School Daze

By Wendy Cole

As soon as my daughter's no-nonsense first-grade teacher began rattling off academic benchmarks and curriculum standards during parents' night last month, it was clear that we weren't in kindergarten anymore. She was precise about what was expected from the kids--and from us. Nightly reading and math problems, spelling and handwriting homework due each Friday and a mix of other assignments to be turned in at the end of each month. I quickly began to ponder one tough math problem: If we get home from work at 6 p.m., and we set aside time for piano practice, dinner, bath, a dollop of casual chitchat and all that homework, how do we get our daughter to bed by 8 p.m. for a good night's sleep? Answer: It can't be done.

Night after night, the majority of American kids utterly fail to get enough sleep, which according to experts is 10 to 11 hr. a night for 6- to 12-year-olds and 9.25 hr. for teens (yes, researchers are that precise!). The temptation to let bedtime slide in the hope of capturing some elusive quality time is especially strong for working parents, who include 72% of moms. How much difference could an extra, say, 40 min. of awake time really make?

A lot, says Tel Aviv University psychology professor Avi Sadeh. According to his research with kids ages 9 to 12, even modest reductions in sleep diminish a child's alertness, concentration and memory--all necessary components of academic success. Similarly, his study of 77 fourth- and sixth-graders, published last spring in the journal Child Development, found that extending sleep just 40 to 60 min. can markedly improve classroom performance. "Between the TV and the Internet, parents often feel like they've lost the battle to get their kids to bed," concedes Sadeh. "But they really must become more assertive in setting limits."

That would take some serious consciousness raising. Some teachers and parents even go so far as to praise older kids for pulling all-nighters to finish assignments, leaving the real issue, poor time-management skills, unaddressed. "Sleep is not a priority in our 24/7 society," laments psychologist Jodi Mindell of Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. "And if adults don't make it one, children certainly won't."

It's easy to overlook or misinterpret the symptoms of exhaustion in younger kids. Rather than appearing drowsy or fatigued, sleep-deprived kids under age 12 are more likely to be fidgety, cranky and whiny. Researchers are concerned that some chronically irritable kids have been wrongly diagnosed with attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder when they are in fact suffering from sleep deprivation. Ongoing sleep deficits have also been linked by some researchers to obesity.

Sleep experts agree on a number of strategies to help keep kids on a healthy schedule. While it's tempting to reward children with a big chunk of free time after a long day at school, it's better to have them do their homework as early as possible. Says Mary Carskadon of Brown University: "They do need downtime, but it should be closer to bedtime." Parents should avoid overloading the calendar and limit extracurricular sports and lessons to one or two a week. Another thing to avoid is scheduling activities after 6 p.m.

Experts urge parents to stick to consistent bedtimes and wake-up times, even on weekends, though that's a tough sell to teenagers. Another tip: turn off the television at night, and keep it out of children's bedrooms. Needing TV to fall asleep is a bad habit, and TV actually acts as a stimulant. Watch food and drink intake: a light bedtime snack is O.K., but avoid iced tea and sodas with caffeine, which stays in the body for up to six hours.

Even a first-grader can come up with useful ideas for moving the evening routine along. My daughter invented bath math, practicing her addition and subtraction while soaking in the tub. In the nightly scramble to get the lights out sooner, every little bit is a plus.