Preschool children`s learning enhanced by daytime naps

Sleep researchers at the University of Massachusetts Amherst today offer the first research results showing that classroom naps support learning in preschool children by enhancing memory. Research psychologist Rebecca Spencer, with students Kasey Duclos and Laura Kurdziel; say their results suggest naps are critical for memory consolidation and early learning, based on their study of more than 40 preschool children. “Essentially we are the first to report evidence that naps are important for preschool children”, Spencer says. “Our study shows that naps help the kids better remember what they are learning in preschool”. This research is published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. “While the children performed about the same immediately after learning in both the nap and wake conditions, the children performed significantly better when they napped both in the afternoon and the next day”, the authors summarize. “That means that when they miss a nap, the child cannot recover this benefit of sleep with their overnight sleep. It seems that there is an additional benefit of having the sleep occurs in close proximity to the learning”. “Until now, there was nothing to support teachers who feel that naps can really help young children. There had been no concrete science behind that”, the neuroscientist says. “We hope these results will be by policy makers and center directors to make educated decisions regarding the nap opportunities in the classrooms. Children should not only be given the opportunity, they should be encouraged to sleep by creating an environment which supports sleep”.