Wednesday, January 04, 2012

Extreme Parental Guidance: Sleep

I watched this program this week. Supernanny Jo Frost helping parents to guide their children’s behaviour, so that family life is bearable, or even pleasant. You know the drill. But this new version includes studies by academics.

In this episode there was a sleep study conducted on nine children. They went to bed at 11pm for a week, then underwent a series of tests. They scored at levels three years below their ages.

Then, for a week, they went to bed at 7.30, lights out at 8pm, with no electronics in the bedroom. Undergoing the same tests, they scored at two years above their ages.

The academic said that instead of sending children to coaching colleges, parents could simply send the children to bed earlier.

Like adults, children aren’t ready to learn, to think, to behave well, when they are tired. They get overstimulated, overtired, jittery, and find it hard to focus.

As my friend says, it isn’t rocket science.

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