Before we moved into our new home, N used to do his work at the dining table. It wasn’t ideal, as the height wasn’t quite right and the bench didn’t have a backrest for him to lean back on. He would fidget a lot, trying to get comfortable, especially when he had to write. It drove me nuts that he couldn’t sit still, I couldn’t understand why he stood up to do his work on a few occasions.
I realised that he needed a more conducive environment to do his work, and that a proper table and chair would probably help him to focus better. I did some research and found that an ergonomic desk and chair would help him to have better posture when he’s doing his work, and could also be adjusted to fit him as he grows taller. ErgoBloom has great reviews online, and after letting N use the ErgoBloom Kids Study Desk and ErgoBloom Chair for slightly more than a month, I can see why it’s so popular! (Check out the specs for the ErgoBloom Desk HERE and the specs for the ErgoBloom Chair HERE.)
The deliveryman installed N’s desk and chair, so we asked him to show us how to adjust the heights of the desk and chair. It’s so easy to adjust the desk’s height that even the twins can do it! The chair was slightly trickier, as there are three parts to adjust, but we won’t have to adjust it often, since the chair is only meant for N.
After adjusting his desk and chair, I spent some time making sure that N could sit comfortably at his desk, and that his posture was right. He still isn’t used to putting both feet flat on the floor when he sits on the chair, but he doesn’t bend over his desk as much as before, since the table top can be angled to suit his needs.
Once his desk and chair were set up, N immediately “decorated” his desk to stake his claim on it, before getting his Draw Really Cool Stuff book and putting it on the book holder, so that he could refer to it easily while drawing. He was so pleased to finally have a suitable book holder, and sat there drawing quietly for quite some time.
Even though N has a study table in the kids’ study room, I’ve noticed that he prefers using the ErgoBloom desk and chair when he wants to focus on his tasks. Initially, I thought it was because he didn’t want to get distracted by the twins, since they like hanging out in the kids’ study room, but I was pleasantly surprised to see that he chose to stay at his desk, even when the twins followed him to his room and hovered around him.
Of course, he would still be distracted if the twins bothered him enough, like when Didi stuck his toy up through the gap between the tilted desk and the desk itself, but that’s to be expected. The angle of the desktop is definitely more comfortable for him when he wants to write or draw, as it eliminates slouching, and he’s been spending quite a bit of time at his desk independently.
N recently started drawing a lot again, and I think it’s because of the ErgoBloom desk and chair! It may sound crazy, but he’s been picking out books to copy from, and going to his room to draw quietly. The book holder is probably one of his favourite features, and he uses it frequently, sometimes just to hold the book that he’s reading, but mostly when he wants to copy a picture from a book.
Meimei likes drawing too, so she follows him there and uses the left side of N’s desk to draw too. It’s quite cute to watch them examining books together and deciding on which pictures they should draw.
I read up a little about the ErgoBloom chair, as I wasn’t sure he needed an ergonomic chair at his age, and realised that the split backrest reduces pressure on his lumbar spine. The chair’s height and seat are both adjustable, allowing it to grow with your child, and the ergonomic design apparently reduces spine pressure by 75%!
I’ve been rather worried about N’s posture, as I think he slouches quite a bit, so hopefully his posture will improve after he uses this set of ErgoBloom study desk and chair.
N has really been enjoying having a proper study desk and chair, and I’m glad that he seems to be able to focus better when he’s seated at his new desk, as compared to our previous makeshift arrangements of the dining table and my old study table!
If you’ve been looking for a new kids study table and chair set, ErgoBloom Kids is now having a special sale, and you can save up to $260. Check their website here for more details.