How Sleep Can Impact Your Children's Academic Success


A lot of factors can affect a child’s learning: home environment, interest, and social wellbeing, for example, can massively influence childhood development. However, a key component to a child’s comprehensive growth is often overlooked. Sleep has been shown to improve a child’s ability to process new information, feel excited to learn, and develop skills. Here are four ways that sleep can improve a child’s ability to learn, and how to ensure that they get the rest they need.

Effects of Sleep on Childhood Learning

Boosted focus and attention span

Sleep deprivation can cause the brain to act in a sleep-like manner, resulting in children “spacing out” multiple times throughout the day. Conversely, a good night’s sleep can improve a child’s ability to concentrate and find interest in new material, while also making fewer mistakes.

Enhanced memory

High-quality sleep can have a hugely positive effect on a child’s short-term and long-term memory. It makes it easier for a child’s brain to retain information and process new memories, which can promote their learning.

Improved problem-solving skills

A well-rested brain can lead to boosted cognition and high-level mental performance. Skills like focus, reasoning and problem-solving are more improved in children with good sleep, which makes it easier for them to finish classwork efficiently and accurately.

Boosted mood

Sleeps impact on a child’s mood and energy levels shouldn’t be overlooked. Poor sleep can make a child irritable, silly, or uninterested, and impatient when not understanding new material. These feelings can disrupt their learning as well as that of their classmates.

How to Improve Your Child’s Sleep

Encourage exercise

Exercise supports higher-quality sleep by draining a child’s mental and physical energy. It tires out muscles and relieves stress in children which makes it easier to them to fall asleep at night. As an added benefit, sports and other activities also provide a good source of social interaction between children of all ages.

Get comfortable bedding

One of the most common sleep issues in children is discomfort. Give your kids the gift of sleep by investing in their bedding. Plush pillows and a comforting mattress can go a long way in helping a child sleep through the night.

Set a schedule

Children crave routine. A strict bedtime can make it much easier for them to mentally and physically anticipate sleep and allow them to fall asleep faster. Enforce a strict bedtime that ensures your child gets the sleep they need for their age.


If you adopt some of these suggestions into your child’s daily routine, you could vastly improve their sleep, and therefore, academic success. If your child has a bad night of sleep, start over tomorrow and work your way back to healthy habits.

Not only is sleep an important factor in the wellbeing of you and your children, but it is also important to spend enough time outdoors to achieve healthy lifestyle. Here are 6 benefits to getting out and about in the fresh air

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