How Does Sleep Affect Learning in Pre-schoolers?
Do reduced levels of sleep negatively affect children?
There’s plenty of evidence that it does.
How does sleep affect learning in pre-schoolers?
Sleep affect learning: Many medical professionals and just about all teachers, will tell you that a tired child will not make the best of its surrounding opportunities for learning.
There are many reasons for that, as tired children are known to:
- find it harder to concentrate;
- be inclined to doze during the day;
- have a greater pre-disposition towards irritableness;
- suffer memory lapses in the sense of being unable to recall what has just been studied or what was studied yesterday;
- show a tendency to engage less enthusiastically with a lesson or other children and adults around them.
Why that happens
Human beings need sleep and that applies to children as much as adults.
Some of the exact mechanics of sleep and its relation to psychological and physical health are not fully understood in the sense of how the mechanisms work but it is clear that having sufficient sleep is imperative for learning in pre-schoolers and sleep affect learning.
One area that is better understood is that the brain spends time just before waking essentially storing and organising the vast amount of memory experience gained in the previous day. The shorter the period of sleep is, typically, the more difficulty the brain has in efficiently performing that function.
As ‘remembering’ is such an important part of learning, the relationship between sleep and learning is clear.
What is the correct amount of sleep for pre-schoolers?
This is one of those fiercely debated questions in child care and also one that has no universal answer.
The problem is that children have varying levels of need for sleep. As any parent with more than one child will know, even between siblings that need can vary hugely.
However, most experts agree broadly that around the age of four, the average child benefits from about 10-12 hours of good sleep per night. The use of ‘good’ there is important because a child being in bed for 11 hours isn’t the same as them getting 11 hours of good sleep.
Noises around the house and/or disruptive siblings (etc.) can wake younger children up and mean they have a disturbed night’s sleep. Sleep affect learning and it’s effects are damaging and the objective should be for around 11 hours of uninterrupted quality sleep.
When pre-schoolers won’t sleep
This can be a nightmare for parents if it happens. Few children won’t sleep at all but much more common is the experience of having a child who is very difficult to ‘get down’ and/or who wakes up regularly through the night.
If you find yourself in this position, the first step is to try and identify the cause. If it’s just a child who likes being awake for 30 minutes longer than you wish, it may be that they simply need less sleep and there is no cause for concern. Assuming you can see the following morning that they’re alert, fully awake and full of energy, it may just be that you need to adjust your estimations of their sleep duration requirements.
If, however, they won’t go to sleep or keep waking up and it is clearly visible in its effects on them the following day, check:
- that the temperature in their room is comfortable and the lighting subdued;
- there are no obvious disturbances during the night, including things like dogs barking and howling siblings;
- that their breathing when asleep seems easy, regular and quiet (no wheezes etc.);
- they have no temperature and are reporting no pains;
- they do not seem to be afraid of being left alone.
If one of the first two, the solution is obvious. However, if one of the latter, you may need to consult your doctor for professional advice.
Now you know that sleep affect learning, in any case, if your child has previously slept easily but suddenly starts being unable to sleep or keeps waking up, even if they seem otherwise physically fine, it would be sensible to get a doctor to check.
