rest time

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Home : 2003 : September : 1

rest time
By KTeacher

I have been teaching K for 7 years. I tried the suggestion about letting the kids who can't sleep look at books, etc.but then every student wanted to stay awake and look at books. Let's be honest--their naptime is your time
to get things done, check papers, answer parent notes, etc. Here's what I do. I tell them whoever goes to sleep gets a treat when they wake up. I don't tell them what the treat is on the first day, but I give 2 or 3 Skittles to the kids who sleep. I know it sounds like bribery, but isn't it worth it in order to get your work done? To a Kdgnr., 2 Skittles is a big deal. Once the ones who

wouldn't sleep see the others getting the treat, they'll try hard the next day. After a few days, I tell the class "you won't get a treat every single day. You won't know when I will give out treats, you'll just have to go to sleep each day." On some days, I will give out even something a little bigger like a Twizzler licorice stick (at the end of the day). Two Skittles is not enough sugar to get them hyper so I have never had a problem with it. Also, I ALWAYS play music--classical station on radio or my favorite, George Winston piano solo CD's. Just a suggestion that works for me. I know there are teachers out there who won't agree with the bribery...