rest time

So lots of my kids (out of 11 if 4 are doing it I think it is lots) are on occasion coming to me during break and laying with their heads in my lap. Completely comfortable and seemingly exhausted. I’ve had some conversations with Dorothy and she and I agree that 4.5 hour mornings of school is long for kindergarten and even at the weekday school in Gastonia she was at they had a rest time. We’ve gotten the mats for the kids to sit on and I use them for group times to set the kids roughly where I want them to sit. The challenge is to get them to sit on the mat without moving it…we’re working on that—they seem to like to sit right next to each other but then they can’t help but poke at each other. I decided to implement a rest time. When they come in from break I have the mats spread out on the floor and I ask them to put their head on the mat. Most of them will do it and some of them are even quiet for 3 minutes. The others sit and fidget and are somewhat calmer than they were before. While rest time doesn’t last long (5 minutes max right now) it does seem to help break up the day and give the kids a little down time…the mats still get moved quite often so I occasionally think about duct tape or superglue but I haven’t resorted to that yet.