The scene You: "How was your day?"

Your child: "Good."
You: "What'd you do?"
Your child: "Nothing."

Sound familiar?

Some ways to get more than one word answers from your children:

Ask specific question such as:

"What did you do on the playground today?"

"Who did you play with?"

"Tell me the best part of the story the teacher read today."

Start a "names I know" list
Have your child start a list at the beginning of the school year called "Names I Know" or "My Class." Keep it on the refrigerator. Ask specific questions about the kids on the list. Little kids can have trouble keeping track of names, and your child might want to talk to you about someone whose name he can't remember. Keeping an ongoing list serves as a memory jogger for your child and a conversation starter for you in the early weeks.

Give your child time to unwind
Think about your own after-work needs. Just like you, they need time to decompress after a long day at school. Try not to jump right in with questions about school the moment your kids are dismissed.

Develop your kids' conversation skills
If you're not getting the answer you're looking for from your kids, it could be that their conversation skills need a little work. Show them that a good conversation begins with eye contact, appropriate body language, and a warm greeting.

Share some of your day.
By sharing how your day went, you're modeling for your kids the kind of information that you'd like to hear from them: "This is what I did today that I felt really good about. ..." "This is what I did today that was a little bit hard, but I did it anyway. ..."

These statements naturally lead to questions that you can ask your kids: "What was one thing that you did today that was hard (or fun) for you?"