I love it when I have a meeting with a child who tells me that they 'don't really like talking' -- and then, somehow, they talk for a whole hour!
and it gets me thinking about how this happens...why do (some) kids who normally 'clam up' in the face of questioning become fountains of words in my office? Because my sessions with children are mostly questions- but they are a different kind of question.
I will have to do some research (ie: ask some kids) but one boy told me: 'you ask me questions that get me talking about things I didn't even know I knew!'
Things like-
- what worry gets up to, and what they already do to manage it;
- what they know about how fairness and unfairness, and why it is important to them;
- how sensitivity and caring are part of why they find themselves in trouble;
- what adults might do to be more helpful;
- and how skills like creativity, imagination and memory can bring frustration and upset
Parents will often comment on this, and express appreciation for what they heard- and I get the sense that they will go away and have a different kind of talk with their child after we have met.
This has me wanting to share more information about the kinds of questions I ask children, and the ideas behind them- hopefully, kids can then have more conversations with more people, about things they 'know, but didn't even know they knew.'
I hope you'll feel free to comment!
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