Banner photo showing a frustrated teacher and student

Why Does My Child Not Sit Still During Lessons?

Born to Move

If your child does not sit still during lessons, they are most likely a kinesthetic or tactile learner, and the current teaching approach is not meeting their learning needs.

Common characteristics of kinesthetic and tactile learners:

Have trouble sitting still
Lose interest quickly
Have difficulty learning steps and procedures
Are easily distracted
Can be easily overwhelmed
Tend not to be auditory learners
Need manipulatives
Attention tends to wander

Often, kinesthetic and tactile learners are misunderstood. Their need for movement is sometimes viewed as a behavior problem. These are the students who are constantly being told to "sit still" at their desks. Unfortunately, the more you urge your child to sit still, the more they seem to need to move. You can meet their need for movement while teaching by incorporating multisensory elements into your lessons:

Let them move! They will learn more quickly and effectively if you let them stand at their desk, swing their legs, pace the floor - as long as they are not disrupting other students.
Incorporate related motions into teaching, such as hand gestures and hands-on activities.
Allow the use of manipulatives or sensory tools for tactile learners, who learn primarily through their sense of touch.
Break up long lessons into smaller chunks, change teaching location (sit on rug, sit in desks, go outside, switch seats, etc.)
If you are teaching steps for solving a problem, have students imagine themselves following the steps.
Their attention follows their hands. Encourage them to draw sketches or diagrams of what they are hearing in a lesson, or when doing a sheet of math problems, teach them to point to each problem they come to. Let them use flashcards with the information they are learning.