25 Ways to Ask Your Kids “So How Was School Today?”

Written by JJ Wu, Lower School Counselor at SCIS Pudong

ImageWritten by JJ Wu, Lower School Counselor at SCIS Pudong

When it comes to learning more about their children’s school life, many parents struggle to find out how their days really went, what friends they made, what classes their enjoyed, etc. Often, the repetitive and generic question of “how was school today” may not always be the most effective and inviting way to start a conversation about a child’s day at school, and here are a few do’s and don’t’s to help parents better connect with them:  


Do’s

  • Ask open-ended questions. (Ex: What made you the happiest in PE today?) 
  • Use positive phrasing in your questions. (Ex: What made you smile today?) 
  • Share something about yourself to start the conversation. (Ex: I used to play dodgeball during recess when I was a student, how do you usually spend recess?) 

Don’t’s 

  • Avoid yes or no questions (Ex: Did you have fun in PE today?) 
  • Avoid negative questions (Ex: Who was mean to you today?) 

Questions:   

1. If you were the teacher, what would you change about your class tomorrow? 

2. If you could give someone a compliment today, who would it be and what would you say to them? 

3. What was the best part about your recess today? 

4. Can you share one act of kindness someone did for you? 

5. Can you share one act of kindness you did for someone else? 

6. Tell me something that made you smile today. 

7. What do you look forward to the most tomorrow? 

8. What do you look forward to the most this week? 

9. How were you a good friend to someone else today? 

10. What would be a compliment you would like to receive from others? 

11. Can you teach me one thing you learned today? 

12. What is your favorite place in the school and why? 

13. Who is your best friend in school and what makes that person your best friend? 

14. How do you usually like to spend your lunch period?  

15. What are two things you feel grateful for today? 

16. Who are two people you want to thank today? 

17. Do you think that anyone in your class could use some timeout? What makes you think that? 

18. How are the rules at school and at home different?  

19. What do you want to learn more about? 

20. What is the hardest rule to follow in school? Why do you think that is the hardest? 

 21. What is something that makes you feel proud? 

 22. What is something that you made progress in since the beginning of the year?  

23. What did you do to improve?  

24. How did someone help you today?  

25. How did you help someone else today?