Episode 73: Homeschool Hack - Bedtime Education
Bedtime can be a wonderful time of day for your children to learn and grow their curiosities and passions. We discuss research, offer activities and ideas, and give a few simple steps for a peaceful and enriching bedtime. In our Coop Q & A we answer the question, “I have one child - I would homeschool, but don't you think he'd be better off at our church school?”
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Scoop on the Coop
Mandi’s kids dissected eyeballs as part of their human body unit study. It’s a thrilling activity outside of Mandi’s comfort zone, but she’s always glad when she gets to grow this way.
Jessica is enjoying her California State History Unit Study and delighted in a field trip to a Califia’s Magic Circle in Escondido. There she read aloud this beautiful picture book about Califia and California to her intrigued children.
Homeschool Hack - Bedtime Education
A) Why Bedtime?
For us it happened organically. I started noticing that bedtime was a great time for my kids when they wanted to create art, read books, complete an activity book, and even started asking if they could do their math workbook - in bed at night! For my kids I realized - hey, this is a golden opportunity!
Research Says Time of Day Matters
The Heliotrope: An article by ACSD (Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development) called “Giving Students the (Right) Time of Day” in 1997 told the story of the heliotrope. In the 18th century, there was debate about the heliotrope flower - did it open every day and close every evening because of the sun? They boxed in the flower day after day and checked it over and over again. And guess what they found? It opened anyway! It did not need the sun to open - it had its own internal clock.
Circadian Rhythm: Each person has her own circadian rhythm. NIH defines Circadian rhythms as “physical, mental, and behavioral changes that follow a 24-hour cycle. These natural processes respond primarily to light and dark and affect most living things, including animals, plants, and microbes.”
Peak Time of Day: Everyone has their own natural rhythm within a range. A really great article from Book Shark (a homeschool curriculum publishing company) linked in the show notes says, "Subsequent research has confirmed that some people reach their temperature peak before noon, some in the afternoon, and some in the evening. Hence, a picture emerges of the morning person, afternoon person, and evening person."
Morning vs. Afternoon: In a 2011 article from Columbus University, we learn that “Learning-styles research reveals increased learning occurs when a student is taught and assessed at their preferred time-of-day.” and that “morning learning is associated with superior immediate recall when compared to learning in afternoon or evening. However, material initially learned in the afternoon is more beneficial to long-term memory recall.” and that right-handed students tend to perform better in the morning, whereas left-handed students tended to perform better in the afternoon. (For more about sleep, check out the Sleep Foundation.)
Application: There’s so much to learn about determining the time of day - but with all of this in mind, it’s important to note that time of day does matter when we are teaching our children. This research is a good trigger to cause us to observe our children better to see how well they perform in the morning, afternoon, and evening. But what I know is, that, for my children, after we say bedtime, and they are in their beds, lights out, using a flashlight - they sometimes get their favorite learning time.
2. It’s a peaceful and meaningful time to connect
Words of wisdom may be quenching your child’s thirst at night. This is when our children are well and ready to listen to our experienced advice for their questions and problems. It can be a deeply rewarding time because they are restful and ready to listen with focus. Parent and child can both feel valued and loved because of the active listening and sharing of life’s hardships, sorrows, joys, and delights
3. May Help Children Fall Asleep
Many of the activities my children engage in at bedtime not only help them focus better in their beds, quiet and uninterrupted, but also help them fall asleep. Research shows reading and soft music can help people fall asleep.
B) Learning Activities at Bedtime
Learning activities can be part of your child’s bedtime routine - just try to keep them peaceful and relaxing. Don’t introduce scary stories or activities that make your child anxious.
As long as your child gets ready for bed and gets in bed at a relatively early time, he can have 30 minutes or more of a learning activity.
Schedule Example: On an ideal day and schedule, our kids start getting ready for bed at 7 PM, we have family time of learning about God and prayer at 7:30, then a parent puts them to bed by 8 PM. Depending on the activities of the day, our kids will be asleep by 8:30 PM - 10 PM. We get to sleep in and let everyone wake up on their own in the morning. So this is what they are doing during that “alone” time…
Activities:
Audio Education - Put a CD player in their room and they can listen to history, tales from around the world, foreign language practice, classical music, and audio books like Magic Tree House. Use a timer for audio books.
Books - Make reference books available to your child in her room, like by National Geographic for Kids, Smithsonian, Usborne, Welcome to the Museum, Britannica’s The First Big Book of Why, etc. Fiction and non-fiction story books you can read aloud during bedtime routine, then let them keep going and report to you in the morning what else happened. Joke books are light-hearted fun and my kids who share a room love to tell the jokes to each other. When a child does not want to sleep, but needs to stay in bed, this is a great way to keep their mind occupied in a peaceful way.
Workbooks/Activity Books - whether they are from Costco, the 99 cent store, or part of your curriculum, these activity books help your children teach themselves. How to draw books, Write Your Own Story books, math practice books, etc.
Journals - Could be the Diary of a Wimpy Kid Do-It-Yourself journal, gratitude journal, About Me journal, or a Question of the Day journal. We made an empty journal of just plain paper and comb-binded it for my son who wanted to make his own Diary of a Wimpy Kid diary - and he worked on it every night for months and would read his entries to us at bedtime.
Card-Making - Sometimes being thoughtful is the best way to end your day!
Games - Memory, Chess, Checkers, games, Guess Who? Pick games that build skills without being hyper.
Conversations - Share each other’s Rainbows (good things from the day) and Puddles (hard or sad things from the day). They could even be the same thing! Sometimes they are things you had no idea made an impact (positive or negative). Use those moments to share your experiences and wisdom to teach their heart how to love, how to be kind, and how to handle challenges. Then, when they fall asleep, those words may hang out in the brain all night long, boosting their confidence and self-esteem.
C) Takeaways
Observe Your Child’s Natural Rhythm
Observe her after you put her to bed at a normal or early time. Does she take 30 minutes or more to fall asleep? If so, she might be a night person and may benefit with evening or bedtime education. If not, and she can fall asleep soon after her head hits the pillow, then don’t mess with her ability to fall asleep quickly. She might be a morning person! Keep track of how early she wakes up on her own when she goes to bed at a normal time.
2. Follow Your Child’s Interest
If your child isn’t curious about inventions, don’t offer an inventor’s reference book. If your child loves unicorns, offer books like Uni the Unicorn. Loving history? Try a history for kids podcast. The key is to sign up for trial and error until you and your child figure it out.
3. Show Your Interest
Ask your child every-so-often what he is up to and what interesting books or activities have been filling his evening and bedtime hours. This will show that you care about his interests, and maybe he will be able to teach you!
Coop Q & A
Question: I would homeschool, but I have only one child. Don’t you think he’d be better at our church school?
Answer: A church school sounds like it has big potential to be a wonderful community. What a great opportunity. But, if you want to homeschool, you can. Yes, homeschooling a single child can pose some challenges, but the blessings abound to.
You can:
Focus on your child’s needs without distractions
Pick the right time of day for learning together in accordance with his circadian rhythm without needing to compromise with others
Truly tailor and customize your child’s education for him.
Besides that, it can bring you even closer together. If having a single child is your hesitation, listen to Podcast Episode 33: Homeschooling the Only Child were we help you navigate the challenges as well.
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