Getting Kids To Use An Inside Voice

Visual cue, the Ear Grab, means use your inside voice.

My husband has a LOUD, booming voice. I'm sure this serves him well, most of the time, when he needs to be heard over a sea of middle school kids.

However, in our house his voice is providing the equivalent of a complete training course in LOUDNESS. In other words, because he is the role model for our kids, he has role modeled LOUDNESS to them.

Yes, I live with three noisy boys. Usually for me this isn't a problem, I just put my ear plugs in, or listen to my MP3 player and I'm happy. But I tend to miss a lot of the conversation.

Obviously LOUD Training can work against a kid in public. And as many times as I utter, "Gio use your inside voice," his decibel level always goes right back up to LOUD, after two or three sentences.

Tired of saying "lower your voice," with zero success, I consulted an expert in the matter, Miss Mary Ann, from MY Romper Room. (I didn't know there were other hosts of Romper Room.)

Anyways, Miss Mary Ann recommended a visual cue, such as grabbing my ear when Gio is talking LOUD.

"You need to explain to him when he talks LOUD it hurts your ears," says Miss Mary Ann. "And when you grab your ear, it means he's talking LOUD."

Well, Internet, I'm happy to report the visual cue is working! It took about a week to notice a difference. The great thing about a visual cue, is I can use it from across the room, especially YELLING across the room for Gio to lower his voice, would be counter productive.

Give it a try, let me know if this works on your LOUD kids.

Oh I almost, forgot this visual cue works on LOUD husbands, too!