Students at the Bolles Lower School Ponte Vedra Beach Campus are now encouraged to pick their favorite seating or standing option for maximum attention and learning.
“Just like you have a favorite pen or coffee mug, students can make decisions based on how they feel that day,” Campus Head Peggy Campbell-Rush said. “Learning is active and involved and fully embraces the brain-body connection.”
Called proprioceptive input or vestibular stimulation, the Bolles School says this science shows the body needs to move to keep the brain active. So when students sit for more than their age plus two minutes, the school says their brains start to fade, resulting in less attention toward the lesson and teacher.
Today, a wide selection of move-to-learn seating is the hallmark of every classroom at the Bolles Lower School Ponte Vedra Beach Campus. Several years ago, Campbell-Rush began introducing small movement cushions and standing desks to classroom repertoires. Today, students can choose from those resources plus many new ones, including couches, pod rockers, floor rockers, Oodle stools, Hokki stools, balls and more. The same trends in classroom resources are happening on the Bolles Lower School Whitehurst Campus, where students have enjoyed a plethora of new seating styles.
The result? Learning is up, and discipline needs are down, Campbell-Rush said.
“Students are engaged, and teachers are getting the most out of all their students,” she said. “It gives new meaning to the phrase, ‘Move it or lose it.’ On the Bolles Lower School Ponte Vedra Beach Campus, we are up and moving.”
