Telling the Family What Happened at School

Materials You Need: None

What You Can Do Together: At this age, your child is gaining the ability to tell about something that happened to her or that she remembers. It might be a video she watched, a book she has read many times, or — what happened in her school that day! In many families, grandparents or aunts and uncles cannot be with your child but will love to talk on the phone (if not, you can change the activity!). If your child is eager to talk, call a special family member or friend and get started by saying something like “Kama wants to tell you about what happened at school today.  Kama, can you tell Grandma what happened first?” You might need to prompt, “Want to talk about the bus ride?” Then encourage your child to continue as much as she wants, asking some questions or making suggestions about what to tell.

There are many ways to vary this. For example, your child might like to draw a picture about what happened and show or send it to family or a friend. Many other events can be made into stories for your child to tell. Remember that children differ in how comfortable they are in telling events to other people, so you might start with yourself. Another variation is to have your child tell her story into your phone’s recorder (if you have one). She will love hearing it played back.

What Your Child is Learning: Your child’s skills in communication, planning, and reasoning are all involved in her logical thinking about what to tell, and in what sequence. And of course, keeping connected with family strengthens your child’s social and emotional well-being. Keep up the conversations!