Weekly Challenge: Comments vs. Questions

This week’s focus is awareness.

When we interact with our kids, it’s very natural to ask a lot of questions — What’s that? What color? Where’s the ball? Questions aren’t bad, but too many can unintentionally put pressure on communication.

A helpful guideline that I often use is the 3:1 rule:

Aim for 3 comments for every 1 question during play or routines.

Comments describe what’s happening:

“You’re pushing the car.”
“That tower fell down.”
“You look excited.”

Questions ask for a response:

“What is that?”
“What color?”
“Where did it go?”

Comments give children language without requiring them to respond. Questions ask them to perform.

Your challenge this week:

During one short play or routine (even 5 minutes):

Simply notice how often you comment vs. how often you ask questions
No need to count perfectly
No need to change anything yet

A reminder:

This isn’t about never asking questions or doing things “right.”It’s about noticing how language feels during interaction and where pressure might sneak in.

You don’t need to report back unless you want to. Reading and reflecting quietly counts.

We’ll keep building on this idea together.

4 comments

The Speech Community

skool.com/the-speech-community-2430

The Speech Community: Where parents support each other through speech delays, late talkers & communication concerns. SLP-led. Free to join now! 💕

Leaderboard (30-day)