ASK A TEACHER
Difficulty Sitting in a Desk
with Nancy Downing

Q:  My daughter is having a lot of trouble sitting in her chair in class. She is a third grader. Can you
give me some suggestions?

A: That may seem like a simple question, but it is not. Here is a list of possible reasons your daughter
may not be able to sit in her chair. Eliminate the reasons, one by one. Please keep in mind I have
never met your daughter nor have you given me any other information that might help me go in a
particular direction. These reasons come from why some children your daughter’s age are not able to
sit in their chairs.

  • Your child’s feet may not touch the floor. This becomes painful as the day wears on. Suggestion:
    Get a phone book and have your daughter use it as a footrest under her desk. This will allow her
    to also center herself in her chair.
  • Find out the length of time your daughter is able to sit in her seat. Maybe you and the teacher can
    get a timer and have her work for extra computer time or some art time, etc if she is able to sit
    for three extra minutes. Set the timer. The time can be increased as she is able to sit for longer
    periods of time.
  • The teacher might be able to give her some quick physical activities that allow her to get out of
    her seat more than her classmates to work off some of her energy. Examples of this are passing
    out work or manipulative's to her classmates or even running an errand outside of the classroom.
    I let a few of my students stand by their desks and jump up and down for short periods of time to
    release some of their extra energy. After jumping, they sit right down and get to work.

If your daughter needs to move more than her peers and sitting in her chair is not the only place she
exhibits extra movement, you might want the teacher to write down how often and for how long your
child moves around during the school day. Take the list to your pediatrician and ask him/her if there
might be a medical reason for so much activity.

Let the teacher and possibly the physical therapist at your daughter’s school know about your concern.
They are good resource people to use.


Copyright © by Nancy Downing.  All rights reserved.
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Nancy has been an educator for 30 years and is currently a special education teacher.  
She is the former Center Director of learning in Little Rock, Arkansas. She has received
local, state, and national recognition for her development of Down fled Phonics, a
multi-sensory reading program.  Nancy also wrote curriculum for an educational
technology company.   

Nancy is a single mother of three children:  one with learning differences, one gifted,
and one who has to work for his grades.  Not only does she know what it is like to teach
all these different learning styles at school, but she has the experience of dealing with
all aspects of each twenty-four seven.  
Train a child in the way he should go,  
and when he is old he will not turn from it.
(Proverbs 22:6)