Hello all,
I have been working on getting my six year old son to sit up straight. I followed the directions in the "back to school" newsletter that says "sit up smart". Overall, he is getting into it and doing a good job. He already stands up and walks tall (pelvis not tucked) but tends to hunch into a c shape when sitting. Just the "ducky butt, not tucky butt" to "stack your blocks" seems to be enough for him. I overdid it one day and he started doing the opposite - sinking into his chair. So instead of telling him to do it, I ask him to tell me how I'm doing at the table (breakfast and dinner). I think just doing it myself is also helping him copy me.
Usually my son sleeps on his back. One night I checked in on him and he was on his side in a c shape. I had the impulse to reposition him. So I grabbed his hips and held his back to straighten his back and antervert his pelvis. His muscles resisted in his sleep and I was thinking that this isn't going to work. But then they just let go and relaxed and he was in the right position and didn't wake up. I don't know if this is a good trick or not but seems that it might help with the sitting.
A couple days ago, he and I were moving some dirt and digging in the back yard and I noticed he was bending at the waist and rounding the back. So I tried to show him how to bend at his hips but he kept going into a waist bend. Does anyone have any ideas how to teach hip-hingeing to a 6 year old?
Thanks
Tips and Tricks: Working with a 6 year old
July 27, 2010 - 12:21pm | 3 posts
#1
Tips and Tricks: Working with a 6 year old
1 hour 10 min ago
09/10/2008 - 8:36pm
As for bending, that's a tough one. You have to keep quite a firm grip on their pelvis to guide them. It takes a lot of repetition and patience. Try small bends first as with brushing teeth. Pictures help too, but with bending I find that the rounded back pattern is sometimes very entrenched. I almost have to wrestle with some of the kid students. Putting your hand in front and below their lower belly and saying "drop your belly into my hand" can sometimes help.
Great work on giving you kid something healthy to model - that's the best way to influence them. In addition to getting healthy visual cues, they see you giving this matter some importance and they get the message.
1 day 20 hours ago
08/15/2019 - 8:55am
Hi, Esther! I just wanted to ask a follow-up question with this thread, which I know is very old! My wife and I are currently experiencing this same problem with our almost-five-year-old son. He's gotten into bad posture habits already, particularly seeing other family members model poor posture when he was younger (which I'm now trying to rectify myself!). I feel bad about it, but he's pretty resistant to help. I guess modeling and gently massaging as you indicated in your last post are the best things I can be doing, in addition to providing ways for sitting that will be conducive to proper posture. Is that right?