Primary Education

As you begin to make plans for the end of this year and the beginning of a new school year for 2006-2007, one of the issues that many Kindergarten teachers struggle with is whether or not to include a rest time for their kindergarten children in their schedule.
4 and 5 year old children today are very busy...moving from one activity to the next with high amounts of pressure, in some cases! Pediatricians recommend that kindergarten age children receive a minimum of 10 hours of sleep each night. Many children do not get anywhere close to this appropriate amount of sleep. According to the book, American Academy of Pediatrics Guide to Your Child's Sleep: Birth Through Adolescence , "Children who chronically fail to get enough sleep do not learn as well as better-rested youngsters. They also have a higher rate of behavior problems. In many cases, overtired children resort to hyperactivity and difficult behavior as a way of fighting off daytime drowsiness" (Cohen, 1999). The National Sleep Foundation states that "Sleep is a vital need, essential to a child's health and growth. Sleep promotes alertness, memory and performance. Children who get enough sleep are more likely to function better and are less prone to behavioral problems and moodiness" This organization recommends that children ages 3 - 5 years get 11-13 hours of sleep (including naps for children 5 years of age)!
www.sleepforkids.org/html/sheet.html

These recommendations as well as the expectations that we have placed on our young children today have precipitated the Primary Team at the NC Department of Public Instruction to share our thoughts regarding the need for a rest time for our kindergarten children. There is not a state policy related to kindergarten napping, however, the Primary Team recommends that kindergarten children do receive a quiet time each day to rest, to nap, and/or to read books quietly, etc.

We must remember that all children are unique and will need different amounts of rest. Some children may actually sleep during this time while others may just rest their bodies and their brains to recharge for the remainder of the day! This quiet time is also a good time for children to look at books, listen to music and/or spend some individual time with the teacher or assistant. Each LEA has the discretion to make policies at the local level. This would be a critical subject to discuss at the district and school levels and we encourage you to begin this conversation with your colleagues about the importance of providing young children time to rest each day.

Please see the attached article from the Public Education Network Weekly Newsblast for May 4, 2006...an article from the Charlotte Observer entitled "No more naps in kindergarten".

NO MORE NAPS IN KINDERGARTEN: ACADEMIC DEMANDS PUSH OUT SHUT-EYE
For decades, boys and girls have arrived at kindergarten with a must-have
from the supply list: A comfy mat for nap time. Today, they can leave
their tiny mats at home, reports Gail Smith-Arrants. Across the nation,
academic pressures in public schools are getting pushed down to
kindergarten. Not even 5-year-olds have time for naps anymore. The
national move away from naptime and to making kindergarten a more studious
environment can come at a price, some educators say. Young children can be
hurried into academics too soon, they worry. Today's on-the-go
kindergarten is not the one that baby boomers, or even some boomers'
children, remember. "Kindergarten has experienced the greatest change of
any grade level in the system," said Susan Allred. "We went from spending
a semester playing in kitchen centers to actually teaching them to read
and write." Instead of naps, some teachers ask children to rest their
heads on their desks for about 20 minutes. They use the time to work
one-on-one with students who need extra help.
http://www.charlotte.com/mld/charlotte/living/education/14470220.htm