HUNTINGTON, W.Va. (WSAZ) – Now that we’ve had a few days of school behind us, you’re probably getting used to those after-school conversations where you ask the kids how their day was.

It is quite common for them to respond with only one-word answers.

During the first few weeks of school, children experience many things for the first time: new teachers, new classmates, new subjects. When they come home, you want to ask them all about it, but that doesn’t always work out.

“When they get in the car or off the bus and ask, how was their day, something happens. They say, good or good. They know they have a lot to tell you, but it all just goes out the window when they ask that question,” said Dr. Ashley Stephens of the Cabell Schools.

Stephens says kids are like us: When asked the same questions, they’re likely to give the same answers. To get new answers, you may need to get creative.

“To get them to think, sometimes you have to throw them off track a little,” she said.

Stephens tried a game at home that encouraged her family to share more about their day.

“It’s called High, Low, Buffalo, Pigeon. High and Low are exactly what they sound like. Tell me the best part of your day or something that was difficult. Buffalo is, as you can imagine, something strange or surprising. Something that happened in your day that you weren’t expecting when we parted ways this morning,” Stephens explained. “Pigeon is, based on what you learned today, what would you do differently?”

Whatever questions you ask after the school day, Stephens advises you to be ready to participate and provide answers, too.

“They don’t want to feel questioned, especially as they get older,” she said. “They’ve been through enough already.”

When they open up to you about difficult things, always end the conversation on a positive note so that you feel like you can come back to the conversation and listen to it safely.

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