Joen Bettmann's depiction of practical life exercises as character-building reveals how caring, careful, and independent work leads to higher self-esteem, more concern for others, better understanding for academic learning, and a self-nurturing, respectful classroom community. Particular aspects of movement and silence exercises bring out what Joen calls the child's "quiet soul," the contemplative and reflective side of life that brings peacefulness and a state of grace. [Excerpted from a presentation given at the NAMTA conference titled The "Casa dei Bambini on the Threshold of the Twenty-First Century," October 7-10, 1999, Arlington, VA. Reprinted from "The NAMTA Journal" 25,1 (Winter, 2000): 101-116.]