Why Having a Sleep Routine is the Key to Good Marks in School

You can never emphasise the importance of sleep for young ones enough. Every parent wants her child to bring good grades every year. However, have you asked yourself whether you are doing enough to ensure that your child is getting what he needs for a successful school year? Of all the things you can do to ensure that your child excels in their studies, ensuring that he gets enough quality sleep through a good sleep routine is important.

How Are Good Grades and Adequate Quality Sleep Related?

A study done at the UCL Institute of Education by the Department of Psychology and Human Development revealed a lot about sleep patterns and the performance of students in school. They compared sleep hours to average grade points, and the results were eye-opening.

It became evident that students who failed to get enough quality sleep through the night performed poorly in school compared to the ones who slept well. Also, poor sleeping patterns in students led to challenging behaviours, and a reduced attention span, which contributed a lot to lower grades.
On the other hand, students with better sleep routines were seen to have not only better performance in school, but also better behaviour regulation. The finding proved one thing; good sleep routines are vital to excellent academic performance and high learning capacity.

So, Why Does Adequate Sleep Impact Grades?

Getting quality sleep has the following positive impact on performance in school:

1. Improves Cognitive Processing

Simply put, sticking to a sleeping routine is key to ensuring that your child’s brain is ready to acquire and use new information with ease. With improved attention and memory, he can learn better and improve his grades in class, as a result.

2. The Body Resets

Enough sleep allows your child’s body to ‘reset’ and prepare for new experiences. When active, your child’s brain goes through a lot of learning, thinking, and other activities which add to the ‘brain garbage’. When he goes to sleep, his body will go through a process of removing such ‘waste’ which, in turn, prepares the brain for learning once he is awake. It’s like removing unwanted files from your PC so that you have additional storage for the important files.

3. Enough Sleep Nurtures Creativity

We all have creativity in us, and to unleash such creativity, the right method is needed. With all cognitive processes running as expected after getting enough rest, you can be sure that your child will come up with better ideas as well as make smart decisions. That’s why most bright people don’t underrate the importance of getting enough quality sleep.

4. Children Become More Productive

The good thing about sticking to a sleep routine is that your child will always wake up feeling energised for whatever activities you’ve scheduled for your day. Once he gets up after a good rest, he will have more energy to remain productive throughout the day and take that productivity even to his classroom.

5. Enough Sleep = Better Health

Perhaps you already know that enough sleep is crucial for one to remain healthy. When sleeping, your body releases hormones required for healing of the body, which is why you most likely feel sleepy when you’ve got the flu. A sick child will most likely have to miss school for a day or more – that automatically ruins his performance most of the time.

In general, it would only be right to say that enough quality sleep encouraged by a clear routine is paramount to the success of children in school. Therefore, establish a sleeping routine for him, and see to it that he sticks to the routine for better results in academics.

What Makes a Good Routine?

When creating a routine for your child, there’s not much to watch out for. However, always ensure that it’s something that he can follow without stressing himself. Such a routine should be simple, and fun as much as possible; it would be best if you also had some bonding time during such a routine. You can do so by reading books with your child in turns, or telling him bedtime stories before he sleeps. Here’s an example of a good morning and evening routine:

Morning Routine

• Have breakfast
• Brush teeth
• Dress up
• Put on socks
• Fold and store pants
• Make the bed
• Tidy up the room

Evening Routine

• Pack school bag
• Put away the toys
• Put dirty clothes away
• Brush teeth
• Tidy up the bathroom
• 15 min reading/story time
• Sweet dreams

What Are The Benefits of a Sleep Routine?

A sleep routine has several benefits that make your child even btter in school. These benefits include, but are not limited to:

1. Eliminate Power Struggles

When your child is reminded what is expected of him before he goes to bed or after waking up in the morning, he will learn and his body will adjust to such a routine automatically. He won’t have to be constantly reminded what to do and when to do it. That way, even adapting to school routines and learning new things becomes easier.

2. Children Learn How to Cooperate

Learning how to cooperate when a child is growing is important even in his academics, as he will always work with others successfully to achieve better performance.

3. Routine Encourages Independence

There is nothing as inspiring as your child learning that he has the responsibility of taking care of himself, albeit with the help of the family. This way, he learns to depend on himself even in school and can learn better.Even though it might be common for children to sleep in on weekends, it’s actually essential to maintain a regular waking-up and sleeping time. Neurologists and sleep experts suggest sticking to routines even on weekends for the development of a child.However, keep in mind that you don’t have to follow routines blindly, as there are times when you have no choice but to break them. If your family is celebrating a holiday or some relatives have come over, time has to be set aside to enjoy such precious moments – your child should not sleep too much and forget to live!

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