According to many children, school was “fine” and “nothing” happened. So how can you get kids to talk about their day? Especially their day at school? Here we offer a few tips for parents and au pairs on how to talk to school-age kids about their day.
1. Allow the child some time to wind down from his or her day. You may be tempted to ask your child about their day as soon as you see them. Children may need some time to pass before they want to open up about their day. They may be more willing to share stories if you give them some time to get out of school mode.
2. Ask your child specific questions. If you ask “how was your day” you may find you get the same response every time. Here are some examples of questions to stimulate conversation:
- “Who did you eat lunch with?”
- “What did you play at recess?”
- “Tell me one new thing your teacher taught you today?”
- “What was the best thing that happened at school today?”
3. Tell your child about your day. Talking about what you did may start conversation and encourage your child to share.
4. Be silly. If you have young children don’t be afraid to act a little silly. You can start a conversation by telling them how you think their day went and mentioning silly things. For example, “Let me guess something fun that happened today. Did a hot air balloon land at recess and everyone took a hot air balloon ride?”
5. Be patient. All children are different and some are more willing to share stories. If you are consistent with your communication, your host child will follow your cues and open up.
Happy back to school! Learn more about au pair child care on our website, or contact one of our Program Experts at (800) 928-7247 or aupair.info@aifs.com.
