In the News: The Importance of Class Placement

This week I have been quoted in the Bloemfontein Courant about where children should sit in class. Since schools reopened yesterday for the new year, this is some food for thought for all our parents and teachers.

You can read the online version HERE on Bloemfontein Courant's Website.


Here is the translation:

Important where child sits in class

by Mark Steenbok

With the schools reopening on Wednesday it may be a good idea to review some factors that influence learning, like where your child sits in class.

This is according to Luise Spangenberg of Edu-Profile. She assesses children and adults through genetic brain profiling. Spangenberg says that where your child sits in class can play a big roll in their academic performance.
"I had a grade one student whose teacher was convinced he had ADD (attention deficit disorder) and needed medication. After the consultation I advised that he be moved to a different place in class, since there was no indications in his profile of ADD or ADHD. A week later the teacher apologised to the mother and reported that the child showed no symptoms of ADD anymore and was a bright student."

According to Luise children should sit with their dominant ear facing the teacher so that they can physically hear better and pay better attention. They should sit where there is fewest distractions.
She also says that children who move more by nature doesn't necessarily have ADHD and they should sit at the back of the class where they won't distract other students.

"It is also of value for these children to sit on a Pilates ball, rather than a chair. Parents can enforce this at home during homework and study times, since schools generally doesn't allow this. In class they can play with a stress ball or small item. This will help them pay better attention," says Spangenberg.

Don't let your child blindly choose a chair this year. Choose right and prepare for a good academic year.

The Importance of Class Placement

We all know that feeling: Standing in line of our classroom for the very first day, wondering where we’ll sit, if we’ll like the teacher and the subject. Either the teacher will let everyone choose their own seats or assign them based on some kind of order (alphabetically, academic performance) and of course move the kids that cause problems of some kind.

In a perfect world I would want to show each and every teacher where to place each child in their classrooms. Why? Because it has a greater impact on learning than you think.

Each person has a dominant ear and a dominant eye. This means that you see and hear better with a specific eye and ear and you process the information differently depending on the dominant side. As a general rule a child should sit with his dominant ear faced towards the teacher, therefore if your child is left ear dominant, he should sit on the right side of the classroom.

But why is this important? After all, you have been sitting in different places in classroom all your life and you’ve always been able to hear, right? Yes, you can hear no matter where you sit, but you will hear better when your dominant ear faces the speaker. You will also be less distracted because you won’t have to unconsciously turn your head to hear better.

As soon as a child has to turn his head to hear and process information better, he notices other things like classmates chit-chatting, someone’s hair that’s out of place, mismatched socks, and more. This can be so distracting that the child misses most of the lesson as he day dreams.

What’s more is that “problem children” are usually placed in front “where I can keep an eye on you”! These are usually children that need to move a lot in order to keep their brains from going into “sleep mode” (see my post on stress for more information on this). Now they have to sit in front where they will distract all the other kids when they move and what’s worse is that they are permanently in the spotlight: “Sit still! Be quiet! Leave him alone! Focus! Look at me! Stop that! What did I just say?”
This makes the child believe that he is naughty and therefore he will act naughty because it is expected of him.

A better way to manage this is to place the antsy children at the back of the class where they can move without disturbing the other kids. They only need some guidance as to how to move without disrupting the class (jumping up and running is out of the question, but squeezing a stress ball and/or sitting on a pilates ball is quiet, inconspicuous and keep that little brain alert).

Similarly children who are left eye dominant are prone to daydreaming and if they sit too far back, there is a whole host of things that could distract them. They should not sit farther back than the middle of the classroom.

So is this really an issue? Does it really make a noticeable difference?

Yes, it does!

I had a mother who brought her first grader to me because his teacher was insisting that he had ADD and needed medication. The mother was heartbroken and not wanting to just go to the doctor for a prescription, she came to me instead. Nothing in the child’s profile pointed to ADD, although he was left eye dominant and therefore prone to daydreaming.

I recommended he be moved to a different place in the classroom and the teacher refused as she had gone through a lot of trouble arranging her students. A month later the teacher gave in and moved the child. A week later the mother received a phone call from the teacher who apologised for jumping to conclusions - since he was moved to the correct spot in class he has been paying attention, completing tasks and the teacher could no longer see any symptoms of ADD.

It is amazing that something as small as where you sit in the classroom can make such a marked difference.

Do something different this year and have your child sit in the correct place in class and see for yourself if it makes a difference.
I will gladly assess your child and recommend the optimal position for him/her in a classroom.

Feel free to comment or contact me if you have any questions or concerns.