Skip to main content
Add as a preferred source on Google

Active Seating Boosts Student Focus

  • 11/01/16
Flavors Noodle chair

Smith System’s Flavors Noodle chair helped to reduce fidgeting and enhance student focus at Central Avenue School.

A sharp rise in the global rate of pediatric ADHD cases has motivated schools to find better solutions for student seating. That includes Central Avenue School (CAS), a pre-K through fifth-grade school of 500 students within New Jersey’s Madison Public School District.

Megan Kelly Petersen, a CAS occupational therapist, had observed a common denominator at the school: students who struggled to sit still, stay focused and hone their fine motor skills, like writing. Often, students were sitting with poor posture and continually fidgeting. She could see how the school’s predominant one-size-fits-all seating — a hard, traditional shell on four legs — wasn’t working for many students.

“Traditional chairs tend to facilitate a posterior pelvic tilt and, therefore, a slouched posture. This impacts students’ breathing, vision and fine motor skills.”

Peterson found a better option with Smith System’s Flavors Noodle chair. The “active seating” chair features a patented suspension below the seat pan that allows it to tilt slightly in all directions, moving with the student. It provides comfort, back support and promotes core muscles use. In fact, studies show that academic performance improves when students can move naturally (i.e., fidgeting and shifting) while learning.

CAS added 30 Noodle chairs last year. Though the sample was small, nearly 90 percent of the teachers agreed the chairs increased attention span. Among students, 100 percent said the chairs helped them focus. The chair’s success will likely lead to a larger purchase this year.

Many students need modifications to fully access their education, says Petersen. “When purchasing furniture, schools must consider attention level, movement seeking amount, muscle tone/muscle strength, posture, fine motor skills, length of sitting time and work expectations.”

www.SmithSystem.com

This article originally appeared in the issue of .

Featured

  • Campus Safety Requires Using Every Resource Available

    Across the U.S., school and campus leaders are facing a security landscape that has changed dramatically over the past decade. Incidents on school property have increased in recent years, with several consecutive years setting record totals. According to analysis of data by CNN, dozens of shootings now occur on school grounds annually across K-12 and higher education environments.

  • Rhode Island Boarding School Completes Student Dorm Renovations

    St. George’s School in Middletown, R.I., recently announced the completion of a $26-million renovation project on Arden-Diman-Eccles Dormitory, according to a news release. The school partnered with Voith & Mactavish Architects (VMA) on the new space, which places a new focus on collaborative community spaces open to both boarding students and day students.

  • nursing students talk while studying in a hallway

    Elsevier Launches VR Simulation Solution for Nursing Students

    Elsevier has introduced Shadow Health Lab with Virtual Reality, a simulation platform that allows nursing students to interact with virtual patients and build clinical judgment skills in a safe, realistic environment.

  • Dallas ISD Voters Approve $6.2B Bond Package

    Dallas ISD voters have approved a record-setting $6.2-billion bond package that district leaders say will modernize aging campuses, eliminate portable classrooms and reshape learning environments across one of the nation’s largest school systems.