Tuesday, March 11, 2008

Whisper days...

For some reason as my kids were at my mom's the topic of whisper days came up. And for some reason they thought this was a weird idea. Let me explain to what they are.

If my kids are having a day where they are not using their words is a positive way, if there are a lot of fights, if they are just abusing the privilege of talking, I take the privilege away. They are not allowed to talk.

Now, I know that absolutely no talking is not practical, especially for long periods of time so I let them whisper. I can teach, answer questions, whatever. They seem to be calmer, and it becomes natural to whisper when everyone else is whispering too.

Maybe parents of school-age children that send their kids to school full time don't find a need to do this. Or maybe other homeschooling kids aren't like mine and never abuse the privilege to talk to each other. But when it's -20 degrees, kids have been cooped up for far too long, sometimes my kids get on each others nerves, and therefore they get on mine. Then it's time for a whisper day.

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