Get Your Kids Talking

Early on children start answering questions like “What did you do at school today?” or “How was your day?” with the classic responses of “Nothing” and “Fine.” It can be hard not to take these answers personally, but it isn’t about you. The questions are simply too broad and the answers too complicated. Getting information from your children once they enter the Nothing/Fine stage is tricky. It requires a talent for slipping in the side doors of their brains.

From the beginning, children have a keen sense of their parents. They can read our facial nuances and small utterances like some strange sect of fortune telling savants. Though they may not appear to be paying attention or even looking at us, they are picking up on all of our signals. To side-step this ability, first tap your inner Lady Gaga so they can’t read your poker-face. Next, ask specific questions like, “How was ______ today?” Insert your child’s favorite activity or subject but do not fall into the trap of using this everyday. They will be on to your game by Tuesday and you will be back in the land of Nothing/Fine. Mix it up for the little tyke. Try other focused conversation starters like naming three great things, three OK things and three bad things about their day. Ask if anyone got into trouble. What happened at recess? Finding out how the spelling test went can come later. First, find out if that kid from lunch picked his nose again.

Starting a conversation with questions about specifics not always related to academics will help to get your child talking. Put yourself in their shoes. School is like their job and sometimes when you come home from work you don’t feel like reliving the day. Talking about other aspects of where they spend the majority of their time presents unseen opportunities.

Your child’s answers may not tell you much about what they are learning but you may get some juicy 4^th grade gossip. Those insights are like golden morsels. They are what will keep you up to date on the current events of your child and that is the education you are looking for.

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