Sleep is an essential building block for your child's mental and physical development. There are a number of reasons why sleep is very important, but today we will be focusing on 5 key reasons:
Learning: Sleep aids learning in children of all ages. In a research conducted by Neuroscientists at the University of Massachusetts, it was discovered that when children stayed awake they forgot 15 percent of what they'd learned, but when they napped after learning, they retained everything. The children who napped scored better during the test game compared to those who didn't have any naps. Children who don't sleep well are more likely to feel sleepy at school during the day and to have difficulties with learning
Cognitive Performance: Getting enough hours of high-quality sleep fosters attention and concentration, which are a prerequisite for most learning. Sleep also supports numerous other aspects of thinking including memory, problem-solving, creativity, emotional processing, and judgment.
Motor Skill Development: These skills include but not limited to walking, crawling, sitting, standing etc. It has been shown that a good night's sleep, results in an 18% improvement in motor skill speed in children.
Vocabulary Acquisition: Given that sleep is polyphasic in the early years, made up of multiple episodes, and children's word learning is gradual and strengthened slowly over time, it is highly plausible that sleep is a strong candidate in supporting children's memory for novel words. Word learning is a complex, challenging, and important part of development, thus the role that sleep plays in children's retention of novel words cannot be overemphasised. Ensuring children get sufficient good quality sleep may be critical for language acquisition.
Mood: According to a recent research, children who experience inadequate or disrupted sleep are more likely to develop depression and anxiety disorders later in life. This is according to sciencedaily.com. It can lead to irritability, difficulty concentrating and impatience.
Don't forget ... most kids between the ages of 5 and 12 need 10 to 11 hours of sleep each night. To find out more on how to make sure your child gets enough sleep, please subscribe to our newsletter as we will be posting more information on this topic in the future
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