Communicating with Kids Top 10

10.  Talk together every day.

9.    Be a good listener.

8.    Ask yourself, “What is my child feeling that she is not saying?”

7.    Don’t start the conversation with a challenge or criticism.

6.    Learn the meaning of teenage slang. Find out what your child is really saying.

5.    Ask questions that cannot be answered by a simple “yes” or “no.”

4.    Offer praise and extend help.

3.    If you sense there is a problem at school, do not wait until the teacher calls you. Call and find out what the teacher is observing at school. (This not direct communication with your child, but it will help you ask better questions.)

2.    Pray together each day. It may be in the car as you drop them off for school or in bed as they go to sleep. Take a moment to talk to God together!

And the top communicating with kids tip is . . .

1.    Every positive experience in communication lays the foundation for the “tougher” and deeper conversations to come.  Most of these conversations will not occur on your schedule. My teenage sons usually drop the “test” question sometime after 10:30 at night. (FYI, the “test” question is their probe to see if we are really listening.)

"When I was a boy of 14, my father was so ignorant I could hardly stand to have the old man around. But when I got to be 21, I was astonished at how much the old man had learned in seven years." Mark Twain