Updated: March 17, 2021
Reflections are an important part of metacognition. However, sometimes an individual does not even know what questions to ask to begin the reflection process. Student specifically need to be taught how to reflect. They should practice reflecting on what is happening in their lives and it is best to practice with someone that can provide feedback. Therefore, parents, teachers, and tutors have the perfect opportunity to demonstrate reflection and help the children learn the skill.
Here are some great questions to ask yourself or your child.
Questions to Ask Yourself
- Can I summarize what I just read? – If you can summarize, you should write down a few quick notes. If you cannot summarize, you should reread and ask questions.
- Can I explain this topic to someone else? – Practice teaching the material to a friend, parent, teacher, or tutor.
- Can I solve a similar question on my own? – Ask the teacher or tutor for a similar problem and try to solve it on your own.
- How can this information improve my life? – Spend some time figuring out why you are learning this information and how it can benefit you?
- What do I still need to review? – Think about what topics you are confused about and anything that you need to review.
- How is this related to the previous topic? – Think about the relationship between the previous topic and the current topic.
Questions to Ask Your Child
- What topic did you learn about in (math, science, social studies, English, etc.) today? – Have your children reflect and think back to what they learned in school today.
- What did you enjoy in school today? – Help your children find something positive about school. Sometimes school can be stressful and challenging, but there should always be at least one good thing that happened.
- Can you explain to me how to do this question on your homework? – It is so easy to quickly look up answers or do a problem similar to another problem by copying the steps. Being able to explain the problem takes the understanding to the next level.
- What did you do today to help someone else?- While we focus on the importance of learning and doing well in school, being a good person is also important.
- What book are you reading in school? – Show interest in what your children are reading. Maybe you can even read the same books.
- Do you understand the topic that you were confused about yesterday? – Remind you children about something that might have confused them a previous day. They might forget to ask by the time they get to school the next day. This will hep them to remember.
- Did you participate in class today?- Participating in class can make it easier to learn the material. Encourage our children to participate.
- How do you think you did on the test today? Which questions did you find easy/hard? – Help your children learn how to reflect on their exams.
General Questions About School
- What is your favorite part of school? – Help your children to focus on the positive and find something that they liked about school.
- What was your favorite activity that you did today? – Again, focus on the positive in school.
- Did you make a new friend today? – Encourage them to make new friends. In school, college, and the workforce it is important to make new friends and build relationships.
- What is something that you know really well that you did in school today? – Help your children to reflect on their strengths.
- What is something that you need help with in school? – Help your children to reflect on their weaknesses. It also let’s them know that it is okay to struggle and need help.
- Did you ever feel unsafe today? – If children feel unsafe it can make it harder for them to learn. It will also give you some insight on whether or not something is happening in school.
- What is something that you learned that surprised you? – Sometimes we all learn something that we find surprising. It might even change the way we think about things.
- What was your biggest challenge today? – Let your children know that challenges are okay and that they can learn from them.
- On a scale from 1 to 10, how was your day? – Let them evaluate their day. We all have good days and bad days.
- If you could change something that you did today what would it be? – It is normal to reflect back on something that you did and want to change it.
- If you could change one thing that happened to you today what would it be? – Sometimes things happen and we would like them to change. This can help you to figure out what might be bothering your child.
- Is there anything that you would like to talk about? – Keep the communication open so that your children can come to you if they need to talk.
- What accomplishment makes you feel the most proud? – Let them reflect on what makes them proud. It might be different than what makes you proud of them.
- Do you like you seat in class? Why? – Socializing in school is important. Find out how they feel about where they are sitting and who is around them.
- Did you get to work with anyone today? Was it a different student than you normally work with? – Students learn a lot from working with each other. Find out who they work with.
- What did you eat for lunch today? – Just because you packed one thing for lunch, it does not mean that is what they ate.
- What did you do during recess? Who did you play with? – Try to learn who their friends are and what they enjoy doing.
- Did you try to make a new friend today? – Encourage them to try to make new friends.
Written By: Stephanie Dunaieff
