For many elementary-school students, the bums-on-seats approach to education can actually hinder learning. They can put so much effort into trying not to fidget or get up and wander the classroom that they?ve no attention left to give to spelling or long division. We love this elementary school in Repentigny, Que., for actually understanding kids who struggle to sit still.

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How to channel your overactive child's energyL?école de la Paix secured school-board funding to buy colourful floor tape late last year. Phys. Ed. teacher Maude-Elizabeth Dubois then consulted with her colleagues in learning support and occupational therapy to come up with a design for a super-parcours moteur, which translates roughly as a super movement circuit. Since November 2017, she has been laying tape in the hallways and making adjustments based on student feedback, so that antsy kids can leave class to hop, skip, jump and tippy-toe their way around an obstacle course-meets-giant hopscotch board that stimulates both body and brain.
When educators know certain students in their class would benefit from movement breaks, they can have those kids scheduled to leave class at a certain time each day and complete the super movement circuit. It?s a preventative measure, gea...