When my children started school they had a wonderful childminder Oliviea.  They absolutely adored her and told her everything and I mean EVERY thing.  As soon as they climbed into her car, they regaled her with the stories of their day.  The thing is, that by the time I collected them, their news was now old news and I was dependent on hearing it from Oliviea.

As a parent, we want to share our children’s lives and know what goes on during their day.  We need to know that they are happy and safe at school and that they can talk to us if they need to.  It is important to have open dialog between you and one of the best ways to do that is to intermingle open and closed questions, here are some ideas;

• Which story did your teacher read to the class today?
• What was your favourite part of the story? Why?
• What was (insert another child’s name) favourite part of the story?
• What does your teacher have planned this week?
• What are you looking forward to at school tomorrow? Why?
• What has been your most favourite activity this year (ask this at various points throughout the year)?
• What was your favourite part of your day?
• Did you get frustrated with anything at school today?
• How did you get through it?
• Were you able to finish all of your work today?
• Do you have any questions that maybe your teacher couldn’t answer?
• Who did you sit by during lunch? What did you all talk about?
• How was the weather during lunchtime?
• Who did you play with today?
• What are your friends doing this weekend?

Ultimately, if you ask your child three specific questions after school, you can gain some valuable insight.By being specific you can avoid the dreaded one word answer – my personal pet hate is the word ‘fine’!! Aim to ask one academic question, one social question, and one open-ended question such as “What was your favourite part of your day?”, that way you get to learn more about the different parts of their day.  It is a really good way of helping your child to recall information – a valuable skill to have.

Elaine Sparling is the creator of the Hummingbird Learning Method® and CEO of the Hummingbird Learning Centre who help adults and children with their literacy needs. Based in Adare, Co Limerick, she can be contacted on 087-2996054 or through their website www.hummingbirdlearning.com