Many parents read to their child every evening and wonder whether the story actually sinks in. Children can sit through a whole book and, when asked "What was it about?", answer "I don't know". That doesn't mean they weren't listening. Following a story means holding many things in mind at once: who is in it, what they want, what happened first and what came after. A few well-placed questions turn reading time into a conversation and help children practise exactly that.
Before you start: look at the cover
Spend a minute on the book before opening it.
- "What do you see on the cover?" Let your child describe the picture.
- "What do you think this story is about?" Any guess is fine. The point is to get curious.
- "Have you ever…?" If the cover shows a picnic, a rainy day or a new pet, ask about your child's own experience. Linking the story to their life makes it easier to follow.
Keep it short. Two or three questions are enough; the story is the main event.
While reading: pause, don't quiz
Stopping on every page turns a story into a test. Choose two or three natural pauses, for example when something surprising happens or a page is about to turn.
- "What do you think will happen next?" Predicting is one of the most useful habits for understanding. Afterwards, check together: "Were you right? What happened instead?"
- "How do you think she feels now?" Look at the faces in the pictures together. This links the story to naming feelings.
- "Why did he do that?" Questions about reasons help children see that events in a story are connected, not just one thing after another.
- "What does that word mean?" If you meet a new word, explain it simply, or let your child guess from the picture first.
If your child interrupts with their own questions, that's a good sign. Answer, or turn it back: "What do you think?"
After reading: retell the story
Retelling shows what your child understood, and it's a skill that grows with practice.
- Start with the beginning, middle and end. "What happened first? And then? How did it end?"
- Use the pictures. Flip back through the book and let your child tell the story from the pages, without the words.
- Draw it. Ask for three small drawings, one for the beginning, one for the middle and one for the end, then lay them out in order.
- Change one thing. "What if it had been raining? What would be different?" This kind of question shows whether your child understood how the story works.
- Let them be the reader. Younger children often love "reading" a familiar book to you or to a toy, even before they can read the words.
Questions by age
These are rough guides; every child is different.
| Age (approx.) | Good questions to try |
|---|---|
| 4–5 | "Who is this?" "What is he doing?" "What happens next?" |
| 5–7 | "Why did she do that?" "How does he feel?" "What happened first, then, last?" |
| 7–10 | "What was the problem in this story, and how was it solved?" "What would you have done?" "Which part was the most important, and why?" |
If your child already reads alone, keep reading aloud too: you can share books that are a little harder than the ones they read by themselves, and talk about them together.
Keep it enjoyable
- Fewer questions are better than too many. If your child starts sighing, stop asking and just read.
- Accept every honest answer. "I don't know" can be met with "Shall we look at the picture again?" rather than a correction.
- Read the same book again. Children often ask for the same story many times. Each reading, they notice more, and retelling gets easier.
- Share your own thinking. "I wonder why the bird flew away. Maybe it was scared?" Thinking out loud shows your child how a reader wonders.
In Dologi, the Listening topic has short sound puzzles such as "Listen and play back", where your child hears a short tune and plays it back in order. It trains the same careful listening and memory for order that helps when following a story.
In short
- Before reading, look at the cover and ask what the story might be about.
- During reading, pause two or three times to predict, talk about feelings and ask "why".
- After reading, retell the beginning, middle and end, using the pictures or drawings.
- Keep questions few and friendly, and read favourite books again.
Read more: Open-ended questions for children: 30 questions that help them think deeper