Ever notice how difficult it can be to get your child to talk with you about what they are doing at school?
It can be difficult to talk with children about their school day for several reasons. Very young children who are still acquiring language may not have the words or names to explain what they saw or did during the school day. As children have new experiences at school, this difficulty continues in ‘finding the words’ to describe their day.
This may be particularly true for our Kinders. The purpose of this going-out experience was to experience art and to become aware of how different art pieces make you think and feel. It is important to be patient. These are not easy things to discuss. It may take your child several days to simply process what they experienced at the museum before they are ready to talk with you about it.
Here are some suggestions for how to encourage field trip conversations and connect with them:
- Before initiating a conversation about the field trip, check out the website for The New Children’s Museum and get a sense of the different exhibits. The website has photos and descriptions of each exhibit. This may help when they try to describe to you what they saw and did. Note: The children will be in small groups and will have the freedom to visit and spend as much time as they like at each exhibit. So, they may not see them all.
- Strive to ask open-ended questions:
- How was the drive to the museum?
- Who was in your group for the field trip?
- What did you do at the museum?
- Chaperones will strive to point out and invite the children to reflect on the four ‘murals’ at the museum (‘energized’, ‘ocotillo sunset’, ‘smile’ and ‘miraj’). Invite them to reflect on the murals they saw:
- What was your favorite mural you saw at the museum?
- What did it look like?
- How did it make you feel?
- How did you feel about the other murals?
Consider planning your own going-out experience to see the murals around San Diego and begin having field trip conversations with your child.