My 2.5 doesn’t tell me anything about what happens in school. We ask what she did and it’s “I don’t know”-is that normal ?

Completely normal!! They do not want to talk about school after coming home unless something really funny happened. The best time to get info is when they are lying down in bed … that’s when they talk. But don’t badger with questions… let them tell you

Or ask specifics, not open ended— did you sing a song today? Did you build a project? Who did you play with? Did something funny happen? Especially if you know they do something every day, use that as a starting point

2.5 is still pretty young to tell you a lot about their day. You could try asking specific questions like, what was something that made you laugh today or what was a kind thing you did for a friend today.

Yes.

The hardest part about this age is habits get set in, that can last decades, but they literally are not even three so they can't make a lot of sense especially in a prolonged dialogue.

Looking back, those nonsensical conversations, especially with my oldest who had a pretty unique speech impediment, so it was deciphering on top of active listening, are some of my most treasured memories of my entire life.

The best thing you can do is ask her a very open question like what was the best/funniest/most gross thing that happened and then just let her talk, with lots of listening affirmation, like "then what happened?" or "oh really, tell me more?"

outside of big flags, what she is saying isn't really important; all that is important is her parents are a place for her to share and they will listen

Totally normal. My about to turn 3 year old just lists the friends he played with. Same names every day. They don’t get it this young. The advice is to ask specific questions.

A friend of ours told us this and works a treat. We ask the kids every day to tell us something Happy, something Sad and something Silly that happened to them that day. We ask each other in front of them to get it going.

Its amazing what they come up with and a great ice breaker.

Very normal. At dinner, my husband and I start by saying what we did. We get really detailed - "I ate lunch at my desk and I ate ALL of my noodles, but not all of my carrots. Then I went for a walk." Eventually, they'll start to share more nuggets of their days...

That sounds about right, it lasts through high school lol

Super normal, and kid-specific! Some talk more than others and relay more information. My daughter was exactly like you described. She never remembered anything about her day to share. My son is the complete opposite. He knows exactly what he did every moment, what he ate at each snack and lunch, and what everyone else was doing. They are 10 and 7 now and still exactly like that!

Agree with others to try and come up with a little nugget of information to help bring it out of them.

What got my daughter to talk is that I asked her to share one happy moment and one sad moment. She always has something to say!

My 2.5 year old is the same unless I ask super specific questions like “who did you play with on the playground? Did you do any art today? What did you have for lunch?”

2.5 yos simply don’t recall information like that. You need to ask very specific question like “did you sit on the mat today?” “Did you play with Henry today?”

My 3 year old comes home with paint on her clothes and sand in her shoes so I’ll ask her “what did you paint today?” “Who did you play with in the sandbox?” And that sometimes works. But also, be patient. Sometimes hours after we try to ask about preschool something will trigger her and she’ll tell us about a random thing that happened. It might be a memory from last week vs that day but it’s still something.

2.5 is very young to be able to share about their day, depending on their personal maturity level and language abilities.

Once they get to K-1-2 range, you can find success by asking very simple clear questions.

Like “Who did you eat lunch with today?”
“What was the favorite thing you read today?”
“Who was one of the people you talked to today?”

Even at early grade school, you’ll get a lot of “I don’t remember”. Which is usually true.

But it helps set them get in the habit of sharing more when they want to or need to.

I try to ask questions of things I know they did. "Did you do [xxx] today?" Seems to help their brain process the day and you'll sometimes get details. But 2.5 is still very young. Mines a little bit over that and we're just now getting some details

2.5 year olds live in the moment and live life as it comes. They aren’t really thinking in terms of reflecting on their day. You could play a game to get some info though - such as having a routine where you both tell each other best thing you can remember about the day, what you didn’t like about the day, and what was the yummiest food you ate today.

2.5, 8.5, 12.5, 16.5. They never change. “I already spent 8 hours in that prison. Don’t make me waste any more of my time talking about it.”

I think it’s normal. Try sharing what you did first, and see if she opens up.

It's too young to tell you... Just start following his daily activities in school and start doing it... It will start telling you... They don't know what to share and how to share...