One thing to consider if you feel your child is just on the verge of needing more sleep and you don't want to move up a bedtime (which I totally understand - the hours at the end of our days seem so limited and rushed!) - is there any possibility you could let them sleep in a 1/2 hour longer in the morning? We try to get everything ready at our house the night before, and that way our dds don't have to get up extra-early. I like having the extra time (awake) with them at night much more than in the morning - morning's always seem to be rushed whether or not the kids are up 30 minutes before we leave or 2 hours before we leave... possibly because *I'm* not a morning person lol
I would love it if we could do that, but the bus picks them up before 7:30 for an 8:00 school start. Right now their alarms are set for 6:10, and it is definitely a push to get them ready to get out the door by 7:15 to catch the bus. DD9 takes a really long time to eat breakfast, because she has an oral appliance that is hard to "eat around," and DS5 is just goofy and difficult in the morning. I probably spent 30 min just coaxing him to go to the bathroom and get dressed today. We did a dry run yesterday, and they "won" a trip to the movies yesterday afternoon by being ready to go on time in the morning. DS was really cranky in the afternoon, though, which doesn't bode well for today. We'll see what the report is at the end of the day.
