Catching some Zzzzzz's


Sleep and Your Student's Behavior

One of the Cardinal Rules at CB Smith is "Do your best learning." Both Starke and Willow have a rule about taking care of ourselves. One very important way we can do our best learning and tkae care of ourselves is to get a good night's sleep. Good sleep habits, or sleep hygiene, can help us bring our "A Game" to school. Not enough sleep for our students can lead to learning difficulties, thorny behavior problems, and mood managing issues. Teachers and support staff have often noticed that individual students struggle more with choose good behaviors on days when they don't get a good night's sleep. (The day after Halloween is universally difficult at school.) Sometimes, we suspect that chronic thorny behaviors are a result of poor sleep or not enough sleep over many days and/or weeks.

To help your student get a good night's sleep throughout the school year, follow these tips.

Tips for Good Sleep Habits

  • Get enough sleep. Most primary school-aged kids need about 10-11 hours of sleep a night. While each kid is different in their sleep needs, allow them that amount of quiet time in bed, even if they don't fall asleep right away. A kid who gets up at 7 am should be in bed between 8 pm and 9 pm.
  • Turn off screens before bed!!! Screens on TVs, tablets, and phones trick the brain into thinking there is still daylight, so our brains need screen-free time so they can wind down and turn off for a good night's sleep. Have your student turn off all screens about an hour before bed to give the brain a chance to relax.
  • Have a bedtime routine. Speaking of getting the brain ready for bed, a bedtime routine helps kids' brains ready for a good night's sleep. A relaxing bedtime routine can include reading, doing puzzles, eating a light snack (before teeth brushing), or listening to music as well as the necessary tasks like getting into pajamas and brushing teeth. Make it the same routine almost every night. If your family has activities at night, you can shorten the routine by maybe reading only one book instead of three or doing a small puzzle instead of doing a big puzzle. Also, if you can, try to keep this routine the same if your student sleeps in different homes. In other words, keep the routine the same at Mom's house, Dad's house, Grandma's house, etc.
  • Seek help for tricky bedtime issues. If your student seems to have bedtime anxiety or other tricky issues, there are several books and websites that have helpful tips. Your can also ask your student's doctor for more tips. I can be a helpful resource (as a parent, I have worked through this with my oldest kid). Just email me at erin.heilman@pekin108.org.
Remember, one of the best things we can do to help our students do their best learning is to encourage them to get a good night's sleep!




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