GM.B.71 STANDS FROM FLOOR ALONE

To be completely independent in walking, it is necessary to be able to stand from the floor without the help of the furniture.

How to Assess

Method: Sit your child in the middle of the floor. Offer her a toy so that she must stand up to reach it. Score plus if your child can stand up from sitting without any help.

How to Teach

There are several steps in learning this skill.

The first is to become comfortable in a squatting position.

Kneel on the floor and squat your child between your knees, facing away from you. Place your hands on her knees and keep your knees close to her hips, so that she doesn’t topple over.

Your child’s knees and feet should be well apart. Place a book on the floor in front of your child and read it with her. Next, tip her forward onto her hands on the floor in front of her so that she is resting on her hands and feet (knees bent). Then come back to a squat. Rock her forward and back onto hands on the floor in front then back onto her heels. Make it a fun activity by singing or talking as you rock her backward and forward.

Then, from the same squatting position with your hands on her knees, lean her weight forward (nose over toes) and ask her to stand. It is important that she doesn’t just push her shoulders back into you and stand up leaning back. She must have her weight well forward and encourage this by leaning forward over her so that she can’t push back against you. If she finds it difficult to stand without pushing back, place one of your forearms under her arms and across her chest, and the other on her knees. Push down on her knees and guide her up with the arm across her chest. Use a rhyme to make this fun: ‘Nose over toes and up she goes.’

As you practised in GM.A.62 and GM.A.63 (getting to sit from stand), unlock her knees with your thumbs and assist her to gradually lower back down to a squat. Repeat this many times until she is confident standing up from a squat and returning to it.

The final step is to combine these previously practised skills. From a squat position, tip her weight forward onto her hands, then with her hands still touching the ground bring her weight slightly back onto her feet and ask her to stand up. She will need to keep her hands touching the floor until her legs are almost straight; then assist her to straighten up gently tapping her back from the shoulders. She may find it easier to twist her trunk slightly so that one hand stays down on the floor as the opposite shoulder pulls back. When she is sufficiently balanced on her feet, she can lift the other hand and pull back from the shoulder. Initially, you will need to help her with one hand on one hip to stop her toppling forward, and the other hand on the opposite shoulder to help her pull back.