Nursery World - Home learning - A parent's guide to ... Sleep

Sleep affects children's development and well-being in a number of
ways. Penny Tassoni explains what these are and offers some advice to
help make sure your child gets the hours they need.

It may seem surprising, but sleep is a key factor in the health and development of children. Of course, love and stimulation are important too, but when sufficient sleep is added into the mix, a near perfect formula is created. This is because sleep is a deep-seated, biological need and so cannot be ignored.

In the past few years, health and educational professionals have become concerned about how much sleep young children are having.

Here, we offer some advice for parents and carers.

FIVE THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW

1. Sleep is needed for learning

Concentration and memory are two factors affecting how well we learn. Sleep is when the brain reviews the experiences of the day and starts to file the information that becomes the basis of our memories.

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