The document provides guidance on teaching children how to ask questions. It recommends starting by teaching single question words like what, who, where, why, and how. Examples are given for how to teach each question word by pairing the question with a reinforcer when the child receives the desired information. The document also stresses the importance of teaching children to be curious and ask questions to support their learning and problem solving skills.

2. Why do we ask questions?
• to learn something new,
• to understand, to learn more deeply about something.
• when we ask questions we most of the time look for information we need
and it seems that when we have the correct piece of information we feel
happy and satisfied .
• Some times we ask questions in order to just start a conversation with
someone if it happen to be in a train, a plane or even in a park, in such
circumstances you feel that you must talk to some one just for the sake of
talking and no more.

4. Why should children be encouraged to
question?
• Our children will be most successful if they learn to ask questions,
think independently, and be creative.
• Our children need to be curious about the world, interested in how
things work, and know how to creatively approach problems.

5. Where to start?
• Explain difference between question and statement
• Give examples of questions.
• Also practice asking questions.
• Use teaching partners to repeat questions that you
have asked them
• For example, ask your partner about their favourite
color, cartoon, and so on.
• We then move on to topics.

6. Pre-requisite Skills
The child should be requesting (manding) a large
number of objects
A mand is a request. It can be for an object, attention, a
break or information etc
A mand can take the form of a
Gesture ( point, grab)
A sound (grunt, syllable)
A word (Cookie)
A sentence ( I want cookie)
More complex language expression (Mom, can you get
me a cookie please?)

7. Respond to say
• the child should already have been taught to respond by echoing
whatever follows "say" in an Teacherruction.
• eg - Say house child: house Teacher: say baby Child: baby Teacher:
Say "What" Child: What)

8. How do I teach the child to ask questions?
• When we teach a child to ask but we also must teach to "care
about" getting the information.
• This can be done by pairing the receipt of the information with an
established reinforcer.
• Once getting information has a long history or being paired with
reinforcement, the likelihood that future questions will be asked is
increased.

9. Teach single "question words" at first
•

10. What?
• . (Reinforcing item is placed in an opaque bag)
• Teacher: (points to the bag) Say, What's that?“
• Child" What's that?
• Teacher: It's your top! Come on, let's play!

11. Who?
• . (Have different people take turns hiding under a blanket/sheet, out
of view of child)
• Teacher: Look! There's someone under the blanket! Say, "who?"
Child: Who?
• Teacher: Says the name of the person as they "pop out" from under
the blanket.

12. Where?
• Give ice-cream without a spoon.
• Teacher: Say, "Where's my spoon?“
• Child: Where's my spoon?
• Teacher: It's in the drawer. Let's go get it! (The child should be
consistently manding for missing items.)

13. Why?
• 1. (Teacher and child working on a "non-preferred" activity)
• Teacher: We have to stop working now. Say, "Why" Child: Why?
Teacher: Because we're going to the park! (a highly preferred activity)

14. How?
• . Teacher: (has a new toy that is hard to run) I know
how to turn this on. Say "how“
• Child: How?
• Teacher: Like this! (Turn on but try to hide the
"secret" from the child so you can get a few trials
in!) After no prompting is needed, just prompt the
child to say, "How do you turn it on?, and
demonstrate.

15. Song For Teaching Children How to Ask
Questions
I’m in circle time and I’m listening to my teacher
Talking about spiders and other wiggly creatures
She’s talking kind of fast
Arachnids?
I don’t understand
I’ve got a question I’ve got something to say
I’ve got it in my head I made it up that way
I’ve got a question I’ve got my question planned
I’m looking at my teacher now I’ll raise my hand
• “Yes David”
“ Ms Vijaya, what’s an arachnid?”