Medical Xpress – Staff Writer 
A new study published in Behavioral Sleep Medicine shows that children who are taught at home get more sleep than those who go to private and public schools…The study concluded that more than half (55%) of teens who were homeschooled got the optimal amount of sleep per week, compared to just 24.5% of those who attend public and private schools. Conversely, 44.5% of public and private school teens got insufficient sleep during the school week, compared to only 16.3% of homeschooled teens…Lisa Meltzer, PhD, a sleep psychologist at National Jewish Health in Denver, and her colleagues charted the sleep patterns of 2,612 students, including nearly 500 who are homeschooled. They found that adolescent homeschooled students slept an average of 90 minutes more per night than public and private school students, who were in class an average of 18 minutes before homeschooled children even awoke. “That cumulative sleep deprivation adds up,” said Meltzer. “The ability to learn, concentrate and pay attention is all diminished when you haven’t had enough sleep. But more than that, a lack of sleep can also impact a teenager’s mood and their ability to drive early in the morning,” she said.(more)