Monday Minute: Flexible Seating- A Positive Solution

Homeschooling provides the unique opportunity to customize learning to our children: an outside the “classroom box” approach that has the potential to uncover true joy in learning for those who previously didn’t fit within that classroom box (FYI: some of our world’s most inventive thinkers admittedly did NOT fit within the classroom box).

Flexible seating is one way we can customize learning for our children! Without the constraints of maintaining a classroom of children, as homeschoolers we have the opportunity to provide options in the when and where of learning. Here are some tips and insights:

1. Flexible seating can actually teach children to self-regulate their learning! By allowing children to explore how and where they best learn we teach them to understand how to regulate their learning environments and potentially think towards careers that would best suit them. In certain fields, flexible work space is the name of the game!
2. Explore tools for flexible seating through occupational therapy retailers online.
3. But you can actually do flexible seating for free by just allowing your child to work outside if that best suits them (forest bathing has been shown to contribute to calm) or to stand or sit in various locations as desired.
4. Flexible seating does not have to be (nor should it be) a free for all unless that is absolutely working for your family dynamics. Parameters to work within are generally helpful for families. If a parent is working from home this might also influence the set up. Talk it over as a family, try different things out, and revisit the set-up as necessary.
5. Although flexible seating is often thought to benefit children with certain types of nuerodiversity, and while that is often the case, the truth is that many types of individuals can benefit from exploring how they best work!

If you are interested in learning more about how to collaborate with your children for a healthy homeschool experience, contact me for a free consult at deanna@deannawestedt.com or schedule right here on my website on the “parents” tab!