USING QUESTIONS TO PROMOTE INQUIRY AND EXTEND THINKING IN YOUR CHILD

     Good questions lead to good conversation between yourself and your child. Here are a few things to consider saying when you are working with your child/children at home...

     In response to children’s questions and ideas, parents and educators can pose questions such as: 

     • What do you think? 
     • What would happen if …? 
     • I wonder why your measurement is different from Jasmine’s? 
     • How are you getting water from one container to another? 
     • How could you show your idea? How can we find out if your idea works? 
     • I wonder if we could make our own marble run? 

     Children ask questions that lead to inquiry. For example: 
     
     • How can this car go faster down the ramp? 
     • Where are the biggest puddles? 

     Children communicate ideas and ask further questions while they are experimenting and investigating. They might describe materials they are using, indicate a problem they are having, or ask a question such as “I wonder what would happen if I …?” They begin to listen to their peers and may offer suggestions to them. Through these interactions and as parents and educators extend children’s thinking through their questions and observations, children also learn to make predictions and draw conclusions:

     • “I think if I use a bigger block on the bottom, my tower won’t break. See, it worked! I used this big block and it didn’t fall over.” 
     • “I thought it would take six footprints, but it took ten.”

     As you continue to facilitate learning at home with your son or daughter, consider using more questions to spur on ideas as s/he comes to you with their work.