A little while back I was a parent helper in my daughter’s kindergarten class.While I was there, I was interested in observing how much our little ones move in place while doing their schoolwork. Now, in my point of view, schools spend too much time on some things (repetition) and too little time on other things (learning how to be calm).What I noticed was that our children spend a lot of time tapping feet, pencils and erasers. Bouncing legs up-and-down, shifting in their seats, chewing on pencils, and being silly.Some of this extraneous movement may be necessary because their large muscles may simply be in one spot too long without the ability to exercise.But, what I also saw was the children’s general inability and lack of familiarity with calmness. In other words, having a beginning understanding of when to and how to be calm. Becoming familiar with the posture for calm might be helpful to our children so that more of their burgeoning capacity for attention can be used effectively.At this point while they are being jittery/silly, it seems they are not able to effectively “hear” the information being given, limiting their capacity to learn. This then requires the teacher (or parent) to repeat the information, sometimes having to scold the budding student, until they are pushed into a form of forced calm.It might be more helpful to our little ones to show them how to be calm in a variety of different situations, so that they learn that calm can be a useful tool at certain times. Using this tool may help our little ones absorb more of the information they will need.Some Postures for CalmHave your child stand in a still, relaxed position. Wait until they stop their jitteriness.Give this posture (or tool) a name—calm. Move them to another spot. Start chatting with them and ask them what tool might they use (along with listening)—give them the answer of calm.Do this, while having your child sit.Then, do this while having your child lie down.Don’t scold them with this, but use it with the understanding that improvement takes time.all content The New Parent © 2008