Sleep is often the topic of questions and discussion for Children's House families. Specifically, families wonder how much sleep is "enough", how to help their children sleep well at night, and whether eliminating a daytime nap will result in an earlier bedtime and better night's sleep. This week, we wanted to talk a little about what research has told us about common questions about sleep.

Why is sleep important?

Our brains evolved to keep us alive from moment to moment by eating enough, being alert to danger, etc.  A tired brain conserves resources by fully funding areas that are essential to immediate survival, such as stress responses, at the cost of less immediately survival based, but equally important areas such as long-term learning. While this is very useful if facing a saber tooth tiger, it is not very helpful in today's safer but sleep-deprived world. As a result of the brain's allocation of energy, impulse control, attention span, learning, memory, emotional regulation, and immune responses all suffer when we do not get enough sleep. Also, because the area of the brain which regulates hunger is not "fully funded" when when the brain is tired, not getting enough sleep can also lead to weight gain and increased risk of obesity.

How much sleep is enough? 

Will dropping my child's nap lead to better night sleep and/or an earlier bedtime?  

This idea speaks to common sense, and appeared to be bolstered by a 2015 review of sleep literature which has been widely cited in parenting magazines and blogs.  Unfortunately, that analysis did not rely only on studies with good methodology (for example, use of randomized groups, set up of control groups, and breakdown of results by age.) The best research supports the idea that dropping a nap too early can actually be counterproductive by leading to overtired, "wired" children who find more it difficult to self soothe, fall asleep quickly, and sleep through the night! And sometimes a somewhat later bedtime is just a normal part of maturation.

Check out this link for some more information on sleep and young children, and have a great weekend!  

 -Cheryl, Serina, and Mariam

Over the past few weeks, we have been reading, looking at and making art based on the works of Eric Carle. This work is unique because of how Mr. Carle uses several different steps to create his illustrations. First, he paints on large sheets of paper: patterns, shapes, swirls of color and textures. Next he plans what his image will be and begins to cut shapes: wings, faces, toes, landscapes. Lastly, he arranges the pieces and creates his final image. This process takes planning and patience! 

During the older time, children have completed two Eric Carle inspired works: first, we created our own "mythical" creatures, using Eric Carle's  Dragons, Dragons. These wonderful creatures are on display outside of the Willow Room, with a brief description along with each picture. Most recently, we followed Mr. Carle's artistic method, and made images and collages from cutting and pasting pieces of painted paper. It was wonderful to see how each child used their painted images in a new way -- to find new shapes, forms, and textures in their final work. Many of these materials are available everyday in our Art Areas of Children's House classrooms. We can't wait to see how Eric Carle inspires us next!  

Note: Please read the newsletter from the Birch room this week! As we know so well as adults, sleep is so important for our children, as well. 

See you next week! 

We have two important dates to remember!  On Friday, April 14th,  as part of our study of vertebrates, we will drive up to V.I.N.S. to meet their birds of prey. Author's Tea will be held on April 28th!

Here are some topics you may want to discuss with your children this weekend:

•  What are some differences between fish and amphibians?  

•  Ask about Plato of Athens.  Who was he?

• What are polygons?  Share some names of polygons you know. (Youngers)

• What is a protractor?  What does it measure? (Olders)

• What is a shape poem? 

• In what way is the brain like a musclet?  

• Why is it important to add the word "yet" when saying "I can't do blank, yet"?

Many thanks to Sara Donahue, Lydia's mother, for giving us a beautiful poetry book titled "Out of Wonder."  We continue to enjoy these "poems celebrating poets," as well as the beautiful artwork. 

Have a wonderful weekend,  we hope everyone stays, or gets, healthy!

Kerstin, Patrick, and Amelia

Upper El has been humming along with all sorts of academic lessons.  In the midst of those, we had a discussion about "dares" and social media. Daring friends to do something seems to be an age old rite of passage for this plane of development, and social media adds a new twist. We had a great brainstorming session about dares, why they are appealing, and why they can be dangerous. This will be an ongoing discussion to be continued next week and beyond!

On Wednesday, we welcomed Jim Kates into our classroom. Jim was a nineteen year old northern college student in 1964 when he signed up along with 800 other individuals to be part of the Mississippi Freedom Summer. He spent that summer and the following summer in Mississippi helping with voter registration, advocating for the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party, being pursued by the Ku Klux Klan, and learning an immense amount about himself and what is truly important in life. We spent an inspired two hours together. I am always struck by the generosity of time and spirit given to our students.

We are off next Wednesday for our Alabama Odyssey. It has been a profound year of preparation and we are ready. If you would like to follow our journey, we are posting a nightly blog entry, which will be rich in photos, videos, sound samples, and student journal entries.

Godspeed.