Question of the week (Jan. 20)
What time should the school day start?
Adequate sleep is essential to good health (including weight control), to behavior and to learning. Does the early start of the school day rob kids of getting enough sleep and of doing well in school? What start times would be best for the various grades? If you are a parent of a schoolage child, does the school start time eat into your sleep as well as your that of your kids?
Thanks to Ed Cone, for mentioning this topic on his blog.
http://edcone.typepad.com/wordup/2008/01/pillow-talk.html#comments
And here is a link to the New York Times op-ed that he mentions:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/14/opinion/14kalish.html?_r=2&oref=slogin&oref=slogin
Comments (7)
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I think school should start around 8:15 because I would like to sleep later. I don't like getting up at 6:30 to get on the bus. I attend Kiser Middle School and our classes begin at 7:40.
Posted on January 20, 2008 11:49 AM
I think school should start around 8:15 because I would like to sleep later. I don't like getting up at 6:30 to get on the bus. I attend Kiser Middle School and our classes begin at 7:40.
Posted on January 20, 2008 11:49 AM
I think school should start around 8:15 because I would like to sleep later. I don't like getting up at 6:30 to get on the bus. I attend Kiser Middle School and our classes begin at 7:40.
Posted on January 20, 2008 11:50 AM
As a teacher and a parent, I believe students and faculty alike would benefit from having school start at 9:00 instead of 8:00. Students are not getting enough sleep to be as productive the next day, and the teachers who really care about their students are also not getting adequate sleep. Getting up when it is already light outside would also help with safety at the bus stops, on the roads, etc. and also with helping to "wake up the brain" each morning. Research clearly states that students need somewhere between eight and nine hours of sleep each night, and the average number of hours of sleep for students is closer to six hours.
Posted on January 20, 2008 7:48 PM
Go to bed earlier.
Posted on January 20, 2008 10:51 PM
I'm an elem teacher, and I think the little ones are on a school schedule that begins way too early. Believe it or not, many kids in the county are entering the classroom as early as 7:15 a.m. In my opinion, elem aged students should begin class no earlier than 8:00 a.m. as they are tired and sleepy because they have to start school so early. Imagine a 5 year old getting on the bus at 6:20 or 6:30 am.................... Ideally, I can see the middle school/high school schedule being switched with the elem schedule.
Posted on January 21, 2008 10:18 AM
Guilford county should look to the east for tips from Wake county. The elementary schools start around 9:00am and the high schools start around 7:45am. This allows for our young children to get the additional sleep hours they need and for high school students to start their afterschool jobs earlier and then arrive home earlier.
Posted on January 22, 2008 11:05 PM