How the Right Sleep Routine Can Build Kids’ Confidence

When we talk about building confidence in kids, we talk a lot about taking action.

But we’d be letting you down if we ignored the fact that one of the best ways to build confidence involves doing nothing at all.

I’m talking, of course, about sleep. 💤

The research is crystal clear: sleep quality is linked to confidence (and accuracy) in decision-making, mental wellness, and optimism. 

If we’re trying to build kids’ confidence without focusing on a third of their day, we’re sleeping (pardon the pun) on a great opportunity. 

So, in this newsletter, we’ve got:

• Sue’s case for why sleep is important for wellness and a note of caution about a popular strategy 

• My tips for how to encourage kids to get more and better sleep, without provoking power struggles about bedtime

Stay Legendary,
Fish Stark
Head of Program & Curriculum
Legends

🔗 Legendary Links

• Jessica Groce in the NYT: Don’t Ditch Standardized Tests, Fix Them

• Sophia Nicole (Legends CCO Marisa Polansky’s favorite cycling instructor): Confidence is taught

• WaPo: How football coach Dan Campbell built his team’s confidence and resurrected the struggling Lions franchise

• “Just be brave for 5 minutes” from our chat with olympian Scott Frandsen

• Dean Sue on curbing negative language

• Sal Khan on the future of K-12 education (from Legends CTO Sam Broe)

• JJ McCarthy’s pregame meditation routine that helped lead the Michigan Wolverines to victory (from Legends user Preeti C)

😴 3 Tips To Help Your Kid Get Better Sleep

1️⃣ Clue them into the science behind sleep.

Kids tend to be interested in information about how their brains work, and reasoning trumps “I told you so” any day. Let them know about what scientists say about sleep: that kids need around nine hours of it, and that it can help improve reaction times, decision-making, mental recall, and overall happiness and health.

Your kid might think “Sure, that’s true for most people. But I’m pretty tough. I don’t need as much sleep.” You might consider sharing with them articles like this one, about how sleep scientists work with professional athletes. Even the most physically and mentally tough people in the world need lots of high-quality sleep!

TAP FOR TIPS 2 & 3 👉

🌙 Perchance to Dream

The research is clear: sleep quality is directly related to our mood, our capacity to focus, our productivity, our weight, and even our ability to fight off illness.

What “a good night’s sleep” looks like is clear too: 

• Going to bed at the same time each night

• Staying away from caffeine

• Avoiding electronic devices at least 30 minutes and food for 2-3 hours before bedtime

• Getting an age-appropriate amount of sleep 

Perhaps that’s why commercials on television and ads on social media are forever letting us know about the latest mattress or pillow, promising that the “right” one is guaranteed to improve the quality of our sleep. We instinctively know that sleep quality contributes to our health and wellness.

But, much like other health-related information, just knowing something doesn’t magically change our behavior. The science is quite clear that fruits and vegetables are better for us than cake, cookies and ice cream, yet we still find ourselves (at least I do) migrating towards sugary treats.

We know how important good sleep is. So, why don’t we do it?

DREAM ON 👉