12/11/2025
In the 1950s, every kindergartener knew the ritual: crayons down, lights low, and the soft hum of a record spinning through the air.
Naptime wasn’t a break — it was part of learning.
Teachers dimmed the lights, tiptoed between mats, and whispered, “Close your eyes.”
Kids rested, dreamed, or just stared at sunbeams dancing on the ceiling — learning something we’ve since forgotten: that rest is part of growth.
Then came the tests.
The “readiness.”
The race to get ahead.
By the 1980s, naps were gone. The mats rolled up. The lights stayed on.
Today, five-year-olds spend more time in structured lessons than third-graders did in the 1950s — no pauses, no quiet, no chance to just be.
And we wonder why they’re anxious.
Maybe it’s time we remembered what our teachers once knew:
You don’t grow by running all the time.
You grow in the stillness too.
Even big kids need naptime sometimes.
