The after-school talk that sounds somewhat like this is all too familiar to parents and other caretakers of school-age children.
"How was school?"
"Good."
"What have you learned?"
"Nothing."
Discussions between kids of all ages and caring adults have significant positive effects on every aspect of kids' well-being.
When these discussions are strategic and purposeful, they can even strengthen skills that will improve language and literacy development.
Sparking discussions that improve language
The following list outlines some strategies for parents or other caregivers to start language-building discussions that will improve children's literacy and strengthen family bonds:
These discussions can even improve abilities that lead to better language and literacy development if they are planned and intentional.
Listen attentively. Being genuinely interested in what kids have to say is a key component of active listening. Reducing distractions, maintaining eye contact, putting other activities on hold, lowering yourself down to their physical level (by sitting or bending down, for example), and illustrating or repeating back what they are saying and possibly feeling to ensure you understand are all examples of active listening.
Pose open-ended inquiries. Instead of just answering "yes," "no," or "nothing," open-ended questions urge kids to stop, think, and reflect. The following words and phrases are often used at the start of open-ended questions:
Why, how, describe...
What are your opinions?
I wonder if, why, and how.
You notice something about …
Give me more details about
What more information about it would you like me to know?
It is also possible to utilize open-ended questions as follow-ups to other inquiries.
Integrate dialogue into daily activities. Try scheduling moments when active listening can be more practical, such as during daily routines or when reading aloud, if you have trouble actively listening and participating in meaningful conversations at particular times of the day.
Facilitate the discussion. Building on the abilities that kids already possess while progressively lowering the level of support is known as scaffolding. The following are some examples of scaffolding conversations with children:
repeating phrases or sentences to ensure proper usage;
incorporating terms from subjects they are interested in or learning about;
giving them sentence starters to encourage them to complete the sentence;
posing thought-provoking questions.
Having regular, meaningful discussions with kids of all ages improves their language understanding, which in turn improves their reading comprehension.
It is possible to improve the basic elements of language understanding and foster and preserve family ties by improving the quality of talks by implementing any or all of these recommendations.