By Lauren Ragins, M.S., CCC-SLP

 

Do you ever ask your child how his/her day at school was and you get vague answers such as “good” or “I don’t remember”? With the new school year in full swing, children come home from school with a lot of exciting and new experiences that they want to share with their parents, such as thoughts about their new teacher, new friends, classroom activities, etc.

Children have a strong desire to share their new experiences with their parents, but they may need some support. Asking open-ended questions as opposed to yes/no questions (i.e., Did you have a good day?) may help your child express recent experiences and open doors to extended conversations with your child.

Here are 10 open-ended questions you can ask your children to get them talking about their day at school:

1. What was your favorite thing you did at school?
2. What was your least favorite thing you did at school?
3. What was the hardest thing you did today?
4. What made you happy today?
5. What did you do at recess?
6. Who did you eat lunch with?
7. What did you/your friend eat for lunch?
8. What are some of your class rules?
9. What book did your teacher read to the class? What was it about?
10. What are you excited to do at school tomorrow?

If some questions are challenging for your child, you can provide forced choices. This means that you give your child two options to choose from to help them answer a question. Most importantly, have fun with your child while asking questions!

 

Do you have concerns about your child’s expressive or receptive language skills? Contact us today to schedule a complimentary screening with one of our talented Speech-Language Pathologists!