The best kindergarten readiness? 10+ hours of sleep per night
Sleeping 10 hours or more per night predicts better all-around performance in kindergarten – these improvements were seen in socio-emotional regulation, learning engagement and academic domains. While 10 hours of sleep on the majority of nights throughout the year was beneficial, the most critical period in this study was actually the “prekindergarten months”, the July and August prior to kindergarten starting. This 2022 study (linked below) in Pediatrics put wrist monitors on 230 students the summer before they started kindergarten through the end of their kindergarten year to measure their sleep, then had their kindergarten teachers fill out validated surveys on their performance in different areas, and the clear winners were children who slept more than 10 hours per night on more than half of the nights in the study. Re-reading this study a good reminder to me that my laid back summer mom phase is going to have to be end. My oldest is gearing up to go to second grade and my middle is starting kindergarten this year, and we are nowhere near our school year bedtimes right now. Thanks!
