Thursday, February 28, 2008

Toddler Training: Chair Time

Every morning, after breakfast, Caleb has "chair time." On some days, I let Caleb pick out a few books or a small toy, on other days, I choose for him. I arrange the books on his special chair and he climbs up for some quiet play time. The idea is for him to be able to sit quietly for an extended period of time. We started with 5-minute sessions, are currently at 10 minutes, and have a goal of 30 minutes by the end of March.

"Chair Time" has been a great addition to our day! Caleb is learning to focus and play quietly, and I am able to use the 10 minutes to do the breakfast dishes, start a load of laundry or get myself ready for the day.


In the afternoon, we alternate between "Blanket Time" and "Tent Time". . . same idea only Caleb either "reads" quietly on a small blanket I put out on the living room floor, or plays quietly in his pop-up tent.

I can't take credit for coming up with this wonderful idea (I've read about it in a few books and seen variations of it on blogs like this one) but it has been working so well for us that I wanted to pass along the idea to you.

9 comments:

Elizabeth said...

i want to do the same thing with my kids someday, especially after i've heard how bad tv is for them before the age of 3...

not2brightGRAM said...

I've said it before, but I'll say it again...

You are such a good mommy, and I am so proud of you!

Kendra Fletcher said...

Good job! You'll be so happy he can do this when you have to require it in a doctor's office or elsewhere in public.

Funny thing is, I forget this in the day to day busyness. Andy just said last week, "When can Christian start playpen time?" I had completely forgotten.

So thanks for the reminder and encouragement!

christianne said...

what a great idea! i love it. it's like training him self-discipline and an ability to exist in a peaceful, quiet, focused, contented way. amazing, the way this is actually developing a person in a particular direction that has life-trajectory implications. so cool.

not2brightGRAM said...

P.S. I don't know if anyone else noticed it (or if you've photoshopped it!) but I am totally AMAZED at how white that chair is! ;-)

This and That said...

Wow! I am impressed! You are a good role model =)

Anonymous said...

I never heard of this...sounds great...and Caleb doing a great job..nice picture of him!!!

Jess(ica) said...

I agree with all previously stated comments! =)

Gina Marie said...

You're very wise to start doing this! I did it with my kids and up until recently (we're just too busy now with homeschool) we did it for an hour in the afternoon. We called it "room time." They just had to play quietly in their rooms for an hour. They usually protested, but they always found plenty to do. I think it really helps fosters creativity too!