Here's a totally free Practical Life exercise to do at home with your kids. "The Silence Game" can help you see how far your child is coming in his control of his actions and his movement, but it is also vital to helping him to communicate--with God and with others. He'll be ready for it when he's learned what silence is, he's able to keep still, and he's developed the will through other Practical Life work.
First I'll share the link about the church where my husband and I were married, because reading it today inspired this post (Thanks, Katie!) The Backs of People's Heads and Baby Faces: In the Silences of The Heart
1. Invite the children to make silence in the room (you all may sit).
2. Draw the curtains or dim the lights and wait until it is so quiet that even very soft sounds can be heard.
3. Wait for a period of one or two minutes, depending upon the group.
4. When the time is finished, you may return the lights to a normal level. Invite the children to share what they heard.
This is actually an incredible exercise of the will and of freedom. Enjoy!
A fifty-something mother of six incorporates Montessori principles into REAL life.
This is a great exercise and can be started even with teenagers and grown-ups. We call it "mindfulness". It's really great as an exercise for regaining self-control when your are losing your cool, too. It's also a great way to begin tough discussions because it focuses the mind on things other than yourself. Thanks for the idea! (And thanks for the hat tip, too!)
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