He cannot stay in his seat through even the first quarter of a footy game. She slides down in her chair halfway through homework. At school, they lean on the table, wrap their legs around the chair, fidget through the lesson, and keep getting told to “sit properly”.
It is easy to see this as behaviour. Poor focus. Too much energy. Not trying hard enough. But perhaps that’s looking at it the wrong way. What if sitting still is actually quite hard work for your child?
Good posture is actually quite complex
Sitting relies on the muscles of the core, back, shoulders and hips working together to keep the body upright and stable.
But that’s not all. It also requires the brain to combine information from several different sensory systems. When these systems are not working together smoothly, staying upright and organised in a chair can be much harder.
That matters because school does not just ask children to sit. It asks them to sit, listen, look, write, remember instructions and use both hands together, often all at once. If your child is already using a lot of energy just to hold their body up and stay organised, there is less left for additional tasks such as focus, handwriting, visual tracking and learning. Postural control itself also draws on attention, which helps explain why stillness can be much harder for some children than others.
The sensory-motor connection
From a restless child’s perspective, movement is not the problem. Instead, it’s a strategy they’ve discovered to cope with something their body is struggling to manage. They may shift, lean, kneel or swing because they are trying to find a position that feels more stable and manageable.
This often comes back to the sensory systems involved in body awareness, balance and coordination. Proprioception is the body’s ability to sense pressure, effort and joint position, helping your child know where their body is without needing to look. The vestibular system helps the brain interpret movement, gravity and head position.
Together, these systems help create the stable base needed for posture, balance and movement. When that foundation is less secure, children often move more to get the sensory feedback they need to feel organised. A systematic review of sensory processing in children also notes that posture, balance and bilateral motor coordination are closely linked to sensory-motor function and daily participation.
When reflexes may be part of the picture
Retained primitive reflexes can add another layer. These are early movement patterns that should gradually give way to more mature postural control as child development progresses.
When they remain active beyond the expected stage, they may be associated with difficulties in motor skills, cognitive processing and emotional regulation.
Why schoolwork can feel like a workout
Once formal learning begins, the sensory-motor load may become much more obvious. Children are expected to keep their posture steady while keeping their eyes on the page, coordinating their hands and thinking all at once. If those foundations are less automatic, your child may look restless, avoidant or inattentive when the real issue is the amount of effort required.
Visual-motor integration is important here. It is the ability to turn what the eyes see into coordinated hand movements. A recent meta-analysis found a moderate relationship between handwriting and visual-motor integration, which may help to explain why writing tasks can become tiring when the body and eyes are not working together efficiently.
What parents might notice
Looking at the neurological foundations behind classroom behaviour can give families a much clearer understanding of what is really going on.
Your child might slump over the table, get tired quickly during writing, avoid ball sports, seem clumsy, struggle with fine motor skills, or cope better when allowed to move. You may also notice difficulty with hand-eye coordination, crossing the midline, balance and coordination, or staying settled during seated tasks.
Careful assessment matters here as these symptoms can overlap with conditions like ADHD, developmental coordination disorder (dyspraxia) and sensory processing disorder. If you have concerns about these conditions, the first step is to talk to your child’s GP.
What support can help
Occupational therapy for kids, physiotherapy, and other sensory-motor support can be a helpful way to build the foundations that make classroom participation easier.
Rather than forcing stillness, an occupational therapist and physiotherapists can help your child work on:
- postural control
- core stability
- body awareness
- balance and coordination
- bilateral integration
- visual-motor integration
- motor planning
- integrating retained primitive reflexes (if needed).
Whether you are working with an Occupational Therapist to improve daily participation or a Physiotherapist to build functional movement and strength, the goal remains the same: reducing the physical effort required to keep the body organised so that learning can take centre stage.
Disclaimer
All information is general and not intended as a substitute for professional advice.
References
- Jorquera-Cabrera S, Romero-Ayuso D, Rodriguez-Gil G and Triviño-Juárez J-M (2017) Assessment of Sensory Processing Characteristics in Children between 3 and 11 Years Old: A Systematic Review. Front. Pediatr. 5:57. doi: 10.3389/fped.2017.00057, https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/pediatrics/articles/10.3389/fped.2017.00057/full#citem, [Accessed 26 March 2026]
- Shorer, Z., Becker, B., Jacobi-Polishook, T. et al. Postural control among children with and without attention deficit hyperactivity disorder in single and dual conditions. Eur J Pediatr 171, 1087–1094 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00431-012-1695-7, [Accessed 26 March 2026]
- Hong Lu, Frederick K.S. Leung, Zhengcheng Fan, A meta-analysis on the relation between handwriting and visual-motor integration, Learning and Individual Differences, Volume 109, 2024, 102404, ISSN 1041-6080, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lindif.2023.102404, [Accessed 26 March 2026]
