Montessori Moment: Talking About School

If you have ever asked your child “what did you do at school today?” and gotten a response of silence, “nothing”, “I played”, or “I don’t remember, you are not alone! Here are some tips from the Association Montessori International (AMI) for engaging with your child about their day.

Talking about your day invites them to talk about theirs

One of the best ways to find out about your child’s day is to tell them about yours. Talk about the interesting parts of your day in detail. These don’t have to be significant moments—you can turn any part of your day into a topic for conversation. Include the who, what, where, your reactions, thought process, and/or emotions. In this way, you become a guide like their Montessori teacher, and they will likely engage you in a similar conversation about their day. Please be patient and let your child respond in their own time. The younger the child the more time they may need. Also, don’t feel as though this always needs to be the first thing you say when you pick them up or greet them after school. Often these precious moments are spontaneous.

Create a conversation with guiding questions

Parents can also use a similar style of questioning at home that Montessori teachers use as guides. We sometimes play a game with children called the “questions game.” The game consists of the same questions a reporter might ask—who, what, where, when, how, and why. Then, add in the other questions. Keep in mind the “why” question is often very difficult for children under the age of 6, and they may not be ready to answer just yet.

Examples:

• What story did you hear today? What happened?

• Who told the story? Did anyone else hear the story, too?

• How did you feel about the story?

• Where did you hear the story?

• When did you hear the story?

• Why is this story important?

At the end of the questions, you can summarize the child’s answers using their information. For example, “So, this morning your teacher told a story. Lots of children came to hear the story, and you were one of them. You all sat together near the windows to listen to the story. The story was about___. You thought the story was really funny…” continuing on until all details are included. You’ve now modeled how to talk about an event that happens during the day and learned something about your child’s day. This type of communication is also an excellent pre-literacy experience. This type of modeling and practice helps your child understand how a story is created, leading to both oral storytelling and learning how to write sentences and paragraphs, as well as reliable reading comprehension when listening to or reading a story.

Other sample topics:

• New words

• New environments

• Meals and snacks

• Numbers

• Stories and songs

And as always, don’t worry if they do not respond right away or at all. They are learning how to communicate and may feel overwhelmed by too many questions. You are both learning together!