Have you ever wished you could find a way to help your child communicate better with you? Having good communication skills will not only better your relationship with your child, but it will also help him/her to feel more confident when talking with others. It can also help your child improve their writing, reading and speaking skills.
Has this ever happened to you?
Parent: How was your day?
Child: Good.
Well, where can you go from there? Good…. um, that’s good.
What you really need here is a little more information.
Gimme Three Words
When you want to get your child talking about something, simply have him/her tell you three words. Three specific words is all it takes to give you something to pull from.
When I asked my daughter for three words about her day she said:
1) Music
2) Helping
3) Katelynn (that’s her BFF)
Once I had some solid leads, I was able to ask her questions about each one of her words specifically such as:
What did you do in music class today? Did you get to sing?
I know you love to help people. What did you do to be helpful today?
Did you get to play with Katelynn today? What did you two do together?
Those three little words stirred up a whirlwind of conversation!
This activity will not only give you some vital information to start asking questions, but it will also help your child think more clearly and focused.
Try this with your child the next time he/she has to write a story. Also, after your child has read a book simply ask for three words as the highlights, and let the conversation go from there.
Have a great time talking with your kids and enjoy nurturing their inner bookworm!
B.A. Bookworm 
We do ‘what’s your favorite part of the day’ every night at the dinner table. And for the life of me I cannot get my 10 year old daughter to say more than “recess” and when I ask her, “What about recess?” I just get back that it was fun. I usually ask a few more questions that seem to get me nowhere. But I’ll try the 3 words thing and see if that works.
Thank you,
Sarah
This is a great idea! Very clever. My kids usually answer “Nothing” when I ask what happened during their days. I’m gonna try this out. Thanks!
Wonderful idea. So tired of the one word answers.
Great suggestion – I’ll definitely try the three word approach! I think my kids will like it – especially since it gives them license to be cryptic at first.
Great idea!!