Children in school should be capable of controlling their bodies. Their conscious effort should go into learning and assigned work. If a child cannot block out peripheral classroom noises, like others’ desk rapping or children traversing the hallways, his ability to learn is severely hindered. While a child should be able to acknowledge visual overloads, certain smells, and other sensory input, he should also be able to overlook those distractions and return to concentrated cognitive efforts. Often, a child may be unable to both pay attention in class and retain physical self-control. Young students require balance and integrated reflexes so they can write, read, and follow the teacher. Some children concentrate so hard on their teacher that they fall out of their chair. Maintaining their posture in the chair should be automatic, requiring no cognitive effort.
Physical readiness for school begins ahead of time. A child should learn fine motor skills (hand dominance, ability to use tools like scissors and pencils, eye-hand coordination) with things like puzzles, patterns, or building blocks. These physically enable children to complete cognitive tasks, and they serve as precursors to indispensible skills like writing letters and numbers.