Wh-Questions : A Foundation for Elementary School Language

One of the most fundamental building blocks for language as a child enters elementary school is asking and answering wh- questions. The wh- questions are : who questions, what questions, when questions, where questions, and why questions.

These questions are important, for a few reasons -

1. When your child answers them, she can work on simple, complete sentences. For example - "what color is it?" "it is purple", or "who is biking?" "the girl is biking."

2. They help your child tune into important details, in sentences, in multiple sentences, or even in paragraphs, or stories. It's important to note the main characters (who), actions / objects (what), timelines (when), and locations (where), in particular.

3. "Why" is a great opportunity to introduce critical thinking at a young age. Yes, young children ask millions of "why" questions. But having them answer "why" is a much more difficult task, involving perspective taking and more reasoning.

So how can you work on wh- questions? There are simple ways to incorporate them into your daily routines. Just 5-10 minutes a day can give your child a wonderful language boost.

1. Ask wh- questions when coloring or doing art! What color are you using? Who are you drawing? When did this happen? This morning? Where is this? Why is the girl happy? If your child answers with just one word, go ahead and repeat back the answer, using a whole sentence. For example, "baby". "Oh, you are drawing a baby!"

2. Ask wh- questions as you play! Whether you are playing with cars or dolls or puzzles, you can incorporate the questions, and model sentences. "Where does this piece go? It goes right here!" "Who gets the food first? Elmo gets food first!"

3. Ask wh- questions as you read! After each page, just pick one question. "Who came into the house?" or "What did he say?" One per page is a good amount, so your child will not get overwhelmed.

Also, check out this worksheet / game on the Smarter Speech TPT store! This is a great way to introduce the questions, especially for children in early elementary.

Happy Talking!

Disclaimer : Smarter Speech is a pediatric speech therapy / speech-language pathology practice for toddlers and children providing in-home and teletherapy services in and around Mountain View, CA and Los Gatos, CA. Smarter Speech Blog aims to provide free speech and language tips for parents educators and therapists. However, this post is not providing speech-language pathology services. This is general information, not speech -language pathology or speech therapy. This article does not assume or create a client – SLP relationship. The author is not liable for any losses or damages due to actions or failure to act based on the content in this article. If you need assistance with a child’s speech or language needs, please contact a speech-language pathologist in your area.