My 22 months old son is in preshool and he can't sit even for a while, how can I train him to sit down?

Question

My 22 months old son is in preshool and he can't sit even for a while, how can I train him to sit down?

Answer 1

I used to be a preschool teacher for a two year old class and a good teacher will be able to lead the kids to the different activities. Most are structured in such a way as to not have the children sitting for long periods of times. They will go back and forth in the different activities for the group. When I was teaching, we had time frames that we would do our activities in and it worked really well with the kids. Most children, including my own, act differently when their parents are not around. From watching my own children at that age, I was suprise to see my son as well as my daughters, sitting quietly while their teachers read them a story or in one case to make an art project.

My suggestion would be to talk to your childs teacher and see what they say about your childs progress in their class. See if they have any concerns or suggestions to any questions you may have concerns over. Most 2 year olds are up and going most of the time. There is nothing unusual about you son being on the go. My son is now almost four and is still up and on the go all of the time.

Hope this helps. Good luck.

Answer 2

A preschool classroom for children this young shouldn't expect much sitting, especially for the whole group. Activities such as circle time and whole group story time are not appropriate. Your child will sit 1:1 with an adult if he is interested in an activity. If he's crazy about trucks he might well sit to look at a book about trucks. That doesn't mean he'll listen to the whole story. He might just be interested in the pictures. That's OK. He might like drawing with fat crayons on big pieces of paper or playing with play-dough. Don't expect him to make anything in particular, it's the process, not the product.

     It is reasonable to expect him to sit at a table for meals or snacks, but not to sit until everyone is done. Activities involving messy things like paint need to be done at a table but most children at that age do better standing.

  Too many preschools are pushing down the curriculum for 3's and 4's to toddler classrooms. Make sure that your son is in a classroom that recognizes that kids this age learn by touching, tasting, exploring with all their senses and that they don't yet have full control over their bodies. There needs to be space in the classroom to be active without running wild, interesting toys, and a minimum of pressure to be part of the group.

Answer 3

He's behaving in a very normal manner for his age.  You can encourage him to settle down for a few minutes by reading to him.  Make sure you choose books he is interested in.  Most boys love books with pictures of trains, trucks, or planes in them, and not too much text.  Point to the words and tell him what they say, then focus on the picture.  Ask him to show where the ...is.  Or what color is the truck.  Or do you see the little man?  Don't expect him to participate for a longer than a few minutes at first, but his attention span will gradually increase.

He probably will have a hard time sitting at preschool because they are probably trying to do group activities, which can be difficult with kids this young.  But if you're working with him one on one at home, he will improve.  He mostly needs time to grow!

Answer 4

It is a gradual shaping process especially at this age. Figure out how long your child can sit for a typical preschool activity like story time or snack. Make a goal that you child will increase this time by 10 to 20 percent. If your child can sit now for 5 minutes your next goal might only be 6 minutes. Work on this in the beginning using only fun activities that interest your child. When you child reaches the goal have a party with lots of praise tickles and maybe a stamp or sticker that you child likes. Intersperse practicing sitting with fun movement activities that involve running, jumping and climbing. And generally focus on the positive your child is still young and there is still time.

Answer 5

A year of life experience.  :)

2's aren't supposed to be sitting a whole lot during school time.  What amount of time do you mean when you say "even for a little while?"

Answer 6

Spare the rod,spoil the child

Answer 7

He is probably too young to sit for any length of time. If he has to sit for awhile he should have something to do he is interested in

Answer 8

Why in the world do you have a baby in preschool?  Daycare, a babysitter or nanny if you must, but preschool?

Answer 9

It's normal, something would be wrong if all he wanted to do was sit. I have a six year old boy would will almost never sit.

Answer 10

Preschoolers are active.  Sitting still is something children much older  cannot do for a long period of time!  Relax, its normal.  I am sure that if he sees something that is truly of interest to him he will be able to sit for a few minutes and attend to it.  That's entirely normal for his age!