Importance of Sleeping Before Exams for Children, How Good Sleep Improves Exam Scores

Come Sleep, O Sleep, the certain knot of peace,
The baiting place of wit, the balm of woe,
The poor man's wealth, the prisoner's release,
The indifferent judge between the high and low; - Sir Philip Sidney (Sonnet 39)

Sleep, an elixir of life, is essential for good health. In fact, good sleep is as important as a healthy diet and exercise. Let's take the case of Raju, whose parents ensured he had nutritious food and sufficient physical activity, a lesson well learned.

It was 4:00 a.m. when Raju closed the physics book, switched off the light, and went to sleep. He was appearing in the board exams and was determined to score good marks.

Raju's mother woke him up at 7:30 a.m. Although feeling groggy, Raju got ready and left home confident of doing well in the exam.

Almost an hour later, he was sitting in the exam hall, looking at the question paper and struggling to recall all that he had studied the previous night. However hard he tried, it was of no avail. His mind drew a complete blank. He was shocked and upset! How could this have happened? He had been so thorough in all the topics; he had not omitted any lesson. Yet, he could not remember a thing!

Why sleep during exams matters more than parents realise

Raju's is not a unique case. Such instances occur often as neither parents nor children realise the importance of sleep during exams. Now, before we go into why good sleep before exams is important for children, let us look at what sleep is and why we need sleep.

What exactly is sleep, and why do children need it

Sleep is a state in which our body and mind are at rest. During this time, our eyes close, muscles relax, and responses to external stimuli are low. Most animals, including humans, go to sleep at night.

Amazing fact about sleep: On average, humans spend almost one-third, or 30%, of their lives sleeping.

Why do we need sleep?

During the day, while awake, we are engaged mostly in goal-directed activities. Both our body and brain are involved in carrying out these activities. However, certain areas of the brain must work more than others. This triggers the release of a chemical called adenosine, which signals the brain to slow down and rest. As a result, we begin to feel drowsy and fall asleep.

Sleep has a restorative effect on both the body and the brain. A sleeping individual's heart rate slows down, breathing rate decreases, body temperature drops, and muscles relax, all of which help conserve energy. Sleep also gives the brain a chance to restore itself to health.

So, when we wake up in the morning, we feel calm, happy, hopeful, and willing to face the world again.

Cutting down on sleep duration makes us feel lethargic, lowers our alertness, and makes it difficult for us to focus. Prolonged lack of sleep or sleep deprivation can even lead to serious health problems like hypertension, memory loss, and weakening of the immune system.

Interesting facts about sleep:

Of all animals, only humans are capable of willingly delaying sleep.

According to the Philips Global Sleep Survey (2019), adults sleep 6.8 hours on weeknights and 7.8 hours during weekends. This is less than the recommended 8 hours every night.

What happens when we sleep

What comes to your mind when you look at your sleeping child? The calm expression on their face would tell you that, at that moment, they are free or detached from anxiety, worry, and distress and are at peace with themself and the world.

So, does everything come to a standstill while we are asleep? Not really.

What happens in the body and brain during sleep

How sleep repairs muscles and joints

As mentioned above, although some body functions slow down, cells continue to regenerate. This way, the stressed and worn-out muscles and joints are repaired during sleep.

How sleep supports breathing and oxygen flow

As we fall asleep, our breathing rate changes. It becomes slow and regular, and we begin to draw deep breaths. This helps draw more oxygen into the body and expel carbon dioxide.

How sleep helps the heart rest and recover

Deep breathing during sleep helps slow our heart rate. This allows our heart to relax, which also lowers our blood pressure.

How sleep clears brain toxins and strengthens memory

As with other organs, toxins accumulate in the brain as well. A build-up of toxins could cause neurological diseases and conditions like Alzheimer's. During sleep, our brain flushes out toxins and regains its health. So, a good night's sleep would certainly improve your child's brain health and academic performance.

How sleep improves memory, learning, and exam performance

Your child's exam scores depend not only on the time they spendstudying, but also on their ability to learn and remember information.

Research has shown that healthy sleep plays a very important role in enhancing creativity and facilitating learning and memory, all of which affect a child's exam results.

Sleep sharpens attention and perceptual skills

While we are active and looking around, our eyes transmit a lot of information to the brain. In their study, Mednick et al found that a 60 to 90-minute nap improved the ability to organise and interpret information.

Sleep helps consolidate learning into long-term memory

Whenever we acquire new information, it must be integrated with the knowledge we already have and transferred into long-term memory. So, while your child sleeps after long hours of study, their brain creates a summary of the new information and adds it to existing knowledge.

Sleep strengthens recall during exams

The ability to remember is important. Only then can a student retrieve the acquired information and answer the questions asked in exams. Sleep is essential for the development of good declarative memory (the ability to remember events and facts).

Sleep boosts creativity and problem-solving

REM (rapid eye movement) is the stage of sleep when dreams occur. REM sleep promotes the development of associated memory (the ability to remember and recall relationships between unrelated things) and the integration of unassociated information. This helps students create solutions to problems. Research has also shown that creativity peaks after REM sleep.

Sleep improves overall exam performance

Fakhari et al investigated the relationship between sleep and exam scores. They found that students who slept 6-10 hours in the 24 hours preceding an exam scored higher than those who slept less than 6 hours.

What toppers say about sleep during exam preparation

Here's what the toppers from the 2019 CBSE Board examinations had to say about sleeping well during examinations:

During the exams, I had to cut down on long hours of sleep. Early morning suited me, so I used to get up every day at 6:00 a.m. and start studying by 7:00 a.m. So, select your sleep timings as per your convenience. - Hansika Shukla

You should not deprive yourself of sleep the night before the exam. Having a good night's sleep would make you feel fresh in the exam hall and you can think with more clarity. - Karishma Arora

I am a morning person, so my day starts early. During my exam preparation, I used to get up around 5:00 a.m. I have never studied beyond 9:00 p.m., even before an exam. - Raksha Gopal

What research says about sleep and academic performance

A study published in the Society for Research in Child Development titled, 'Sacrificing sleep to study can lead to academic problems' (2012), led to the findings that, 'Regardless of how much a high school student generally studies each day, if that student sacrifices sleep in order to study more than usual, he or she is more likely to have academic problems the following day.'

Michael Scullin of Baylor University, noticing sleep deprivation among his students, issued a challenge asking them to get 8 hours of sleep every night, offering credit points in return. The results of his case study, published in the journal 'Teaching of Psychology' (2018), reveal, "On the final exam, students who slept 8 hours performed better than students who opted out or slept 7.9 hours, even after controlling for pre-final grades. The 8-h0ur sleep challenge provides proof of principle that many students can maintain optimal sleep while studying, without sacrificing test performance."

According to Arundhati Swamy, Head of the Parent Engagement Programs at ParentCircle:

Uninterrupted sleep of six to eight hours is vital for overall well-being, and more so during the exams when a child's mind is stretched to its limits—to focus, revise, recall and reproduce or apply large volumes of information. The physical strain of long hours of study and an overactive mind causes mental fatigue. A tired mind lacks focus and takes longer to learn. Frustration sets in, leading to doubts, and fears and worries about performance. A good night's sleep helps to restore physical tiredness, repairs emotional stress and prepares the mind to pay attention and concentrate on the tasks for the next day. Sleep tight, feel right!

How much sleep do children and teens really need during exams?

Now that you understand that sleep does have a positive effect on a child's academic performance and on exam scores, you would also want to know how many hours a student should sleep.

The ideal sleep duration for children varies according to age. The age-wise sleep duration recommended by the American Academy of Sleep Medicine is 9 to 12 hours for children 6 to 12 years, and 8 to 10 hours for children 13 to18 years. On average, school-age children need 9.5 hours of sleep every night.

Denise Pope, Ph.D., Senior Lecturer at the Stanford University Graduate School of Education, says:

I believe that sleep is important for a child's academic success. Getting the required amount of sleep contributes a lot to how a child performs at school. For each age group, the required amount of sleep is as follows: adolescents: 8-10 hours, young students: 9-11 hours, and adults: 7-9 hours.

Simple bedtime habits that help children sleep better during exams

There is no cause for concern if your child is following the sleep schedule recommended above. However, if that is not the case, then here are a few simple things you should do to ensure a good night's sleep for your child:

Create a calming and predictable bedtime routine

This includes doing the same activities every night before bedtime, such as changing into night clothes, brushing teeth, going to the toilet, reading a book, and so on.

Reduce screen use before bedtime

The blue light emitted by screen devices impairs our ability to sleep. So, help your child understand this fact and limit screen devices.

Maintain a consistent sleep and wake schedule

Encourage your child to go to sleep and wake up at the same time every day to set their body clock.

Avoid caffeine and stimulating foods at night

Eatables, like ice cream, chocolate, and chocolate cake, and drinks, like soda and iced tea, contain caffeine. Avoid giving your child caffeine at least 3 hours before bedtime.