Do you have difficulty learning about how your child’s day in school went? Sometimes you might get a grunt or nods or one word answers and nothing more. How can we get our children to share more about their day?
First, let them decompress for a bit. Let them play, read, just sit down after the long day (6+ hours at least) before you badger them with questions!
Sometimes, scripts can help a lot. Here are some ways to find out more about your child’s day!
Alternative Questions To Asking Your Child “How was School”?
High, Low, What do you know?
Ask your child to name the “high” of the day, or a favourite moment, a “low” – a least favourite moment and any random tidbit about his or her day!
Two Truths, One Lie
As with the popular ice-breaker, ask your child to tell you two truths and one lie about their day and guess which the lie is!
Sweet, sour, salty
Flavours are easy to relate to – since many conversations take place over meal times. You can ask your child which are the most flavourful parts of the day! Sweet – the nicest part of the day, sour – the unpleasant part and salty – the most memorable bit of the day.
Traffic Light: Red, Green, Amber
This should be easy to remember using traffic light signals. What is one thing you wish you could stop from happening today? That would be red – the stop signal. Green – one thing you wish you could have more of and amber – any random incident?
Big Pau, Small Pau
Since Pau is a staple in Asian diets, how about one big pau: a significant moment today and a small pau, something minor yet memorable?
Start the Conversation
Begin by talking about your own day before prompting your child to share. Give them some time to settle down before sharing. Perhaps they just prefer to hear someone else talking
Ask their Sibling/Friend
If you experience problems getting information from your child, here’s a lifehack. Asking a sibling or friend he or she is close to might help, especially if it’s important information that parents need to know.
“How was Your Day” Can be a Tough Question to Answer
Simplify things and add more zest to how you converse with your child. Sometimes it takes a spin to “extract” the answers from your child. Perhaps you might still find it tough, especially when you get one-word responses or grunts from tweens and teens. Don’t take it personally, let them be and try again and perhaps the conversation will grow with its own rhythm.
