Ask these three questions to affirm, engage and amaze your child

There are three kinds of open-ended questions that respectively will affirm, engage and amaze your child.

The first kind of question affirms and sustains their confidence. It's within their capacity to answer and articulate. This is the kind of question we most often ask of them.

The second question is closer to the edge of what they're capable of perceiving, what they know and are aware of. It asks that they take time to reflect and discuss. We might ask one or two of these.

The third question is beyond what they ever would have considered on their own. It points them towards something amazing and wondrous, something mysterious and previously inconceivable.

Asking our child these three kinds of questions will teach them to enjoy the process of learning. It will draw them more deeply into the world and all its relations. And in the process, we ourselves rediscover our childlike wonder.