Mar 17, 2012 Posted in Something to Share, That's Life, The Tribe | 0 comments

Quiet Time for Eight

Quiet time has been a part of our routine  since our first little one was born. Since she recently turned 13, I can’t remember life without quiet times. Quiet time is really important to children. After a busy morning it gives their bodies and minds time to relax, refresh and refocus.

I love quiet time. I love to see those heavy eyelids finally give in to how tired his body really is. I love to hear the quiet whispering of the child who is reading on her own but still hasn’t mastered silent reading. I love the quiet giggles of the “old girls” as they enjoy a break from their work.

Quiet time is the perfect opportunity to read aloud. Everyone can find his/her own spot and settled with paper and pencil and drift away to the exciting adventure awaiting them. I am blessed that even my older children still love a good read aloud.

Quiet time happens after lunch. We eat, clean up and quiet time begins. The generally procedure is: find your spot and then you may read, write or draw. Alone. Quietly. However, sometimes I let them do a group activity but they have to stay quiet or they lose it. On this day, everyone wanted markers. It was also a day I couldn’t read aloud as I had some admin stuff to do for my reviews.

So how did I get those little chatty girls to be quiet? Librivox. It is a great resource for when I can’t read aloud. I can find a book that isn’t readily available at the library and let them listen to it. On this day, they were listening to Buster Bear by Thorton Burgess. Sadly, our library doesn’t have Burgesses’ books so this works out great. They loved the story of Buster Bear! My older girls utilized Librivox on this day as well. A cell phone we no longer have coverage for is still used for a variety of things. On this day, the girls used it to listen to Pride and Prejudice on Librivox while they play their game.

And if you are a mom with children in a wide range of ages…everyone was either quiet or asleep. Yes! The baby napped during quiet time. It was so quiet in the house that if felt a bit odd. Giggle. Quiet time is about hour and a half. Perfect amount of time to take a break and get ready for the afternoon!

And just a note….Caleb wasn’t pictured because when he is able, he works with his dad. So on this particular day he was working. However, he spends quiet time either reading or building with Legos.

Do you have a quiet time? What does it look like at your house?