Perhaps you've seen the article recently posted on Huffington Post recommending 25 ways to ask your kids about their school day. The premise is that, if you can somehow ask the right question, your child will share with you all of the things that happened to him during school. Do you think the author ever considered that maybe kids say "nothing" happened at school because, as far as they are concerned, nothing happened?
In most traditional classrooms, the child is intended to be a passive recipient, soaking up knowledge poured out by the teacher. If he's not soaking, he's doing nothing, and it isn't much fun to tell your parent about nothing.
How excited would you be to talk about the time you spent standing in line at the bank, waiting in line at the drive through, or sitting on hold with the utility company? Maybe the way to get your child to talk about school isn't to ask silly questions. Maybe the way to get your child to talk about school is for him to actually do something at school.
When your child is engaged in deep learning about topics that truly interest him, he won't be able to help talking about his day. His interests and the learning, building, and doing he has accomplished around those interests will be on his mind. He'll want to tell you about the meaningful work he has done..
You won't be the only one benefiting from that talking, either. Clear verbal communication is one of the twenty first century skills that leaders in the worlds of business and government agree future workers will need. Telling you about his interests will help your child strengthen his communication skills.
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