Back to School at Childpeace Montessori School: Acclimating to a Sleep Schedule

Back to School at Childpeace Montessori School: Acclimating to a Sleep Schedule
Original work by Venus Zaron, modified for Inside the Hive

🥱 …yawn! With the later sunsets and summer activities, it’s likely your child’s bedtime has slipped later into the evening. Consider the following plan for getting your child’s sleep schedule back on track so they can feel energized for the start of the new school year:

• Two weeks before your child’s first day at Childpeace, move bedtime 15 minutes earlier. 
• Repeat this bedtime on the second night.
• If your child successfully falls asleep on the second night, move up bedtime an additional 15 minutes.
• Repeat this pattern until you work your way back to a suitable bedtime given the time your child wakes up and prepares for school - including eating breakfast - without being rushed.

Sleep, like eating and using the toilet, is not something we can do for our children. Only your child can actually make themself fall asleep. However, parents can set the stage for the highest possible success. 

This might mean: waking your child in the morning rather than letting them sleep “in,” or waking them from an afternoon nap in order to facilitate an appropriate bedtime and orienting your child’s sleep habits back towards the school-year routine.

The National Sleep Foundation says that children from three to five years old need 10-13 hours of sleep per 24 hours, with no fewer than 10 hours per night if your child still naps. This means that if your child naps for one and a half to two hours, bedtime still needs to allow for 10-11 hours per night. Don’t underestimate your child’s need for sleep and think a long nap (two and a half hours, for example) means a nighttime sleep of approximately nine hours is adequate. 

Children thrive in their community when they are well rested! If your child is regularly sleepy, they will not be able to develop the independence and focus necessary to make the most out of our prepared environment and the lessons received.