With younger children, you usually don’t have to poke and prod too much – they tend to more openly talk about their favorite moments of the day. Keeping it light and positive is a great way to initiate conversation:

1.     What are you most excited about?

2.     What do you like most about your teacher?

3.     What’s the best thing that happened at school?

4.     What subject is most fun for you?

5.     What friends did you see today?

As children approach their teen years, they’re observing and trying to make sense of things around them before developing an opinion of their surroundings. My advice to parents is not to expect too much conversation at this age – give your kids some space before you start drilling with questions, and be ok with receiving one or two word answers.

To get the conversation going, share details of your day and give them the opportunity to share their experiences at their own pace.  Or if they’re more into conversing via text, engage them with short, positive messages that show your support. Once they start to open up, incorporate questions like these into conversation:

1.     How are you feeling about the new school year?

2.     What do you think about your schedule this year?

3.     Do you and your friends share a lot of classes?

4.     What class do you think you’ll like most?

5.     How do you feel about your teachers?

If your child isn’t giving you the positive answers you want to hear, acknowledge their feelings and encourage them with the possibility of a better experience next week.

For additional tips on talking with your children, visit the Levels of Listening section of our website.