One of the first things I noticed about Georgie when he first started school last year was his hesitation in telling me how his day was. I realised things had gone from bad to worse when the other day after an afternoon lesson he huffed and puffed and finally said: I don’t have to tell you everything! Let’s skip that in ten years a remark like that will probably scar me for life and go straight to the fact that it was obvious I was asking the wrong question.
Apparently one of the biggest mistakes we make when asking our children about school is being too vague. Now that I think about it, when I ask him ‘How was school today?’ isn’t it completely normal that he would say ‘fine’ or ‘good’?
However when I asked him ‘Who did you sit next to today at lunch?’ I got a proper and real reply. ‘I sat next to Sam.’ Success.
Here are more questions you can ask your child about school:
- Who did you play with at recess?
- What book did you read or listen to?
- Did anything make you sad today?
- What made you happy?
- What was the hardest thing you had to do today?
- What was the most interesting thing your teacher said?
- What was the best thing about today?
The above questions have all worked for us. Since I started this little experiment I’ve heard the most bizarre and original things come from Georgie so needless to say I am thrilled. There are definitely more questions you could ask your child; anything really. Just be specific!
