"Sitting still is overrated. It makes sense for the opera or for meditating, but in most classrooms and child care centers, it's given far more honor than it deserves. Children need to move." -- Tom Hunter, National Association for the Education of Young Children
I have a lively, energetic, and diverse set of adorable kindergarten students this year.
Since they all attend school on a military base in Delaware, which means one or both of their parents is in the armed forces, they all come from different areas and different situations. Some are willing to take risks and try it all; others are still building their confidence enough to try tasks independently. Some can retain everything you say and then some; others have trouble remembering more than one piece of information at a time. The one thing they have in common is they are all five and six years old, and thus need movement constantly built into their day to help them grow and learn.
My Project
Kids learn by doing and manipulating. Even with the changing expectations in kindergarten, kindergarten can still be a time of movement and manipulation. One way this can happen is simply by offering a choice in where the kindergarteners sit.
Some students can easily pay attention and focus while sitting in a normal school chair or carpet spot, whereas others need some kind of aid to help them concentrate. With the motion of activating their core with Wobble Chairs, the interference in students' bodies and minds can be reduced, allowing students the movement they need to better focus in school. Since students typically want what other students have, I'd like to give ALL my students a choice in their seat and allow all my students the opportunity to "wobble" as they work if they'd like! :)
Kindergarteners are naturally little wiggle worms who spend seven hours a day on a carpet or a rigid chair.
Wobble chairs will give them the chance to wiggle and wobble while they learn, which will give their bodies the outlet they need to move while maintaining the focus they need to learn. It may simply seem like a chair, but it is really so much more!
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As a teacher-founded nonprofit, we're trusted by thousands of teachers and supporters across the country. This classroom request for funding was created by Dr. Weber and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.
