Why Sleep Matters

Sleep looks like doing nothing, but your brain is busy all night. While you sleep, your brain sorts the day's memories - keeping the important ones, filing away what you learned, and clearing out the clutter. A kid who studies and then sleeps well remembers more than a kid who studies and stays up late.

Your body grows and repairs itself during sleep too. Muscles rebuild, the immune system recharges, and growth hormones do their work. That is why you sometimes wake up feeling taller - you literally grew overnight.

School-age kids do best with about nine to twelve hours of sleep a night. A regular bedtime, a dark quiet room, and no screens for the last hour all help your brain switch into its nighttime work mode.