Teachers might ask about the child's home environment, his or her social interactions outside school or the child's strengths and weaknesses. An intake conference also offers parents the opportunity to share information about the child's world outside of school. We believe that children have many talents, multiple intelligences, and often children engage in these areas of expertise after school or on weekends. Finding out how the child spends free time is helpful to us. Even in late September, it's not unreasonable to ask the parents how they view the first month of school, how they view the child's perceptions about the first month of school, and so on.
Children learn best when the school and home work together.
The use of parent surveys and intake conferences can provide a rich exchange of information to help make that possible.