Comments on: Sleep http://whippersnapper.wordpress.com/2007/10/16/sleep/ Wed, 23 Dec 2009 04:11:39 +0000 http://wordpress.com/ hourly 1 By: Morat20 http://whippersnapper.wordpress.com/2007/10/16/sleep/#comment-2792 Morat20 Tue, 16 Oct 2007 19:27:53 +0000 http://whippersnapper.wordpress.com/2007/10/16/sleep/#comment-2792 You think that decision has something to do with teachers, who generally arrive at school at least an hour before the children? As John Cain noted -- it probably has a lot more to do with athletics and other afterschool stuff, as virtually every tyke from Kindergarten on takes piano, or plays soccer, or baseball, or has something to do after school that mandates he can't be stuck in a classroom past 2:30 or 3:00. Once you hit highschool, those kids are in the school band, or on the school team, or in the school play -- so school can start later, since they can just go straight to practice right there at school. I know lots of elementary teachers -- I can't think of any who wouldn't praise you to high heaven if you moved first bell to 8:30 or 9:00. You think that decision has something to do with teachers, who generally arrive at school at least an hour before the children?

As John Cain noted — it probably has a lot more to do with athletics and other afterschool stuff, as virtually every tyke from Kindergarten on takes piano, or plays soccer, or baseball, or has something to do after school that mandates he can’t be stuck in a classroom past 2:30 or 3:00.

Once you hit highschool, those kids are in the school band, or on the school team, or in the school play — so school can start later, since they can just go straight to practice right there at school.

I know lots of elementary teachers — I can’t think of any who wouldn’t praise you to high heaven if you moved first bell to 8:30 or 9:00.

]]> By: paxamericana http://whippersnapper.wordpress.com/2007/10/16/sleep/#comment-2791 paxamericana Tue, 16 Oct 2007 18:51:51 +0000 http://whippersnapper.wordpress.com/2007/10/16/sleep/#comment-2791 First period in high school began at 7:20, so I was usually at school by 7:00 or 7:10 (you can use the 20 minutes to do the homework from the night before). That meant school was out by 2:20 (the logic being that the middle and elementary schools students, excused at 3:10 and 3:30 respectively, would have older brothers and sisters home to watch them). But elementary school started at 9:00 and middle at 8:20, which is exactly backwards for childhood sleep cycles; older kids need <i>more</i> sleep and find it harder to wake up earlier, whereas small children will gladly wake up at 6:30 in the morning to watch "Spiderman and His Amazing Friends" and cram Coco-Puffs into their screaming, pre-adolescent mouths (at least I was). First period in high school began at 7:20, so I was usually at school by 7:00 or 7:10 (you can use the 20 minutes to do the homework from the night before). That meant school was out by 2:20 (the logic being that the middle and elementary schools students, excused at 3:10 and 3:30 respectively, would have older brothers and sisters home to watch them).

But elementary school started at 9:00 and middle at 8:20, which is exactly backwards for childhood sleep cycles; older kids need more sleep and find it harder to wake up earlier, whereas small children will gladly wake up at 6:30 in the morning to watch “Spiderman and His Amazing Friends” and cram Coco-Puffs into their screaming, pre-adolescent mouths (at least I was).

]]> By: John Cain http://whippersnapper.wordpress.com/2007/10/16/sleep/#comment-2786 John Cain Tue, 16 Oct 2007 16:23:19 +0000 http://whippersnapper.wordpress.com/2007/10/16/sleep/#comment-2786 Don't these early start times have more to do with sports than anything else? That is, ending school early enough so you still have some daylight left to hold practice. Don’t these early start times have more to do with sports than anything else? That is, ending school early enough so you still have some daylight left to hold practice.

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