Are you met with grunts after school when you ask what did you do today? I have been lately. I don’t know whether it is because I no longer have the little girls in this photo, they are all grown up and in the teenage years…but since I have been asking different questions I have been move beyond the “fine” and “nothing” answers. I have also been starting the conversation with an anecdote from my day. Here are a few of my favorite conversation-starters:
- Tell me about the best part of your day.
- What was the hardest thing you had to do today?
- Did any of your classmates do anything funny?
- Tell me about what you read in class.
- Who did you play with today? What did you play?
- Do you think math [or any subject] is too easy or too hard?
- What’s the biggest difference between this year and last year?
- What rules are different at school than our rules at home? Do you think they’re fair?
- Who did you sit with at lunch?
- Can you show me something you did today?
Mandy Sloan, MBA 