One of the best ways you can help your wards understand a concept is by teaching them how to voice their questions. Voicing their questions is quite essential as they learn. This not only allows you to address those areas that your wards don’t yet understand. Additionally, it also promotes rich opportunities for a healthy discussion.
The importance of asking questions
Encouraging your wards to ask questions can help you in pinpointing the gaps in their entire understandings. It is also a simple way to determine and focus on those topics that your ward might need more practice in. Unison International School listed among the top CBSE schools in Pinjore shares the top 3 benefits of encouraging students to ask more questions.
- Making the home environment a safe place for questions
Some children might feel anxious about asking questions. This is especially if they are not familiar with the subject you are discussing in your home. Educator, Warren Berger, recommends letting your students know completely that questions are always welcome in class.
Also, they shall not be judged for asking them. You could reframe the idea of your questions completely. The students can see them not as a sign of weakness but as a way to learn as they can about a topic.
- Praise your wards for asking questions
Show the students that you appreciate and also respect their questions. This shall boost their confidence completely as a learner. After a ward asks a question at home, for example, you can re-assure with, “Interesting point, David!” or “I’m glad you asked.”
Also, you can try to praise your wards equally. This is for the act of asking a question. If a ward feels that you are shutting their questions down, they might also believe that their questions are not as important as others – and ultimately, stop asking altogether.
- Teach your wards about open-ended and closed questions
Teaching your wards how to ask good questions is just as important as encouraging them to do so. Teach your wards regarding the open-ended questions. You can help your wards focus on asking completely meaningful and clear questions as they learn.
Open-ended questions are those that cannot be answered by a single word or a phrase. These questions encourage your wards to completely utilize critical thinking skills. The closed questions generally have a single right answer, whether that is a very simple “yes” or “no” or a specific phrase.
The open-ended questions are often helpful to ask in the entire discussion. This is also because they allow for diverse perspectives. You need to, however, keep in mind that there is a time and also a place for both the open-ended and the closed questions. Close-ended questions are often much more appropriate to ask.
You can check out the other tips to encourage students to ask more questions at Unison International school the best school in Pinjore. Additionally, you could always try and reframe the question, “Are there any questions?”