I know you have come to our site looking for information about the "balls" your children will be sitting upon soon in our room. I am sure they came home today excited to share this news.
The balls were given to us by RESA 5. RESA 5 is the Regional Education Service Agencies. "RESA 5 is a constantly evolving vision of 21st
century learning, driven by goals to continue a positive, on-going
transformation of education in West Virginia’s county schools, with
outcomes that influence the success of students, teachers, and school
administrators."
Here is a excerpt from RESA 5's newsletter about the stability balls.
"At the beginning of the 2014-2015 school year, the
School Wellness Program at RESA 5 offered stability
balls for teachers to test in their classrooms as a re-
placement for traditional classroom chairs. Numerous
research studies have shown using the balls helps
improve student concentration, focus, core strength,
posture and a variety of other cognitive and behavioral
indicators."
According to Ms. Michele Smyth from New Adventures in First Grade
"There are 3 main purposes for using the ball chairs and incorporating movement into the classroom:
- Movement increases blood flow to the brain, which is better for brain function (and learning!).
- Movement helps children "get the wiggles out" which aides their natural need to move. This helps them focus by expending the excess energy they build up throughout the day.
- Sitting on a stability ball supports and builds their core muscles. Pediatricians are finding that children in the last 10 years are suffering from poor core strength due to the practices that are used while they are infants and small children (swings, back to sleep, car seats/ carriers, strollers, activity rings). They are not developing the same strength as previous generations. This also helps develop large motor muscles, which support small motor muscles (think writing and hand strength)."
I will be inflating them this weekend and we will begin using them on Monday! I will keep you updated and post pictures later this month.
Here they are uninflated. I will be busy this weekend!
Mrs. Wood from RESA 5 telling us how to effectively use the stability balls in our classroom.
Update...
Finished filling them and they are set up and ready to go! Can't wait for the class to get to use these for the rest of the year.
Here are some links to articles if you want to learn more about using stability balls in the classroom.
Finished filling them and they are set up and ready to go! Can't wait for the class to get to use these for the rest of the year.
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