Children's Questionnaire

[loocyloo]

Hello!

i'm just sending out my annual parents questionnaire, and have changed it a bit, and have decided to give the children ( over 3yrs i think! ) their own questionnaire ... but what to ask? i don't want to ask leading questions, but apart from 'what do you enjoy, what don't you enjoy, favourite outings, favourite meals' etc, i'm a bit stuck, and it starts to resemble their 'all about me' forms that they do when they start, and again, at the start of each school year!

what does anyone else do/ask?

Thanks

xxx

[Maza]

I think the challenge and trend now is to make the questions more reflective and linked more to 'learning'. Very hard with little ones and maybe I am over thinking it.

What sort of things do you find difficult (either in general, or at loocyloo's house)?

What would you like to learn about at l's house?

Do you know what you can do if you feel sad at l's house?

What are some of the feelings that you have at different times of day when you are at l's house?

Of course, finding out their favourite meals and activities is very important.

[mama2three]

I’ve tried a few versions of this loocyloo.
Open questions... I would like more of / less of..... worked well for me

The biggest thing I’ve learned is to do them here! Otherwise they are just a disguised version of the parents questionnaire. The voice I hear when I read back their answers is usually not the child’s. Some parents are clevererthan others...some are blatant and some do just ‘ lead’ their child in their answers.

I’ve started to do them here with all the children with adequate language skills then when I send out the parent one it says I attach a copy of your child’s views. They can use this to help guide their answers if they like....

The children’s views to me have been much more valuable than the parents! One family , parent wanted earlier opening / later finishing / homework time / ( not happening) ...child wanted the real tools out more often ( done!)

[loocyloo]

Thanks both.

I do already ask questions here, but I think sometimes getting the parents involved at home is a useful tool! i'm only giving it to the over 3's, and i would hope that the older children will fill it in unaided!

i like the idea of 'more' & 'less' open questions.

:D

xxx

[Dragonfly]

I got one child say play in the sandpit more often ( old enough to go out on his own 6 )always allowed to but the others don’t often want to go out with him .When I read it and said you know you can go out to it anytime , It was I know.
I think anything goes down on them questionnaires.I haven’t actually gained much from them though I get some lovely comments.
I’ve never put them out each year either :o they aren’t compulsory are they?

[Maza]

I agree, it is more useful to do them with the children. Then you can question their responses. I remember once doing it with my year one class and a question was something along the lines of "Does your teacher help you when you find work difficult?" A group of boys put "no, never". I was obviously shocked and so I quizzed them about this. They very eloquently said that whenever they asked me for help I would never 'tell' them the answer, I would say "Well why don't you try to work it out this way?" (Words to that effect.) I was very relieved as their initial response made me sound awful! It's interesting how they can misinterpret what you do!

Another time, also year 1, the children had to split a page in half and draw the best thing about Yr 1 and something that they would like to change. A load of girls put that there were not enough handbags in the home corner! It had never crossed my mind, but upon reflection I could see that there had been fallings out in the home corner which were spilling out into the playground. That night I put a request on my classroom door for parents to donate old handbags and the problem was solved within a matter of days. I just loved their response!

Sorry, both examples were from a school setting. The only time I tried it as a childminder I didn't get anywhere. I remember that day fondly as one of those "Am I speaking in a different language?" kind of days, lol.

[loocyloo]

Very interesting Maza! funny little things children!


i do a parents questionaire every year ... mainly out of habit than anything else, and usually just talk to the children and we adapt/change things as we go along, but i thought i'd give a childrens one a go this year! x