Why You Need Quiet Time in Your Homeschool

Guest Post By Melissa Batai

If you send your child to brick and mortar school, you likely have seven to eight hours a day where your child isn’t at home, even longer if you send your child to afterschool care. If you work a 9-to-5 job or work from home, of course, you work during that time. However, if you’re a stay-at-home parent, you use that time to recharge and get things done around the home and run errands. Homeschool parents, however, don’t get that break. Their children are likely with them all day, every day. Even for the most passionate homeschool parent, this can be a bit much. One way to combat the constant togetherness is to have quiet time in your homeschool.

Why You Need Quiet Time

There are so many reasons why families can benefit from quiet time.

Everyone Gets a Break From One Another

Even if you are a tight-knit family, people need their own time. Quiet time can be an excellent way to take a break from the hustle and bustle of the family. Then, when quiet time is over, kids can happily play together again. Absence makes the heart grow fonder, even when the “absence” is only an hour or two away from each other during quiet time.

Introverts Get the Rest They Need

Introverts recharge by spending time alone. If you’re an introverted homeschool mom, all the time together non-stop may drain you. Quiet time is an excellent way to recharge so you’re ready to finish the day with your kids in a happy, positive way.

But it’s not just moms. Some of your children are likely introverts and also need that time to recharge.

Work at Home Moms Have Time to Do Work

If you work from home, quiet time can be an excellent time to get an hour or two of work done. You’ll be undisturbed, and, if you’re like me, you’ll feel more relaxed after you get some of your work done.

What Does Quiet Time Look Like for Kids?

Personally, I wouldn’t recommend giving your child access to video games or tv or streaming shows during quiet time. Though it may take some discipline, your children can have quiet time the old-fashioned way, without technology.

What quiet time looks like in your home really depends on how old your children are. In general, this is what quiet time looks like for different age ranges.

Babies and Toddlers

The easiest time to have quiet time is when you have children from newborns to three years old. During these years, quiet time is simply nap time. This may last from one to three hours during the day.

Preschoolers

When children are three to five years old, there are a variety of options for quiet time.

Some kids this age end up falling asleep.

If they don’t, they can play quietly in their rooms, though how quiet they can be at that age is questionable.

My girls loved stories, so we bought a subscription to Sparkle Stories, and they listened to a story or two every day during quiet time.

Another option is to create busy bags for them.

Elementary Schoolers

Elementary children can read books, listen to audios, or create art during quiet time.

Middle and High Schoolers

Middle schoolers and high schoolers often have more schoolwork to do and can use this time to work on their more difficult subjects, especially if they have younger, noisy siblings. The quiet is more conducive to tackling harder subjects in a more concentrated way.

Like elementary school children, they can also read books, create art, or write.

How Long Should Quiet Time Be?

That varies depending on the ages of your children. Most homeschool parents have quiet time for one to two hours a day.

What If Kids Don’t Respect Quiet Time?

If you start quiet time when your kids are little, they’ll see it as another part of their day and likely will not have trouble accepting quiet time.

However, if you start it when your kids are in elementary school or later, you may initially meet with resistance. There are a few ways to handle this.

The first way is to reward your children who actually are quiet during quiet time. Often, this is enough to get everyone on board.

Because this is a new activity in their daily routine, I wouldn’t recommend punishing them until you have instituted quiet time for a few weeks. If they continue to resist after that time, you may need to institute a punishment. Perhaps a child who won’t be quiet during quiet time must do an extra chore. Or, maybe he loses evening tv time.

I instituted quiet time when my kids were in elementary school. While there was some whining and complaining initially, eventually they came to view it as a regular part of the day. A few of my kids even really looked forward to quiet time when they could explore their interests uninterrupted.

Final Thoughts

If you haven’t instituted quiet time, what are you waiting for? Taking a break from one another and pursuing individual interests is important and will likely reduce the fights and squabbling in your house. In addition, you’ll have your own time to relax or get your work done if you work from home.