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Back to School: tips for talking to your children about their day

Writer's picture: Lisa HinshelwoodLisa Hinshelwood

Updated: Aug 27, 2024

"Nothing" "Fine" "I don't remember." Does any of this sound familiar? How can you get more information about your child's day, and what are some ways you can respond?

Asking open ended questions that don't only focus on your own child's behavior is one helpful strategy. Here are some ideas and conversation starters as you find that special connection time after school. Asking one or two of these can open children up to share.


Tell me about the best part of your day or the best thing that happened? (your rose)      

What was the hardest thing you had to do today?            

Tell me about what you read in class.   

What made you smile today?   

Can you tell me an example of kindness you saw/showed?    

Did you help anyone today? How did you help?    

Did you learn something you didn’t understand?   What was it?

Who inspired you today?   

What is something you heard that surprised you?   

What is something you saw that made you think?   

What is something that challenged you?   

How did someone encourage you or show kindness today?

What are you looking forward to tomorrow?   

What made your teacher smile?    

What made you feel proud?


When your child may have had a challenging day emotionally or socially, they may get upset at home while having "held it together" at school.  One of our roles at these times is to actively listen, remembering that children don't always want our help or solutions.  Rather,  they sometimes just seek a safe place to express their feelings.  You might ask "is this something with which you want my help or advice or do you just want me to listen?"  


I would love to hear in the comments your experiences after using some of these strategies.

Happy back to school.


 


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