What did you do at school today?
"Nothing."
What did you do at school today?
"I don't know."
What did you do at school today?
(insert the same answer you hear every day)
... played at the park ... ate snack ... etc.
You are a super-parent: You read the blog and the newsletter, you have all your schedules and information about the flow of the day from Welcome Back Night, you plan to volunteer later in the year (stay tuned for more on this), but you want to know more! So you go straight to the source, your child...
Now, your child might be one who routinely responds with a detailed description of each event of the day, but most children will respond with one of the infuriating answers above.
This blog post will help you better understand why this might be, and provide you will a few questions you might ask to gently prompt your child toward sharing more about the day.
First and foremost, here is a reminder of our morning schedule ...
* Indicates when Sky and Trees classes are working together in the morning
Keeping this schedule in mind, here are some ideas for how to prompt conversation about your child's day...
Tip #1: Think about when you are asking.
Right after school is often when children are asked this question, but their minds are most likely not ready to answer as they are still synthesizing and processing their day. They have just come out of a quiet meeting, followed by a quiet line, followed by a quiet dismissal. They might need to run and move. They might need to crash into quiet or rest.
Find a special, separate time to talk about their day. These special moments can be shared during dinner, while playing after school, or in quiet conversations before bed.
Tip #2: Emotions are sometimes easier to remember than activities. Base your questions in feelings...
- What was something you enjoyed today?
- What was something that was frustrating today?
- What was a big challenge today?
- What was a problem you solved today?
- What is a problem you didn't solve yet?
- What is something you are still worried about?
- What is something that surprised you today?
- What is something you are proud of today?
Note: Avoid using "favorite" or 'best" language, as it can be a lot of pressure to rank and select. For example, instead of saying "What is your favorite part of the day?" you can say "What is something you enjoyed today?"
Tip #3: Be specific about where ...
"School" is a very generic term ... we occupy 4 main spaces almost every day.
- What was something you enjoyed doing in the blocks area?
- What challenged you in the Studio?
- What was surprising in Worship?
- What is something from the park that you are proud of today?
Tip #4: Be specific about when...
Think about the time of day you are asking about... here are 30 examples!
Worship:
- What was the worship story today?
- Did you learn any new songs in worship today?
- Who was your partner on the way to park?
- Whom did you play with at park?
- How high did you climb today?
- How fast did you run today?
- Who was chasing you?
- Were you a good guy or a bad guy in your game?
- What did you have for snack?
- Whom did you sit with?
- What did you talk about?
- Did you learn any jokes or hear anything funny?
- Do you have a job at snack? (Stay tuned for a blog about this.)
- Snack host
- Dishes and bucket
- Floor sweeper
- Table washer
- Did you learn any new songs today?
- Did you get to do any special jobs
- turn off the lights?
- choose a motion?
- play a character part in the song?
- Was it tiring doing all the motions?
- Did you use a singing voice?
- a talking voice?
- a whispering voice?
- Were there any silly songs?
- What was available in the Studio?
- What was available in the classroom?
- What was something messy in the Studio?
- What is happening in blocks?
- Do you have a job at the end of the day?
- Board eraser
- Librarian
- Chair Stacker
- What book did you read?
- Who did you pray for at school?
- What did you talk about in your closing meeting?
Tip # 5: Be specific about who...
- Did you work with Mr. Johnson/Ms. Jordan/Ms. Essajanian/Ms. Gluckow/Ms. Kadota today?
- Who told the worship story today?
- Did Dr. Smith come to your class today?
- Was Mr. Licato at park today?
- Look at your child's class list — ask about any specific friend.
Tip # 6: Be a model...
- Talk about your day.
- Share how you felt - what was enjoyable, what was hard, etc.
- Share problems that you encountered and if they were solved.
- Share who you were with.
- Share where you were.
- Guessing Game: You can turn any of the previous tips into guessing games, where the child says a part of the day, or a place, or a feeling, and you guess what it was that happened.
- Play School: Ask your child to be the teacher and you will be the student — You might learn a lot if they are pretending to be one of the teachers ...
