Establishing a Back-To-School Sleep Routine
It is that time of year again. The summer break is coming to an end and school is starting back. One thing that is always the hardest is getting back into a schedule, especially a sleeping schedule. I know some parents keep the same year around, but I throw caution to the wind during the summer break.
I recently had a parent asking me about a good bedtime for a new Kindergarten student and how I enforced the bedtime with my children. My youngest is the child that always asks “Why?” and comes up with creative solutions. She likes to know the expectation and procedures before, as do many children once you get a schedule established.
As an educator, I know the importance of getting enough rest the night before, not only for myself, but for the students as well. When my youngest daughter started school I was looking for any type of structure I could give because we needed it after the loss of my father. I sat down with Ariyah and explained her bedtime and the steps we needed to do before going to bed, because it is a little different getting ready for school. We started this when she began Kindergarten and she is currently in the second grade. We still use the same bedtime plan.
I set an alarm on my phone and she picked the tone. We discussed what the first ring means that it is shower time, followed by brushing her teeth if she had not already done those. The second tone is “get your rear in gear and move it” to the bed now. As an incentive, for getting everything done early she gets extra reading time, a few minutes of TV time or extra snuggle time. There is absolutely no debating or arguing after discussing all the expectations. Honestly, as soon as she hears the alarm she gets her towel, washcloth, as well as her pajamas and heads to shower. It is great not having battles at bedtime.
As far as her bedtime, the first alarm sounds a seven o’clock pm and the last alarm sounds at seven thirty. We read together for about fifteen minutes and have great lights out conversations as well as, prayer.
Children need extra sleep during school year especially in the beginning. It isn’t late to start a bedtime expectation and plan. Happy parenting!
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