School Yogis

@BatonRougeYoga | Linktree Yoga Studio offering vinyasa (flow), pranayama (breathing), and meditation.

Dearest Gentle Readers… 💌✨

It is with the utmost delight that I, Juju the GOOD Voodoo, take quill to parchment to share how truly grateful I am for each of you who have followed my whimsical journeys. 💜📖

From the vibrant streets of New Orleans to the rich history of Louisiana, it has been my greatest joy to spread goodness, turn negatives into positives, and inspire young hearts through my stories. 🌸✨

Your love for reading warms my little stitched heart, for it is through books that imagination grows, confidence blooms, and even the heaviest worries can gently fade away. 💫

I am most thrilled to announce that my adventures now continue beyond the pages—helping children express their feelings, build confidence, and even offering a bit of calm and creativity for grown-ups through my new coloring books. 🎨💛

Pray, do stay connected as there is ever so much more to come…
📱 Follow along on Facebook, Instagram & TikTok
🛍 Available on Amazon, Etsy & TikTok Shop
https://linktr.ee/jujuthegoodvoodoo

Until our next grand adventure…
Stay kind, stay magical, and always let your goodness shine. ✨💜

Parents across the country are taking steps to stop their children from using school-issued Chromebooks and iPads, citing concerns about distractions and access to inappropriate content that they fear hampers their kids’ education.

National organizations representing administrators, school technology officers and teachers have urged caution against lumping in classroom screen time with recreational device use at home, saying they need to prepare students for employers who expect students to be fluent with digital tools and artificial intelligence.

But the parents opting out point to research showing that students who used computers at school performed worse academically and that information is better retained when read on paper. Education experts say there’s a significant difference between educating students about technology and completely relying on educational technology.

Read more: nbcnews.app.link/ID31ry5Wc1b

We are so excited to announce that registration for our Sizzling Summer camps is now open! Visit www.sizzlingsummer.org to sign up today!

Sizzling Summer at SJA is celebrating 36 years of summer fun for girls in grades 3-9. Sizzling Summer camps offer an exciting array of enrichment opportunities in academics, athletics, the arts, enrichment and technology. We also offer popular day camps with weekly themes. Boys are invited to participate in some technology camps.

Join us for what’s sure to be a great summer!

When We Taught Children How to Rest — And Then Forgot Why It Mattered

In the 1950s, there was a moment in every kindergarten day so predictable you could set your watch by it.

After the singing.
After the crayons worn down to stubs.
After circle time and sticky fingers from graham crackers and small cardboard milk boxes—

The lights would dim.

A record would settle onto a turntable.
The needle would crackle, then find its groove.
Something soft would fill the room. Something slow. Something kind.

And twenty little bodies would stretch out on striped mats or faded rugs. Shoes tucked under cots. Blankets—frayed, thumb-worn, familiar—pulled up to chins. A room full of children learning, together, how to exhale.

Naptime.

For millions of children growing up in the 1950s, ’60s, and early ’70s, this ritual was as essential to kindergarten as finger paint and the alphabet. It wasn’t filler. It wasn’t babysitting.

It was the lesson.

Stillness Was Once Part of the Curriculum

Educators believed something we’ve slowly forgotten:
young children need quiet.

Not just sleep—but stillness.
A pause where feelings could settle.
A space where overstimulated minds could wander safely.
A reset before the afternoon rush of blocks, numbers, and playground dust.

The science agreed. Children’s brains and nervous systems were still under construction. Rest wasn’t a reward. It wasn’t optional.

It was developmental maintenance.

Teachers became guardians of calm. Soft voices. Slow footsteps between rows of breathing bodies. A whispered story read to no one and everyone. A hand smoothing a blanket. A steady presence in low light.

A lighthouse.

The Quiet That Shaped Us

Some children slept—deep, open-mouthed sleep—exhausted by morning play and the overwhelming newness of school.

Others didn’t.

They stared at the ceiling.
Counted tiles.
Watched dust motes dance in a thin blade of sunlight slipping through the curtains.

They drifted into that rare kind of daydreaming that only happens when you’re five—when time is wide and nobody is rushing you to become something yet.

Even the kids who hated naptime learned something important.

That sometimes you have to be still, even when you don’t want to be.
That rest is not the opposite of learning.
It’s part of the work.

For many children, it was the only stillness in an otherwise loud, busy day. A quiet bridge between lunchboxes and hopscotch. Between learning letters and learning how to share.

Then We Decided to Hurry

By the 1970s and ’80s, something shifted.

Kindergarten stopped being about socialization and curiosity and started being about readiness.
Pre-reading. Early math. Staying on track. Getting ahead.

Schedules tightened. Testing crept younger. Parents worried about falling behind before childhood had even properly begun.

Naptime began to feel inefficient.
Unproductive.
A luxury we could no longer afford.

So the mats were rolled up.
The record players disappeared.
Overhead projectors replaced them. Then computers. Then tablets.

By the 1990s, naptime was mostly gone from public kindergarten classrooms—surviving only in preschools and full-day programs for very young children.

A Day With No Pause

Today’s kindergarteners move from reading groups to math centers to screens to lunch to more instruction. Recess—if they get it—is brief. Quiet is rare.

There is no dimming of lights.
No permission to close your eyes.
No collective exhale.

And we act surprised when childhood anxiety soars.

What We Remember — And What We Lost

Those who lived it still remember:

The rows of striped mats.
The scratch of a needle finding vinyl.
The smell of that one blanket that probably only got washed twice a year.
The relief of being told it was okay—expected, even—to stop trying so hard.

Naptime wasn’t just about sleep.

It taught us that rest has value.
That quiet has purpose.
That you don’t need to be productive every minute to be worthy.

It was a lesson we didn’t realize we were learning—until we grew up in a world that never stops and makes us feel guilty for needing to pause.

Maybe That’s the Lesson Worth Remembering

To parents: your kids likely don’t have this anymore—and they’re expected to perform at full speed all day long.

To teachers fighting to protect play and rest: you’re not being soft. You’re honoring what science has always known.

To anyone who feels ashamed for needing rest: we used to teach five-year-olds that stopping was part of learning.

And to those who say childhood is “too easy” now—today’s kindergarteners have more structured academic time than third-graders did in the 1950s.

We didn’t make childhood harder because it was necessary.

We made it harder because we forgot how to slow down.

We once dimmed the lights, put on a record, and gave twenty small people permission to just… be.

Maybe it’s time we remembered how.

TeacherCon 🦸🏽‍♀️ Free Back-to-School Conference

Announcing a FREE Juniors Division for the Louisiana Open! We're kicking off the week with some incredibly exciting news for the young and upcoming pickleballers in our community! Play for FREE in the Louisiana Open!

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🎉🎒 Get ready for our Back-to-School Festival with Aetna!

Join us for a fun-filled day with FREE food, games, health screenings, school supplies & more — all to celebrate the start of a new school year!

📅 Saturday, August 9
⏰ 12–3 PM
📍 Thrive Academy, 2585 Brightside Dr.
Bring the whole family. The community is invited! 🚌💚

✨ Fuel & Flourish Camp is here! ✨

Join the BeWell Foundation for an unforgettable experience on June 28th and July 12th where young minds (ages 10-15) will dive into cooking classes, mental health awareness, hygiene, and exercise—building healthy habits for a lifetime! 💪🍎🧠

Spots are limited so don’t wait! Scan the QR code to secure a session today for just $25 and give your child the tools to thrive. 🌟

📅 Sign up now and let’s fuel the future—one flourish at a time!

Ages 6-10 June Summer Classes at Evolve 26! Message us now to sign up! Open to any dancers ages 6-10! ✨🩷🤩