3 Simple Steps for Getting Your Child to Tell you About Their Day at School
“How was your day, buddy?”
“Good.”
“What did you do today?”
“Can’t remember.”
Sound familiar? We here this from parents all the time- their child just won’t tell them about what they did at school. There is a simple solution to this problem. You need to ask the right questions.
Ask a specific question about a part of their day.
Choose 1 or 2 of these more specific questions:
Did anyone do something funny today that made you laugh?
Did anyone get in trouble today? (Kids love answering this one!)
What game did you play at lunch with your friends?
Who did you sit next to whilst you ate your recess?
What book did the teacher read to you today?
How did you find your maths lesson today?
Did you leave the classroom to go somewhere different today? (e.g. library or a sport lesson)
2. Have an “emotional check-in”
We also recommend using this time as an “emotional check-in”. Ask your child:
Did anything make you upset or frustrated today? Do you want to talk about it?
This questions offers an invitation to you child to discuss any issues that may be bothering them. You may like to ask this daily, or even just once a week. It’s important that they know you are always there to listen if they have an issue.
3. Focus on the positive
Our final question would be to focus on the positive:
What is something that made you laugh/smile today?
This open ended question will make them think about the postives of their day. Often children can dwell on the one bad thing that happened in their day, even if it was a a tiny thing. It is important to remind that a day can be filled of ups and downs.
Please note: If you child is consistently telling you they had a “bad day”- please check in with their classroom teacher as soon as possible to address this.
