and pay attention. He is not alone in this and a number of his siblings have also struggled to sit still while learning. What can be done to help a distracted child learn? Here are some suggestions that have helped some of my children.

1.  Allow the child to use their hands through drawing, building with Lego or blocks while reading to them or teaching. Children have different learning styles and some of my children have only been able to learn by physically engaging with the learning through cooking, building or experimenting. They have also found they can take in information better if their hands are active. This is called the kinaesthetic style of learning.

 

2. Allow a lot of time and opportunity for physical activity.

3. Don’t expect this kind of child to sit still working at a desk or table all day. I have one child who needs to engage in creativity every single day. This can vary from art, cooking, building models, sewing and taking care of pets.

 

 

 

4. Provide opportunities to engage in music, I have found that music helps with learning and development. Alex has always found listening to music like Mozart soothing  but didn’t take to playing an instrument. However I found that learning to play an instrument has helped those children who struggle to sit still. Music allows for academic learning that is linked to the emotions and physical movement.

5. Find ways to make maths real and enable engagement. Bring maths into cooking, building, designing and money management. There are some amazing books out there that match maths with art. This is not a maths book is a fantastic example of this.

 

6. Don’t judge by the outward appearances. Some of my children look as though they are not paying any attention but when I asked them about the learning afterwards they had taken it all in. My youngest will play the piano while her teacher is speaking but she says, ” I can’t concentrate unless I am doing that and it helps me to take in the what the teacher is saying.”

7. Some children just really struggle to sit still, they don’t do it to be annoying one child said, ” I was sitting in a Youth meeting and someone told me to stop rocking on the rocking chair but I hadn’t even realised I was doing it. When I try to sit still I have to move some part of my body, if I don’t I find it really tiring and I can’t take in any information. I feel really tired, stressed and like I want to scream.

8. One of my children used advanced anatomy colouring books and coloured flow charts to learn what she needed for A level biology. Colouring books are a really good way for children who struggle to keep still to relax and learn new information.

9. Don’t be afraid of technology, the IPad is incredibly interactive, there are apps to teach anything you might want your child to learn.

 

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