Quiet Time! Definatly Part of Our Day!

Growing up I remember sitting in my bedroom looking at books for about an hour a day. I loved this time as a child because I knew I was tired, but didn’t necessarily want to go to bed, I could sit in my room and think or day dream or sometimes even fall asleep. My mom started homeschooling us when I was born and I was forth of five children. I am sure this time was very peaceful to her. Not that I was a loud bothersome kid, which I guess I could have been, but It was just a time for her to relax and to get the house in order. I never realized how important it actually is, this thing my mom used to always call Quiet Time, until I became a mom and realized that during our busy days, quiet time is totally necessary for me, but especially for my children. My kids actually look forward to this time. They know they need it, and so do I!

1- I Need It -I know as an adult I need some peace and quiet during the day, time when the house is quiet, the baby is down for a nap, and I can get things in order or even just sit and relax.

2- It Is Good for Children Mentally and Physically – Most of the time our house, with three kids under six, isn’t very quit. I once read that “It is so important for children to have quiet time that I would even suggest the lack of it has had a negative physical and mental affect on our children. Without quiet time, children become over stimulated. It becomes difficult for them to manage simple daily routine such as sitting at the table during mealtime or being able to relax in preparation for bedtime. They lack the patience to appreciate the natural setting around them.”

3- Kids are so Busy these Days – with school, extra curricular activities, chores, playing outside, church activities, they never slow down. Quiet time is a good time for them to relax, and enjoy the simple parts of the day. No rushing about, just peace and quiet.

4- Helps Children feel less Anxiety’s and Stress – after a long day at school kids really need this quiet time to help them wind down.

5- Children are Less Cranky After a Peaceful Quiet Time! – I can tell when my kids need quiet time when they start talking mean to friends, acting a bit more grumpy or just saying they are bored. I try to have quiet time before that happens. When they have a successful quiet time I never hear them say they are bored after. It’s like they have rejuvenated their brains and are ready to be creative again!!

 

We do quiet time a few ways in our house – {but it always last 1 hour}
1- They each go to their rooms sit on their beds and read books or color.
2- Sit on the couch with a HUGE stack of books, look at them or day dream or sometimes fall asleep.

3- They each have a bin with their toys in it and they go in their rooms or in a room together {if I know they are going to play well together} and just have fun using their imagination {Quietly}.

Music can also be a good part of quiet time. Sometimes we listen to classical music, sometimes we listen to scripture scouts {which I am going to post about later}, or primary songs, but most of the time it is just quiet, which I really like because then we can hear the birds outside or absolutely nothing.

{this little man was caught not taking a nap and looking at the little Brain Quest cards for a whole hour in his room…Silly sleepy two year old}

What I do during quiet time..

1- My ideal quiet time would be to take a nap! {But that just doesn’t happen very often}

2- Fix dinner

3- Blog

4- Read a book or balance my money in the same room where the kids are – they seem to do best at this because I am in the room, and for some reason they don’t keep coming and asking how much longer, they just know when mom’s done they are done!

 

If you don’t have quiet time for you kids, try it. You need it and so do they. Don’t say you are “to busy”, if you do then you probably need it even more. Slow down a bit and let your kids also, even if they are busy and gone at school all day. It doesn’t have to be an hour like ours, even just fifteen minutes of quietness after being at school all day will help them feel less stress, more peaceful and have a happy rest of the day!