Kindergartners Are "On the Ball"
November 07, 2008
Have you heard the news? This year the Kindergartners are "on the ball". They have the privilege of being the first to try out our new stability ball chairs. They use these chairs for the entire day in place of traditional school chairs. While researching the benefits and costs of these stability balls last spring, we found a company in Wisconsin called WittFitt (www.wittfitt.com) and chose them to work with.
As teachers, we were trained on integrating them into the classroom and actually have our own ball chairs we sit on throughout the day. At the beginning of the year, the Kindergartners went through a learning process to become familiar with the chairs and actually "earned" the right to sit on them. We established rules for using the ball chairs correctly and have consequences if they are not followed. Some of the benefits of these ball chairs include enhancing attention and concentration, allowing "active sitting", assisting in improving posture, blood flow, balance, and coordination, as well as strengthening core muscle groups. We were very, very fortunate to receive donations from the Central Lyon Foundation, the Rock Rapids Women's Action Club, the Parent/Teacher council as well as a chapter of the Rock Rapids Beta Sigma Phi sorority. We want them all to know we're having a "ball"!
