Early to Bed, Early to Rise: Valentine’s Challenge Days #10 & #11

Challenges #10 & 11: Get Enough Sleep & Support Parents and Families

I am a new(ish) parent with two small children.  I used to think I understand and had compassion for parents, but I really had no idea!  Now, as I parent and read as much on childhood development as I can get my hands on, I feel a much stronger desire to figure out how to support parents in our community in particular.  The role of parents is pivotal to students success and to a school’s success, so supporting parents and families is one of the best ways to support kids.

The latest article that caught my attention was on how an early bedtime impacts student learning.  I’ve also been reading some things about adult sleep patterns (an obsession with sleep often accompanies the parents of infants!) and found this article on how to get the right amount of sleep to be productive.

This tiny article on bed times is merely one resource in a huge ocean of resources on little things parents can do to help their children be healthy, strong, inquisitive, and creative.  If you’re interested in supporting families, or interested in tips and ideas for your own family, see some of the following resources:

• MetroParent’s List of Parent Support Groups & Organizations
• The Black Parent Initiative
• Parent Resource List from the Multnomah County Library
• Human Solutions
• Preschool/Childcare Directory

These resources are not just for parents.  If you’re interested in volunteering to support parents, in addition to kids, and families, these resources will point you in the right direction.

So many of my discussions with my students in class lead back to the fact that we need to work on the bigger issues (systemic racism, poverty, hunger, etc.) before we can truly fix schools and expect certain kinds of achievement from students.  If you agree, supporting parents and families is a great way to get involved.

P.S.  The image here comes from http://sweetclipart.com/.