How was school today? A helpful speech and language strategy for parents
How tempting is it to ask your kids this question right after your kids come off the bus and into the house during the first few days of school? You weren't there with them to experience all of the happenings of their day like you might have been this summer. So, of course, you want to ask them how it went. As a former school speech language pathologist, parents would often ask,
How can I get my kid to tell me about their school day? All they do when I ask . . . is say . . that it was fine.
These parents genuinely wanted to engage with their children and learn about all of the things that were interesting. I would ask the parents, “Exactly how did you ask them?” Time and time again, the parents would explain that they would ask, “How was your day? Did you like school? What happened?”
Unfortunately, these types of questions are too vague. Your child may want to answer something to please your curiosity, but they really can't pinpoint what you are looking for in a response. I have found this to be a helpful speech and language strategy for parents. Instead of using vague or yes-no questions, try starting with specific What questions. Examples of What questions that might improve the detailed responses are listed.
Impactful What Questions to Try
What book did your teacher read aloud to the class today?
What specials class did you have today? Was it physical education, music, or art?
What happened that was kind toward someone?
What was the chit-chat topic at lunch today?
What game did you play at recess?
What are you studying about in science or social studies?
What was something funny that happened today?
When you use these types of questions, they can help your child recall the events. From these question responses, you can ask for further details such as the following ideas.
Give Me the Details!
Who were the characters in the book? What did you enjoy about the book?
What was the best part of your special class today?
Why do you think the kind act helped the other person?
Who did you sit by at lunch? Did you have enough time to finish your lunch?
How many people played the game at recess? Would you like to play it again with the same friends?
Were you able to see a science experiment today?
Can you tell me more about the funny episode, and how the people reacted?
As a speech language pathologist, these are the type of questions I have utilized during speech and language therapy that really get kids talking. This speech and language strategy for parents fosters so many language therapy goals to try at home such as
Wh- question responses
sequencing events
adding details to sentences
recall of the day's events
inferencing skills
use of correct grammar such as past tense verbs
Discussions like these will give you a peek into your child's day. It will show your child how much you care about their learning experience. It will also provide them a hint that you value their input and opinions. With a little practice, you will notice that this kind of questioning will become easier to help your child initiate, or participate in conversations unique to them with you.
Sometime soon, I'll be popping in here to discuss many kids' favorite school subject – recess... and how Language Is All Around it!
Let me know how I can help you and your child start the after-school dialogue by booking a consult with me today here .
Have Fun Talking!
Peggy
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