In a recent article in the Guardian, it stated that children sleep an hour less today than 30 years ago and this is having a dramatic effect on their intelligence, behaviour and obesity levels according to surveys by the National Sleep Foundation, yet 90% of American parents think their child is getting enough sleep.
The Guardian states
There are as many causes for this lost hour of sleep including over scheduling of activities, homework, lax bedtimes, television sets and mobile phones in the bedroom.
However, sleep scientists have been able to isolate and measure the impact of this single lost hour. Because children’s brains are a work in progress until the age of 21, and because much of that work is done while a child is asleep, this lost hour appears to have an exponential impact on children that it simply doesn’t have on adults.
The surprise is not merely that sleep matters – but how much it matters, demonstrably, not just to academic performance and emotional stability, but to phenomena assumed to be entirely unrelated, such as the international obesity epidemic and the rise of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).
Some scientists theorise that sleep problems during formative years can cause permanent changes in a the brain structure – damage that a child can’t sleep off. It’s even possible that many of the hallmark characteristics of adolescence – moodiness, depression, and even binge-eating – are symptoms of chronic sleep deprivation.
Several scholars have noted that many hallmark traits of modern adolescence – moodiness, impulsiveness, disengagement – are also symptoms of chronic sleep deprivation.
Might our culture-wide perception of what it means to be a teenager be unwittingly skewed by the fact that they don’t get enough sleep?”
Here is the full article
How to explain the importance of sleep to your child.
Explain the importance of sleep to your child. Once they know the effect it has on their body and mind, they may start to appreciate it. Explain that sleep helps our bodies stay healthy and fight sickness. Body needs sleep so our bones and muscles can grow. Our bodies are repairing any injures that happen during the day while we sleep. Sleep is vital for the brain so we can remember things, concentrate, learn, solve problems and come up with brilliant ideas.
During the day we use up so much energy thinking at school, playing in breaks, eating, taking lessons after school and by the end of the day, our bodies are like a car that has nearly run out of petrol. They are tired and ready to stop. We go to sleep and fill up on petrol so we are ready and full of energy for a new day of activity. During the day, it is light and this is the time to be awake. Sunlight lets our brains know that it is time to wake up but when the day turns to night, our brain makes a chemical melatonin which makes us sleepy. We need it to be dark to sleep. A dim nightlight is fine, but as we need to keep the room as dark as possible so we get the best sleep.
If you can’t get to sleep, you can try lying on your back and breathing in and out slowly and deeply. Close your eyes and say, ‘I am relaxed, I am relaxed, I am relaxed’ You could even count sheep slowly. Imagine you can see sheep jumping over a fence and see how many you can count as each one jumps over a fence.
Here is a great relaxation to read to your child to help them sleep.
The Robot
Close your eyes, be very still and imagine that you are a robot. Your whole body is made of metal. The lights on your arms and legs and stomach are flashing brightly. The robot also makes all sorts of beeping and bleeping noises. It is a very noisy robot.
Now you are going to see if you can switch the robot off and make every part of your body completely still. Start with your right leg – bring all your attention to your right leg and turn off the switch. Your right leg becomes totally still.
Do the same to your left leg, switching off the switch and watching the bright lights on that leg turn off. Switch off the light on your stomach and make it very, very still inside. Now do the same to you arms, turning off the lights and letting your arms become very still and heavy. Finally, turn off the switch in your head. Switch off your mouth, switch off your nose and eyes and finally switch off your eyes. You should feel very still now. See how still you can make your robot body. Don`t forget that if you move anything, then the lights will go back on – so stay as still as you can.
Extract from best selling The Wishing Star and Quiet Spaces CD
Would you like to create a feeling of kindness and generosity in your home or classroom?
