Growing up occasionally my grandma would pick us up from school and even on the days she didn’t she would call us on the phone later that evening. My grandma would always ask us about our day and the first question she would ask was “what did you learn at school today?”

Grandma would always say we couldn’t tell her that we learned nothing, she always said we had to learn something new. My grandma would always follow up with other questions to our response.

As a kid you don’t think much of these conversations, but it wasn’t until I got older that I realized how important that one question was. Even after my grandma passed and I moved out I would still call my mom and tell her about my day. And now my husband and I ask our little one how his day was and even though he can’t talk he still gives us a big smile.

A new school year is underway and getting kids to share what happened during the day can be hard. It’s important to remember to give your kids a little bit of space when they first get home from school. Holding off questions for a little bit gives kids time to switch out of school mode.

Dinner is a good time to ask questions and have conversations about everyone’s day. Eating dinner as a family can be hard especially during the school year and navigating busy after school schedules. Plan for a few nights a week that you and your family can eat dinner together.

Try asking kids questions that prompt more than a single word response. Here are a few ideas:

• What was the best (and worst) thing that happened at school today?
• Tell me something that made you laugh today.
• How did you help somebody today?
• How did somebody help you today?
• What do you play the most at recess?
• Tell me one thing you learned today.
• What was your favorite part of lunch?

Switching up the questions you ask each day can keep the conversations going beyond the first few weeks of school.

Kaitlynn Tonn is an OSU Extension Family & Consumer Sciences Educator and may be reached at 330-264-8722 or tonn.13@osu.edu
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This article was previously published in The Daily Record.