Sleep - according to The Daily Mail

Having just popped over to Unplug your kids (see sidebar for link), I see that readers are challenged to produce a project on the topic of sleep. Well, I have not done a project but wanted to report a little thing that has gone on in our house over the last two days.
Yesterday I bought The Daily Mail. (Yeah, I know - no taste!). There was little article about a study (yeah, another study) on the effects of an early and strict bedtime routine for young children. Apparently, children who have regular bedtimes are better at languages, reading and maths than those who do not. And the earlier a child goes to bed the quicker they are at picking things up. The researchers recommend that pre-school children get a minimum of 11 hours per night or risk falling behind.
I read this article to Honor-May and Henry at dinner time yesterday. HM wanted to go to bed straight away so that she could be good in her maths lesson. Today, her teacher came up to me after school to tell me how well she got on in the lesson, being one of the few kids who 'got it'! What a coincidence!
Henry also wanted to go straight to bed... but I could hear him running around after!
Well. I usually take these studies with a pinch of salt. But I think it is common sense to make sure the littlies get to bed early... if only to give us parents a rest!