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Monday, May 9, 2022

How to Ask Open-Ended Questions to your Children

How good are your communication skills?  You always want to keep the line of communication open with your children, but sometimes as children start reaching adolescent and teenage years, it may become somewhat more difficult. Have you asked yourself if you are asking the right questions?

 

                                       verbal and nonverbal communication

Communication is an art form. There is a reason for open-ended questions.   This communication is to gain a better understanding and comprehension. Have you ever talked to your children and observed after asking a question the answer was just “yes” or “no.” Possibly you wanted to hear more than that. Maybe if you ask the right questions, you will hear more.

1. “Tell Me About”

This open-ended question can open up an entire field of communication. They love the empowerment of knowing something that you might not know. They may be more than willing to tell you their perspective. This is not only a good question for your children, but for adults as well. Example, you might ask your child, “”Tell me about the class that you said you really liked.”


2. Feelings

When a child tells you something good or bad, you might ask, “How does that make you feel?” I like that question because there are times children may not be aware of their feelings at the time. It does not hurt to discuss whether they are feeling angry, anxious, sad, or good.

3. Different

Another good question is, “What would you have done differently?” That is a question that I even sometimes ask myself. This question starts your child to thinking. We all know there may be several options or alternatives to problems. Sometimes it is great to just explore those alternatives.

4. Favorite

“What is your favorite class?” This question will start your children to thinking what subject they like or dislike most of all. In fact many of these open-end questions are good for adults as well.

What open-ended questions do you ask your children?

Photo Caption: Commons, Wikimedia.org., Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license

 

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21 comments:

BarbRad said...

These should get the conversational ball rolling. It's been so long since I've had children at home I've forgotten which questions worked for us. My son was easy. He was always bursting with something he wanted to tell us. It was hard to pry anything out of our daughter.

anointedtoday said...

Barbara isen't it something how God has made each child uniquely? Thanks for stopping by anointedtoday.blogspot.com.

Dee | GrammysGrid.com said...

Thank you for attending the #WednesdayAIMLinkParty. I shared your post on Facebook, Google+, Pinterest, and Twitter.

anointedtoday said...

Your welcome Grammy. Thank you.

Kathleen said...

That is such a good idea for conversation. I think it is easy to slip out of this practice. It is good to be reminded to make the extra effort.
Thanks, Betty this is good stuff.
Kathleen
Blogger's Pit Stop

anointedtoday said...

Thanks Kathleen.

Marla said...

You have some very good ideas and tips for those questions that kids ask, but I haven't had to deal with that for many years so I forget what it was like to be put on the spot. Congratulations on being featured on HHG&N blog hop.

anointedtoday said...

Thanks Marla.

Nancy A at obloggernewbie said...

Cool ideas. I think I'm going to use that tell me about with an adult grandson. Congrats on being featured (I pinned it). Visiting the HHGN party. Nancy A with "Creative Gift Ideas Women Love."

Joanne said...

I love using "tell me about" or "what was your favorite"... those are great conversation starters.

Dr. Elise Ho said...

Closed ended questions bring conversations to an abrupt end. Open ended are so very important. It is also of the utmost importance to allow the person answering the question to answer in their entirety.

anointedtoday said...

Sounds good Nancy.

anointedtoday said...

I agree Mother of 3.

anointedtoday said...

I agree Dr. Elise.

aginglikeafinewine.com said...

These are all great suggestions to get the conversation started. It's so very important to keep talking to our kids or in my case, grandkids! Thank you for sharing at Party in Your PJ's.

anointedtoday said...

Your welcome aginglikeafinewine.

Jennifer@MyFlagstaffHome said...

As an educator, I really appreciate these suggestions for ways to get children to talk. Thanks for sharing at the Weekend Blog Hop at My Flagstaff Home. Hope to see you again next week! --Jennifer

Being A Wordsmith said...

Great tips, Betty! I will gladly take a long drawn-out tale of my son's day rather than a quick yes or no. Thanks for sharing on Traffic Jam Weekend. It is my fave feature for this week's linky party.

Maja said...

Very good suggestions! I enjoyed Reading your post that I found over at Janice's party. Have a great weekend.

Michele Morin said...

As mums, we rush to sentences first, but you are right in saying that our best first move is to a question.

anointedtoday said...

Thank you for stopping by Michele Morin. Come Back soon.