Thoughts for the Week:

We all have a need for times of peace and quiet. Yet there are times when it's all right to be noisy. Learning when to be quiet and when we can be noisy is a part of growing up. Young children may not notice when they are being too noisy for other people because they have a hard time seeing things from someone else's point of view. They may not realize how loudly they are talking or how much noise they are making because they are still learning how to control the amount of noise they make. One of the things we can do is to help children find acceptable ways to be noisy ... and to help them see that they can begin to control noise levels in small ways.

In today's very busy world, all of us need a little time for peace and quiet. Sometimes children need to take time away from the group to be alone and to have some quiet time. This might be time away with a friend, with a grownup, or just by themselves. Giving children a cozy place where they can look at a book or talk quietly with a friend helps them find the balance between being noisy and being quiet.