By Stacey Seybold Hiller, M.S., CCC-SLP
Don’t you, as a parent, just love to hear your child express their curiosity with these kinds of questions? But then does your pride quickly dissolve into a bit of terror when you realize that they are waiting for you to answer their brilliantly composed question?
This happens to me frequently. However, instead of faking my way through, I decided long ago to turn these type of questions into a language building opportunity. So when this type of question is posed to me, I usually turn it back to my child and say, “I don’t really know. Why do you think they chose that name?”
Usually, whatever answer comes from my child allows the two of us to make up fun, and sometimes even plausible, theories. Being able to make a reasonable guess requires children to draw from past knowledge and experiences, and is great practice for making hypothesis’ later on in life. Plus, it can lead to a lot of giggles!
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