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Prolonging bedtime or hitting the books for some late night cramming may not seem like a big deal, but according to research, sleep plays a vital role in memory and learning. It doesn’t matter if your child is five or 15, the findings indicate a routine of good sleep is important for healthy function and for imprinting learned facts.
So what role does sleep play in study, and how much is enough?
According to Harvard, the full function of sleep and its role in memory is not entirely understood. What they do know, however is that animal and human studies reveal the quantity and quality of sleep “have a profound effect on learning and memory”.
They explain sleep works in two distinct ways: “First, a sleep-deprived person cannot focus attention optimally and therefore cannot learn efficiently. Second, sleep itself has a role in the consolidation of memory, which is essential for learning new information”.
And it’s not just how much but the quality of sleep your child gets, with different sleep cycles each playing a role.
Throughout the night the human body works through a series of cycles of sleep and several have been linked to the way we retain information. Harvard explains studies have led researchers to believe Rapid Eye Movement (REM) sleep allows people to retain fact based information, along with procedural memories of “how to do” tasks.
Meanwhile, slow wave, or restorative sleep, also plays a critical role in fact based memory.
So what happens when you don’t get enough?
A series of studies have shown that a lack of sleep can have serious impacts on health and mental wellbeing, along with learning ability.
Harvard notes: “When we are sleep deprived, our focus, attention, and vigilance drift, making it more difficult to receive information”.
“Without adequate sleep and rest, over-worked neurons can no longer function to coordinate information properly, and we lose our ability to access previously learned information”.
Furthermore, a lack of sleep affects the ability to make decisions, can leave people prone to injury, and importantly, can also affect mood, which in turn impacts the ability to embrace tasks like study and retain information.
So what benchmarks should your child be hitting when it comes to getting enough sleep?
Children aged 6-13 require 9-11 hours sleep each night with emphasis on a calming bedtime routine. As school, extra activities and a burgeoning social life all place new demands on their time, a good night’s sleep is critical to their physical, cognitive and emotional development.
The average teen requires between 8 and 10 hours sleep each night, but the reality is most do not get enough, and the sleep they do get may be irregular.
At weekends teens tend to stay up later and sleep in, only to then rest that routine for five days of school.
To assist teens in getting enough sleep encourage them to do their homework early in the night, stay off electronic devices and avoid screen time just before bed and establish a calming bedtime routine that factors in at least 8½ hours sleep.
Whether your teen is preparing for an exam, or your primary aged child is pushing the boundaries of bedtime, sleep is an important element of the learning process, where routine, quantity and quality count.
For over 25 years Chalkwall has been focussing on the best habits of learning and study to see children shine to their full potential. You can learn more about our tutoring services here, or contact us for further advice.
