The more we get kids to talk about the things that are important to them, the more we are helping the - intellectually and in self-confidence. One way to get kids talking is to simply rephrase your question from "closed" to "open". It's simple, and takes no time at all. With just a quick change to the type of question we pose, we're telling our kids that we are really interested in what they have to say.
For instance, if you want your child to tell you about his day at school, a closed question would be something like, "Did you have a good day at school?" or "It looks like you had a great day, right?" Those are "closed" because the child can answer the question with a simple, "Yes" or "No", and go right back to watching TV. "Do you feel like this book is hard or easy?" is another closed question because the child can answer the question with one word -- "hard", or "easy".
"Open" versions of the first questions are, "Tell me about your day today in school?" or "What are 3 things that happened today that were good or bad." The "open" questions are going to elicit much more detail, time and thought from your child.
An "open" version of the second question might be, "What is this book about?" or "What is your (least) favorite part of this book?"
Get kids talking to get kids thinking!
I think this is a wonderful idea to get children talking. Sometimes, I, myself feel trapped somewhere because my child won't open up to me by answering my questions!!
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