It’s part two of our question series, and are you getting the hint? Question asking and answering is a huge life skill that we need to help our kiddos develop from the early stages of life. Last time we talked about why questions are important (see last blog post), but today we are going to figure out how to help our kids answer questions, and give them good reason to practice this skill.
I often tell my parents that I can’t make their kids talk. Communication is voluntary, and so we need to find ways to help kids become motivated to tell us something. Here are a few of my ideas of times your child may be motivated to answer the question.
- When they want something
- If your child gives you the glossed over look when you start drilling them with math questions, why not start here. Find out something that your child wants, and then ask them a question about it. Did you want the red one? How many do you want? Is it up high? Can you reach it?
- When they are retelling a story
- If your child is telling you about something that happened in their life, take interest! They are starting to communicate with you, use that to your advantage! Ask them where it happened, who was there, when it took place, or all of the above! Depending on your child’s age and development this will look differently, but starting to interact with your child about what sparks their interest will go a long way.
- When they are interacting with friends
- As kids build relationships with their peers, you will notice many opportunities for question answering and asking. Try helping kids to build commonality by pointing out things that your child likes, and asking if the other kid enjoys that as well. Give them opportunities to ask each other questions, as well as answer questions that you see arise naturally within their play together!
Alright now we’ve touched on the opportunities to try some of these questions, give it a go! Next blog we will talk about the different types of questions that kids can ask and how we can map these onto your existing activities and routines. See you soon!
-Kasey-
