It’s not always easy to get information from your child about how their school day was. A typical after-school conversation might go a little something like this:
“How was your day?”
“Good.”
“What did you do?”
“Nothing much.”
…
You continue on with your afternoon or evening with no further information than that, feeling frustrated or disappointed that your child doesn’t want to talk to you about school at all.
If you’re tired of repeating this process each day with no change, it might be time to start thinking about some other questions to ask instead. Leading with a question that requires more than a simple yes or no is a great way to open a conversation and get your child talking about their day.
Try one or more of these 10 questions tomorrow and see how your child reacts:
- What was the best thing you did today?
- What was something different that happened today?
- What made you laugh?
- Who did you play with?
- What are you looking forward to about tomorrow?
- What did you learn about in music/PE/library?
- What’s something your teacher said to you today that made you think?
- If you could change one thing that happened today, what would it be?
- What part of your day went the slowest? Why?
- What games did you play at lunchtime?
Of course, if your child doesn’t want to talk about school, you should respect that too. Some children need a little space and time to relax after school before they are ready to talk about it and by giving them a little space, they might be more willing to open up later.
By asking meaningful questions and really listening to the answers you can get to know a lot about your child and how they are doing at school. It also creates a great connection between you, showing your child that you care about their wellbeing and are taking time to hear about how their day has gone.
