What’s the consensus about naptime in Preschool?

I know this isn’t very topical at the moment, but it’s something I’ve been thinking about for awhile. I’ve been working as an assistant at a Preschool for about two years now (we were doing remote learning before but now we’re running a summer camp as ‘emergency childcare’ right now due to COVID). According to our state licensure, a 30 - 45 minute “naptime” is required for all early childhood centers. All children under 5 MUST lay down for 45 minutes. Children who do not sleep after 30 minutes can get up. That’s what the state guidelines say. At the school I work at, our “quiet time” is usually after lunch until we go outside which technically is the period between 12:30 - 2:00. Officially though the only period we require kids to be on mats is from 12:45 - 1:30 (give or take 5-10 minutes). And then somewhere around 1:45 or 1:50 we wake up all the kids and clean up to go outside. In my experience, the kids don’t usually fall asleep at the same time. One or two fall asleep immediately. Some others take 15 minutes or even 20 minutes to wind down (in a class full of preschoolers sometimes it takes that long for it to get quiet). And of course there are several who just don’t even sleep at all. Since our preschool is mixed age (3-5), it varies a lot.

I’ve always assumed that a nap in the middle of the day is good for their development. I’ve also noticed some kids who don’t sleep sometimes struggle in the afternoon more with mood regulation and seem overtired. But some parents have come back in the last week complaining that their kids aren’t falling asleep at night and asking that their kid be allowed to skip naptime, which due to our state requirements is not allowed. I’m wondering though if the issue is because of the readjustment to a school setting after being at home for four months or if naps really aren’t healthy for preschool aged children. I’ve read conflicting articles online but the newest research seems to suggest naps may be detrimental to sleep at night.

In the two years I’ve worked here, we’ve had parents here and there ask us to wake their child up after 30 minutes and my inclination is to always be flexible with the parents. But recently we’ve had several parents all at once ask that their child not sleep during nap time. I definitely understand where they’re coming from. By the time the kids are going Kindergarten they will have clearly outgrown it. But I’ve also seen 5 year olds who fall asleep immediately during naptime. And also 3 year olds who consistently never nap during the time. But what’s the general consensus about naptime in daycare/preschool? Is it an outdated practice or something is there some truth in the states requiring this practice in preschool?

Submitted July 08, 2020 at 09:16PM by missjayelle https://ift.tt/3iMyHGS