|

The Importance of Quiet Time

My daughter was such a blessing when it came to sleeping. She slept through the night early, took naps until she was almost 5, and embraced quiet time with not a single whine. My son….well, he’s a different story. He was a challenge at bedtime and couldn’t nap during the day without making it impossible for him to fall asleep at night. So giving up naptime was required.

Quiet Time

But I needed my quiet time. This was a time when I got something done around house, worked on a project (I’m a work at home mom.) or took a much needed nap (especially when I was pregnant). So giving up my quiet time was difficult as well. That got me thinking. How imperative is quiet time? I say….very! And that is why we decided to re-institute quiet time and make it work for all of us.

What Quiet Time Looks Like
Quiet time can be different for every family. Whether you have young children or older children, it is an excellent time in the day for the family to disengage from most stimulus and rest. For younger children it may be a nap; for older children it may be quiet reading time or play time in their rooms. For mom, it may be reading or Bible study, dinner prep or work time. Nap time or exercise time. Whatever mom (or dad) needs to get recharged.

How to Get Quiet Time Started
If you have never had quiet time in your house, you may not be sure how to get it started. Here are some things to consider when beginning quiet time in your house:
1. Time. Determine the time and try to stick to it. Make it a time that is typically a nap time for someone if you have nappers in your household. Next make it a time that, no matter which day of the week, you do not typically or regularly have somewhere to go. You don’t want a different time each day.
2. Location. You want your location for nap time to be somewhat consistent. At our house it is our bedrooms–at least for the kids. Sometimes my older daughter gets to be in another room if there is something particular she has asked to do, but normally she is in her room.
3. Routine. Decide on the routine. Will you slow down with a family read aloud before quiet time? Do you do it right after lunch? Establish a routine and it will work better. The kids will settle down and learn to anticipate quiet time.
4. Duration. How long will quiet time be? An hour? Two? Three? If you have nappers, again, you may plan this around their nap times. That is how we started. At the end of nap time, awaken everyone that is sleeping, have a quick clean up time, and then get back together in a central location for a snack or something to reengage with what you have left for the day.
5.  Guidelines. For older students who have more schoolwork, they may use their quiet time for independent school work. This is an excellent time to read from a literature book or work on a paper. But remember, even older children need some time to disengage, relax, and do something for themselves sometimes. Younger children can nap or play quietly in their rooms, read books, etc.

Why it’s Important
Quiet time is very important to everyone. I can tell you our days go much smoother when we have it. For moms and dads, quiet time can be the time you need to reset, revive, or just be alone for a while. What you do with the time can differ as needed.

For kids, quiet time is the time they need to free play or do something for themselves that is not guided or structured or electronic (if possible). They need time to not be told each move and what is next. Even if they get this during outside play or other times, a scheduled quiet time can actually be something they look forward to.

Quiet time is a blessing in our house for everyone, and it can be for you too. No matter how you structure it for your family and in your household, you will likely find that, once you have established a scheduled quiet time, you will feel much better, and so will your whole family.

Do you have quiet time in your family? How does it work for you?

SONY DSCTawnee is a homeschooling mom of two (and one on the way). She blogs at Adventures in Homeschooling where she shares the adventures she and her family have in their homeschool. She is a baby-wearing, cloth-diapering, military, work-at-home mom who loves spending time learning with the kids and feels blessed to have been called to homeschool. Also visit her on Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest.

 

 

Similar Posts

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *