Picture this, kids walk in the door from school and you say "Hi kids, how was school today?" and inevitably you get "good", "fine", "ok". I sometimes get a "GREAT" but this doesn't actually help me understand what happened at school. What did they learn, what was exciting, or frustrating or even boring. So here are my new top 5 questions to really get to know my kids better and actually get some good answers.
- So what made you laugh today? My 7 year old always has a good answer to this one. It is usually something she did to make someone else laugh but either way she is happy to share. Usually the "thing" also makes me laugh too! So this is a win win for me!
- What did your teacher teach today that was surprising or interesting? My 10 year old likes to answer this one as she is a great student and always seems to find some surprising fun fact about a lesson. Like the other day she told me how she thought it was so interesting that although ostriches are flightless birds they are the fastest running birds in the world! Huh...I had no idea!
- Was anyone really kind to you today? This can open up the door to new friendships that you didn't know about. Also the opposite if anyone wasn't kind to them it usually comes out here. Always best to start with the positive IMO.
- Who did you hang out with/play with today? This again leans into friendships, and also what your kid does on breaks. “I played with Sally today we played tag”.
- What could have made today better? This could end up being a "NOTHING! I had a great day" reply. Or this can lead to perhaps some other things that will open up conversations and hopefully help them just talk more openly with you today and in the future.
Now, I'm not saying these questions are ones I fire at them everyday as they walk in the door, but if you ask the generic "hey how was your day?" question and get nothing in return these are great questions to have in your back pocket to dive into their day a bit more and hopefully allows you to get to know your kids a bit more.
Good Luck!