Poor sleep affects learning, attention, and weight

[velvetpage]

And it affects them more in children than we previously thought.

My school is a first-run school, starting at 8:15 in the morning. I wonder if starting later would have an effect on the kids' learning?

I think, also, I need to be strict about bedtimes with my girls until they're preteens at least. Having them go to bed between seven-thirty and eight gets them about eleven hours of sleep, which seems about right for the moment. (Claire has a nap, too.)

Comments

[kibbles.livejournal.com]

I know I read a study a few years back about how lack of sleep is a problem as well as the cycle of a (teen in that study) is such that they need to sleep later. It's how they are set. That they did much better in school when it started later.

Here, my daughter is out the door a bit after seven. Ted is next at 7:45, Fin at 8:35.

Fin's school is interesting, they have different hours, all downtown schools do, they end late every day but Wednesday, and Wednesday is a half day so teachers can work on the special training they need to work with the community (it's a poor area).

[viktor-haag.livejournal.com]

I was listening to a scientist on public radio a few years back who was talking about this research. The most interesting part, I thought, was about sleep deprivation in adults and how your body will reclaim sleep from you whether you like it or not. It does this by enforcing "micro-sleeps" on you, where your higher consciousness just blanks for out for a few seconds. The speaker speculated that this might be a factor in the increase in morning-time traffic accidents around DST time changes...