Emma Spiers suggests ways to support children with questioning – both learning to ask and answer…
Have you ever been out and about with a three-year-old who is at the “why?” stage? As I played in the garden with my niece recently, I received a timely reminder through a perfect demonstration!
“We need to tidy up.” “Why?” “It’s time for tea.” “Why?” “We need to get in the bath now.” “Why?”…
The practitioner part of my brain was delighted. Asking questions and being inquisitive is a powerful developmental step for a three-year-old.
My niece was showing me that she’s well on the way to becoming a competent communicator and fully functioning learner. Or was she?
Asking and answering questions is a key part of human interaction; it’s the strategy we use every day to gain information, clarify our understanding, or get help.
We ask questions to ourselves as we think through problems, trial solutions, or attempt to make sense of our place in the world.
Some children move from learning words and putting them together to phrasing simple questions easily. Others find this developmentally more challenging.
Using questions for communication takes two forms: receptive language, which involves processing, understanding and responding to questions asked by others; and expressive language, i.e. thinking about, developing, and articulating questions to find out more.
Early years children need to develop equal competence and confidence in both aspects.
It’s easy to fall into the trap of asking too many questions. We want to know what our children think, so we ask them. But overdoing it, or asking questions that are too complex, can be counterproductive.
We can overemphasise the receptive nature of these questions. This cultivates a belief that questions are something other people “do” to us.
Too many questions can feel uncomfortable in any interaction. If we were sitting in a café and I said, “Would you like a cake? Which cake is your favourite? Why do you like that one? Have you had this kind of cake before? Is cake a healthy food?” you would never want to go out for coffee with me again!
Now imagine you’re engaging in playdough play with a group of three-year-olds. Even though we know that this kind of interrogation is inappropriate, it can easily sneak in as we play: “What kind of cake is that? Who is it for? How many candles are there? Have you ever had a birthday cake? What was it like?”
Written down like this, it looks ridiculous, but it’s an easy pattern to fall into. Next time you’re playing, reflect on the number and type of questions you ask. The last time I did this, it was scarily revealing!
Too many questions teach our children the wrong lessons about what questions are designed to do. They learn that questions are for testing or getting the right answer, rather than encouraging curiosity or nurturing a sense of wonder.
As such, it’s worth considering whether there’s a genuine point to any question before you ask it. Asking a child, “What shape is this cutter?” when they and you can clearly see that it’s a heart shape is far from genuine.
That would be like me sitting with you in the café, holding up a spoon and saying, “What is this?”
A better way of developing questioning is by modelling language rather than extracting answers. We can’t extract information from the brain if the words aren’t firmly embedded first.
This may seem like the opposite of what we’re aiming to achieve, so here are some simple switches from the same playdough example:
“What shape is this cutter?” becomes “I am going to use the heart-shaped cutter.”
“What kind of cake is that?” becomes “I am going to make three cupcakes.”
“Which cake is your favourite?” becomes “I think this will be a chocolate cake; chocolate cake is my favourite.”
In these examples, we’re showing how language is constructed rather than assessing. We’re adding value, not drawing out what’s already there.
The process of answering any question is complex. We need to equip early years children to:
Young children need much longer to go through this sequence than adults, who are already hardwired with extensive vocabularies and experience to draw from.
A simple strategy is to try the “eight bananas” rule. Once you’ve asked a question, count silently in your head (one banana, two bananas, three bananas, and so on, up to eight).
This provides at least eight seconds of thinking time for the child, reducing our adult tendency to repeat the question or rephrase it, which can be overwhelming.
It’s important to reflect on the nature and demand of the questions we ask, too. For example, “who” refers to people or characters, “where” refers to place, and “when” refers to time.
If a child’s basic understanding of these concepts hasn’t been developed through interactions with adults, stories and songs, processing these types of questions can be tricky.
It’s worth paying attention to this because a question can become too complex with the simple addition of these words.
The bigger issue I regularly reflect on isn’t answering questions at all. Asking questions can be trickier for young children, and this is vitally important.
Expressing interest or curiosity through questioning is a key component to learning more about anything. Questioning is a major feature of problem-solving, leading to a greater depth of understanding in all kinds of situations.
As adults, we might internalise questions like “Have I got time to get petrol?” “Can I afford that holiday?” or “How on earth does this flat-pack wardrobe fit together?”
Automatic internal questions like these organise our thoughts and help us find solutions. Part of our role as skilful play facilitators is to nurture this questioning for thinking.
For example, “If I add this block, will the tower fall down?” “Does this puzzle piece fit in here? How do I know?” or “Where is that glitter I really want to use on my picture?”
Modelling this thinking process aloud normalises it for children. They are introduced to the importance of this internal questioning dialogue in a natural, relaxed way.
As my niece and I played in the garden, I realised that it’s easy to ask, “Why?” I wondered if she really wanted to know the answer or whether she was just loving the attention.
Learning to answer a “why?” is considerably more challenging, and a whole learning journey in itself. There’s much more to receptive and expressive questioning than meets the eye, and our role is critical.
So, next time you start to ask a question or think that your preschoolers seem less curious than they could be, start by asking yourself “Why?”
1 Questions should be limited and genuine.
2 “Testing” questions don’t add value.
3 Process questions using “eight bananas”!
4 Build on one type of question at a time.
5 Model the process of using questions for thinking.
Emma Spiers is an early education consultant and author.
