School is upon us, and I know many of us have strayed from our bedtime routines, or have never had one before. With school right around the corner now is a great time to get on this. One of the most common things you hear from parents when days are bad is “they did not well sleep last night”, “we stayed up too late”, or “they’re just tired”. I get it, life happens and sometimes we do not make it to bed on time. Or sometimes kids are just in that mood where going to sleep is going to be a battle.

That is exactly why bedtimes that are set in stone are so, so important. It may not seem like a big deal to some, or may seem like something that can be different times for various reasons. No! Bedtime is the exact opposite. Small children need their sleep. Hell, we all need our sleep. I have included a chart from the national sleep foundation for the amounts of time that children and adults need to sleep to have a properly working body and be at their best.

Making bedtime a routine is a must. It may seem daunting if it is not something that your family or you do. First, decide what’s most important to your family for this time; bath, story, some T.V., brushing teeth, sweeping the room for monsters, picking out clothes for tomorrow. There are so many ways to approach this. No matter what your pick you just need to stick to it, and the times. If you want your kids in bed by 8 make it happen. If you want them fast asleep by 9 then plan accordingly.

Having a bedtime routine isn’t just amazing for your children. It’s amazing for YOU too! Think of this structured free time you have just earned yourself each night. Maybe you want some wine and Netflix time, or maybe you want to read a bedtime story before sleeping too. Maybe you haven’t had much time for your significant other lately.

The possibilities are endless. I’m not saying every night will be peaches and cream. But having a set routine that you stuck to 99% of the time will make your life so much easier for many reasons. With well rested kids everyone’s immune system will be more aggressive, less sick days, happier kids, parents and teachers. How much we sleep each night has a direct domino effect for our whole day.

-Ms. Brooke
Curriculum Coordinator
Literacy Coordinator
Lead Pre-Kindergarten Teacher

Forget the ABC’s and 123’s.

Why is it not a priority to teach our children social emotional health and well-being? Why are we so concerned with milestones and where a child is at academically, that we overlook their social emotional welfare?

There has been a switch in what people are now thinking is important for children to “master.” Social Emotional Learning skills, or those most related to character, confidence, anger management, optimism and self-awareness, are other important contributors to student success.”

CASEL (the Collaborative for Academic, Social and Emotional Learning) an organization based at the University of Illinois, defines Social Emotional Learning as:
“Social and emotional learning is the process through which children and adults acquire and effectively apply the knowledge, attitudes and skills necessary to understand and manage emotions, set and achieve positive goals, feel and show empathy for others, establish and maintain positive relationships, and make responsible decisions.”

“Don’t become preoccupied with your child’s academic ability but instead teach them:
to sit with those sitting alone, to be kind, be a friend, to encourage others, to think about other people, to look for the good THIS IS HOW THEY’LL CHANGE THE WORLD” -Anonymous

We are so focused on making sure our children are the next rocket scientist that we are not making sure to give them the tools that will make them successful in life. For instance, child has lots of cousins, and family friends around his age. When we get together it is always a competition on who is potty trained, who knows their ABC’s, and who is going to be the next president. I on the other hand am looking at who is sharing, who is offering up their toy to the crying friend next to them, who is making sure everyone is include, who is going to the one child sitting alone waiting to see if they can join in. Now this is not to say that academics are not important but that we might be forgetting to invest in a child’s character as well. On a further point, we should focus on overall wanting a well-rounded child instead.

When we partner social emotional education with academics children become affluential individuals. “Teaching social emotional learning skills can help increase students’ self-awareness and impulse control, boost attendance rates and help them make constructive and responsible decisions in and outside of the classroom. When combined with effective academic instruction, SEL can help all students have a positive and well-rounded educational experience.” (https://www.mheducation.com/…/social-emotional-learning-imp…)

According to Edutopia there are five key areas to focus on with social emotional education.

1. Self-Awareness
2. Self-Management
3. Social Awareness
4. Relationship Skills
5. Responsible Decision making
   https://www.edutopia.org/sel-research-learning-outcomes

Thank you all for taking the time and wanting to make this world a better place by raising the best version of tiny humans that you can!

-Ms. Michaela R.
Child Success Advocate
Lead Preschool Teacher