Talking With Your Child

Jump-Starting Coversations with Your Child

Parents, remember you have the opportunity to develop your childś thinking skills every single day. Initiating conversations jump-starts your childś thought process. Try adding a few of these conversation starters to your daily dialouge with your child. Also, watch out for conversation enders.

Conversation Starters

¨I´m listening.......¨

¨What do you think?¨

¨I don´t know. Let´s research it together.¨

¨What else do you know about that?¨

¨What do you think about that?¨

¨That´s a great question!¨

¨What does that mean to you?¨

¨Tell me more about that.¨

¨How does that make you feel?¨

¨It sounds like you are feeling ___________, do I have that right?¨

Conversation Enders

¨I¨m the adult here. Do what your´re told.¨

¨If your friends jumped off a bridge, would you do the same?¨

¨You couldn´t possibly understand.¨

¨Let me do that for you.¨

¨That´s none of your business.¨

¨You are too young to know about that!¨

¨Why would you want to know about such a thing?¨

¨That´s your problem.¨

Reference:

Ridnouer, Katy (2011). In Everyday engagement: making students and parents your partners in learning. Van Doren, Mark Making inroads with resisters, chapter 3 (pg. 75)