When my son was in school last year, I learned quickly that if I wanted to know how his day was, I had to ask the right questions. Simply asking him, “how was your day”, was never enough. With such a broad question, I would often get answers like “fine” or “I don’t know”.
If you want to generate a dialogue with your child about their life when they’re away from you, then you must ask questions that will give you more than just a yes or no answers. Below are a few of my favorite questions to ask my son after I pick him up from school. I found the more I took interest in his time at school, the more he was able to open up to me. He also was more likely to tell me about not just the good times at school but when he had struggles. (bullying or a hard time with schoolwork)
Questions:
- What did your class read today?
- What sports do your friends play?
- What was your favorite thing you did today?
- Who are your three best friends?
- What was you teacher wearing at school today?
- What was the most fun thing you did today at recess?
- Who made you laugh today?
- If you were the teacher for the day, what would you teach to your class?
- What was your favorite food at lunch today?
- Who was the nicest person in class today?
- Which kid got in trouble today?
- When your teacher wants the whole class to listen, what does she say?
- Do your friends have brothers and sisters?
- What happened today that bored you?
- What is the favorite area in your classroom?
- If you could change one thing about your school, what would it be?
- When you lined up for lunch today, who was your line leader?
- What made you smile today?
- Who did you sit with at lunch today?
- What made your teacher smile today?
- What kind of person were you today?
- If you could switch seats with anyone in class, who would it be? And why?
- Was anyone gone in your class today?
- Did you like your lunch?
- Whom did you help today?
I hope these questions open a fun and engaging dialogue for you and your kids.
Xo Hannah
Mama and Army Life 