After School Conversations

It doesn’t seem right to start school before Labor Day, or as many in Santa Cruz know it, weeks before Burning Man.

(As a college teacher, I can always tell the ones who miss the first week of school claiming to have been at a funeral or stuck overseas on some secret mission by their desert tans. Busted.)

That said, one of the biggest challenges parents face as their youngsters return home from an arduous day of learning is getting them to talk about it. It can be as tough a job as a police person interviewing a suspected murderer trying to get the facts, only the facts.

Our Marketing Advisor Linda Kay found some questions on the Internet that can help you crack the case originally printed by the writers at HerViewFromHome.com.

Try some of these, and let us know how it goes!
What made you smile today?
Can you tell me an example of kindness you saw/showed?
Do you have a friend at recess?
What was the book that your teacher read?
What’s the word of the week?
Did anyone do anything silly to make you laugh?
What did you do that was creative?
What was the best thing that happened today?
Did you help anyone today?
Did you tell anyone thank you?
Who did you sit with at lunch?
What made you laugh?
Did you learn something you didn’t understand?
Who inspired you today?
What were the peaks and the pits?
What was your least favorite part of the day?
Did you ever feel unsafe?
What is something you heard that surprised you?
What is something you saw that made you think?
Who did you play with today?
Tell me something you know today that you didn’t know yesterday.
What is something that challenged you?
How did someone fill your bucket today? Whose bucket did you fill?
Did you like your lunch? (They like it more when you include these lunchbox jokes with space to write your own words of encouragement.)
Did anyone get in trouble today?
How were you brave today?
What questions did you ask at school today?
Tell us your top two things from the day (before you can be excused from the dinner table!).
What are you looking forward to tomorrow?
What are you reading?
What was the hardest rule to follow today?
Teach me something I don’t know.
If you could change one thing about your day, what would it be?

For older kids
Do you feel prepared for your history test? Or, Is there anything on your mind that you’d like to talk about?
Who did you share your snacks with at lunch?
What made your teacher smile? What made her frown?
What made you feel happy?
What made you feel proud?
What made you feel loved?
What do you hope to do before school is out for the year?
If you could switch seats with anyone in the class, who would it be? And why?
What is your least favorite part of the school building?
If you switched places with your teacher tomorrow, what would you teach the class?