Reese Witherspoon is once again every mom as her son, Tennessee, begins his school year in the giant mess that is 2020. The actor-producer posted a hilarious slideshow of her 7-year-old son hanging upside down in various locations, evidence that he is really ready for his academic training to resume.
“Home school is going great. 🤪” Witherspoon captioned the Instagram post.
Well, if Tennessee’s school is also affiliated with Cirque du Soleil, he’s in luck!
https://www.instagram.com/p/CEjxECrgCJb/
In all seriousness, these images may look familiar to many of us trying to get young kids to sit still in their seats and pay attention to lessons on tablets and computer screens. They can’t possibly be this wiggly and acrobatic in the classroom, can they?
But if Tennessee is flipping upside down during his lessons, he may actually be learning more than if he were just sitting still. Many studies have shown that physical activity improves students’ performance in math, reading, behavior and more. If you’re not quite interested in having your kids climbing and hanging like little Spider-Men everywhere, consider some of these indoor exercise apps and videos.
At the same time, why is it that so many kids like Tennessee love to be upside down?
Beginning as toddlers, kids are figuring out how to integrate their vestibular sense with all the other stimuli of the world, and for many of them, being upside down just feels good. For kids with sensory processing issues or autism spectrum disorder, being upside down might even have a calming effect.
“I was doing the exact same thing at his age,” author Kevin Kwan commented on Witherspoon’s post. “I just wanted to be upside down on trees, on swings, on furniture. Go Tennessee!”
“I was the same!” she answered.
Well, as long as these kids aren’t then falling on their heads, they’re probably doing just fine.
Reese Witherspoon and other celeb parents are also showing us what it looks like to talk to our kids about racism.
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