Do you have rest time? If so, do you have it every day? For how long? Do you have it the entire school year, or just for a short amount of time? The other K teachers in my school have a 20-30 minute rest time all year. Last year, I only had rest time 1st quarter. We had it last week, every day, for 15 minutes. I'm already going crazy!!! My room isn't huge and I have 21 students. They actually did really well, but I know that the more comfortable they are with one-another, the more they are going to start talking. I feel like it isn't a necessary part of my day, and it isn't a requirement. I think they need it for a little while, because they have been asking for it. Do you think having it for the first 3 or 4 weeks is long enough? Do you think parents would be upset if we stopped having rest time that soon?
I never knew my son had rest time. I would never know if he didn't. I think if you are putting your class needs first, then it shouldn't matter.
we dont have a rest time at all. I do alot of putting heads down on tables - as a listening technique. But not a rest time per se. We are not allowed. We had to protest to get a recess.
I am planing on rest time, for maybe 20 minutes - and then 20 more minutes of quiet journal writing. then as the year goes on, I will just merge the two times, to make one big writers workshop
When I taught kindergarten (8 years of it), I would have rest time everyday, all the way up until the last few days of school. It was about 25 minutes, and I didn't expect sleeping, just quiet time. We have a very long school day and this gives the kids some time to rest their bodies and their minds. The students never complained. It was something that they came to expect, and actually look forward to.
I am a supporter of rest time. I have 20 -30 minute rest every day all year long. I don't necessarily feel that the kids are sleepy, but rather they need some quiet, down time. So many of my kids are at daycare before school and I send them back to daycare after school. That is a very long day for a 5 year old. Our school day is so busy that I think that it is important for kids to learn how to be quiet for a given time. We get out rest mats some days and listen to music and on other days we stay at our seats and watch an educational video (reading rainbows, magic school bus, videos that match books we have read in class etc...) Towards the end of the year I often let the kids look at books or color quietly at their seats if they are not tired. I am very strict about rest time and really don't have a problem with them being quiet. Rest time is also the time that many of my kids leave for speech, OT services, tutoring etc... It works out well because they aren't missing any academics. It is the time that I respond to parent notes, pass out papers in student mailboxes and do 1 on 1 testing at my desk. I am not giving up rest time unless I am forced to do so.
I'm a big supporter of rest time, but unfortunately, we are not allowed to have one. Our morning is super-short, but our afternoon is 2.5 hours of straight instruction time before recess (assuming we have recess- which won't happen when it is raining or ALL winter), and I think rest time would be good for the kids to just unwind and take a break...even for 10 minutes!
Being half day we really don't have time for rest time but we do have music listening at the school so after announcements they play music over the intercom - I usually have kids sit/lie quietly and this is kind of like a 'rest' time. Usually only about 5min
Our district does not allow rest time in K. It takes away from instructional time and if we do that our children will not be trained well enough to take the standardized tests when they get older. Do I sound just a tad bitter? (I break the rules...my students get a short down time after recess. We turn the lights out and just sit quietly for a few minutes to catch our breaths)
I teach PreK now, but even when I taught K, I had rest time for one hour EVERY DAY. So many of our kids do not get enough rest at night and are constantly on the go between school, soccer, dance, etc. I think this contributes to a lot of the behavior problems we see. When kids are overtired, they act out. It always took me (and still does in PreK) about 3 weeks or so to teach the kids how to relax-most of them wiggle and squirm at rest time because they don't know how to settle themselves down, not because they aren't tired. After that, I can hardly make it to sit by most of them because they are asleep when I get there. I think it's very important in PreK and K. They need time to process and have "down" time and they rarely get that at home.
I think reading a book is a good way to combine curriculum and rest time. They are listening to rich language, the rhythm of language, fluency and more. And they can rest their body at the same time.
Part of our behavior plan (it is called "Lesson One") includes a 2 minute "self-control" time, where the kids have to sit with hands folded in their lap, eyes closed, and a straight back- it is supposed to let them 'cool down'. We do it once in the morning as a whole school before the pledge, and we are required to do it at least 2 other times during the day. Right now, the kids just try to peek around without me seeing them, but in a couple of weeks that should wear off and hopefully actually work!!
Typically we will have a 10-15 min rest time for the first quarter of school. I would then use my judgement if they needed it for the rest of the year- days they didn't get a recess and were overworked in the classroom, rainy days when it seems like they are all dragging, etc... But we just received an email from the district saying rest time is no longer allowed past the 2nd week of school. Silly.
I have rest time everyday for 20-30 minutes. If I go all year depends on the class. Last week I had 4 of them fall asleep during rest time. Last year I went until April. The year before we went until Christmas break. Then I would let them sit on their mats and look at books quietly during this time. I do think at the beginning of the year they do need it. If they are talking a lot then they may not need it anymore.
Everyone is bringing up some really good points...I think keep rest time for a while and then see how they are doing. Thanks everyone!
I do about an hour long rest time. I have a couple of snorers & a couple that are very difficult to get up!
In my classroom, we have rest time everyday for 20-30 minutes. However, the last nine weeks of school (and probably the end of the 3rd nine weeks), I will phase rest time out and have center time instead.
When I taught K for 15 years straight I had rest time for approximately 30 minutes a day for the whole year and got a lot done as a pp stated...testing, notes, papers in mailboxes, etc. Some of the kids I taught back then needed it. They wouldn't have lasted the day without it. Now that I am back in K,the school I am at, does not have rest time. I can see the need for it in some children, but not all. There are a lot of academics in K now and I feel like I need my whole day to do them. I do miss having that time for testing children, but I have found a way to work that in othe parts of the day.
Got it BUT it got shortened to only 1 hour. I hate it because IT DOES NOT GIVE ME ENOUGH TIME TO PREP anything @ all! By the time my Pre-Ks sleep, IT IS ALREADY time to get up. They are grouchy, but we have a schedule to follow. We use to have 2 hours and it worked out GREAT. I try to stretch it to 1 1/4 hour and Management has not made a fuss about it SO I will keep it that way until I am told to get them UP in 1 hr. Children NEED TIME to step away from the hustle and bustle and rest their little BUSY bodies and minds, especially with Pre-Ks. It is a GIVEN, Rebel1
After recess we have a 10 minute brain and body break. The astronaut of the day helps count as they get drinks at the fountain. Kids need a few minutes of down time each day.
Naeyc ran an article a few years ago about the need for rest time to move info from one part of the brain to another. That said my daughters K is full day. They start at half day and ramp up to full days after about 6 weeks, then at the full day mark they get 20-30m nap and if a child sleeps they don't wake them at the end. Some children sleep. The rest of the school in my area (she is in private) go 1/2 day and don't rest. I know they are doing things during rest time, like reading Magic Tree House.
That is interesting WA. I used to have read or rest when I worked with k-8. Well I only had read or rest for the k-4 kids. And my first and second graders were always the two that feel asleep. They also were both very bright. I wonder if that helped them. hmmmmmmmmmm
We have a 15-20 minute rest time after our afternoon recess. I play music while the children rest with the lights off. I only have a few who actually fall asleep. We eventually replace rest with student readers once the children are able to read later in the year.
At the kindergarten I did student teaching at they had a one hour rest/read time from 2-3 pm and the parents complained. It was removed because some children did fall asleep and the parents said that it was harder to get them to bed at a decent hour if they were sleeping in the day.
I do a modified rest time where I turn off the lights and read from a chapter book. I am a firm believer in giving children some down time. When I first taught K, they had 40 minutes of rest with blankets, mats, etc. Now, it's only about 10 - 15 minutes total. The day's academic requirements are the reason this has been shortened.
we do have a rest time for an hour a day. The parents do not like it as they do say that they have trouble getting them to bed at night. But some of them get on the bus at 6:30 am and stay for afterschool until 6pm and we have an 8 hour instructional day. The kids need the time to relax. This is only in K. In first they lose rest AND recess.
no recess? Forget the kids needing it - what about the teachers? (of course I think the kids need it, but I believe teachers need a recess, too)
