Why won't you answer me?

A mistake that we often make as parents is to ask our child the same question repeatedly and wonder why we don't get an answer from her. It may be that she isn't paying attention but, if this happens a lot, it is may be that you aren't giving her time to answer. She may have been listening carefully and have started to process the question the first time you asked it. The trouble is, when you asked the question again, she started to process it again. Give her time to process what you have asked. As a rule of thumb, count to 8 mentally, before expecting an answer. Some children just take longer to process. I think of these children as deep thinkers. They often think more widely around the question, making more neural connections which just takes them longer. Some of the brightest children I have taught have processed information slowly but their answers were well worth waiting for.