The Coop Homeschool

View Original

Q & A a Day for Kids: 3 Year Journal

Some links may be affiliate links. We may get paid if you buy something or take an action after clicking one of these

It’s a time capsule in a book! This three year journal has a question for each day of the year which will spur on enriching and memorable conversations with your kiddos - and it’s all written down for future fun!

See this content in the original post

What is it?

  • Date-assigned question of the day journal by Betsy France

  • Small book with one date for each page with one question on each page.

  • Examples of questions:

    • What did you think about when you woke up today?

    • Did you hurt yourself lately? What happened?

    • What would you like to get rid of or throw away?

    • I get impatient when….

    • My best friend is…

    • What would you do with a giant cardboard box?

    • Where is your favorite place in nature?

    • Do you ever get in trouble? Describe one time.

    • I’m jealous of ____ because _____.

    • Pick a parent. How do you know that parent cares about you?

  • Under each question is ample amount of space to write answers for three separate years. There is a spot to write the year.

3 Reasons It’s Our Favorite:

  1. It’s my kids favorite thing to start off the day, because they love sharing their hearts. It’s a window into their perspective, their joy, what’s sitting with them at the moment, and gives opportunity to help them work through something that may be hard for them to process. And they get to share in doing that with their siblings and me.

  2. It’s a time capsule for their thoughts throughout the year! It’s so fun to look back together and laugh about some ridiculous answers together since they were so young when we started 6 years ago. We all get to see how my children’s interests, questions, knowledge, and relationships have changed or grow over the past 6 years. Also, it brings up past memories and cements in their little brains important times in their life.

  3. It’s a quick little activity - takes 5 minutes! (Sometimes it can last up to 30 minutes depending on where the discussion goes, questions asked, rabbit holes that take us to books and videos.)

How We Use It:

  1. When we gather around our table to learn together, after prayer, we dive in to this book for the date of the day. I fill in the blank for the year and for each person write their initial on their answer line. Then after I write down their answer, I read their previous answers to the questions, and the discussion, giggles, surprise, and even shock ensue.

  2. If that date is full, I offer to ask it again and find a spot in the margins to answer their question. Then we read all the previous answers.

  3. Sometimes I will look at dates before and after that date to see if it is amply answered. While some dates are completely full and spilling over into the next page, other dates are completely blank! It just depends on what we are typically up to that time of year. So, I try to get some answers in those. Trying to get at least answers from young years on each page is a goal for me so we all have a better time capsule.

More Ideas

  • Try this book at dinner and include everyone’s replies, not just the kids!

  • Bring it with you on road trips, to Starbucks, doctor office waiting rooms, family events, restaurant…anywhere! It’s small and light enough to fit into an average purse. It would be a memorable way to spend time while waiting or it can add some specialness to an experience.

  • Give as a gift to a friend.

  • Don’t feel like you need to do it all the time. No commitment. Just check-in with this book when it make sense.

  • Try this version for teens, written by the same author.

See this content in the original post

Check out our podcast review here!

See this content in the original post

Do you have a favorite product we should know about? Tell us in the comments below!

The Coop Homeschool is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.