Hey all,
Seeking advice on what to do about the situation with my son (4 years old). The preschool he attends has routinely had problems with him staying quiet during naptime. My son rarely naps and the preschool he attends (per the Oregon state requirement, according to them) provides 2 hours and 15 minutes of allotted time per day for naps. So far, their efforts have seemed to be aimed at getting him to stay quiet and entertain himself on a mat for 2 hours. Some of the teachers are able to try to sit with him but they are saying he keeps getting up and running around the room. They say they don't have the time to focus on just him during naptime, which is understandable. What I'm struggling with is this apparent requirement that some kids need this quiet time, therefore all kids have to fit into that schedule. It's perfectly normal for 4 and 5 year olds not to nap. I'm concerned about what my son is learning about himself and the identity that he's already forming of being the "trouble maker" simply because he's not a napper and struggles with 2 hours per day of quiet time where he has to sit on mat. He never had this issue at the daycare facility he went to before this. Everyone we have watch him has never had issues of these kinds. Is this him struggling to conform to a routine that he'll have to get used to in school or is this more a case of a preschool having too rigid of a structure that doesn't meet the needs of every child?
Today, they threw at me the possibility that their solution may be that he can't stay the whole day anymore. As parents with jobs, this really isn't a solution for us at all. This is a stressor.
Am I off base? Am I missing something? Help me out people of Reddit.
Edit to clarify: my understanding is the first hour is the quiet time to prepare for napping and then the 2nd hour is the naptime itself but either way as it’s been explained to me they need him to be quiet on his mat for 2 hours regardless.