Questionnaire for Parents – First Term in Kindergarten

Dear parents of ____________________ !

By now we have come to know your child rather well. We have noticed that your child shows interests and abilities that are somewhat different from his/her peers in age. For a better understanding of your child’s developmental stage and his/her special educational needs we ask you to fill in the following questionaire. The information you are giving to us shall be very helpful in fostering your child adequately in our daily work. All particulars given to us will be handled confidentially.

Subsequently we would like to confer with you in order to give you an account of our impressions and to discuss how we can accommodate an optimal development for your child in our kindergarten.

The questions:

Date of answering: _______________

The child´s age: _______________

1) What / with what does your child like to play at home the most?

_______________________________________________

2) What are presently your child’s foremost interests?

_______________________________________________

3) Does your child presently have a favourite songbook, audio-cassette, CD or DVD? If so, which?

_______________________________________________

4) Is there any children’s TV programme your child likes to watch?

O Yes. O No.

If yes, which?

_______________________________________________

5) What do you consider to be your child’s strong points?

_______________________________________________

6) Do you think that your child is

O more independent than

O as independent as

O less independent than

his / her peers in age?

7) Does your child mostly enjoy going to kindergarten?

O Yes. O No.

8 ) Does your child talk about what he/she has been playing in kindergarten?

O Yes. O No.

9) Does your child tell you, with whom he/she has been playing?

O Yes. O No.

10) Please think back to the times before your child was attending kindergarten.

10a) Did your child noticeably look forward to attending kindergarten?

O Yes. O No.

How was this expressed?

__________________________________________

10b) Did your child express expectations and ideas concerning kindergarten?

O Yes. O No.

If so, which?

__________________________________________

10c) Was your child afraid of attending kindergarten or was he/she worried in any way?

O Yes. O No.

If yes, how was this expressed?

__________________________________________

11) Would your child often prefer not to go to kindergarten?

O Yes. O No.

If so, does he/she say why?

_______________________________________________

12) Whom does your child prefer to play with?

O children of the same age

O notedly younger children

O notedly older children

13) Is there a child in kindergarten whom your child likes in particular and whom he/she mentions often?

O Yes, his/her name is: ______________. O No.

14) What do you think does your child dislike about kindergarten the most?

1. ________________________________________________

2. ________________________________________________

3. ________________________________________________

15) Do you think that your child displays a different conduct in kindergarten as compared to at home? What differences do you see?

_______________________________________________

16) Does your child display behavourial patterns which you are concerned about?

O No. O Yes, these are:

_______________________________________________

17) What is your child’s maximum attention span when strongly immersed in something?

_______________________________________________

18) Which activities are the most binding for your child’s concentration?

_______________________________________________

19) When at home – does your child display interest in

O numbers?

O characters (alphabet)?

20) Since when (approximately) has your child been speaking complete sentences?

_______________________________________________

21) What is your evaluation of your child’s vocabulary –

21 a) in German?

O average

O smaller than that of his/her peers in age

O greater than that of his/her peers in age

21b) in his/her native language, if this is not German?

O average

O smaller than that of his/her peers in age

O greater than that of his/her peers in age

22) What is your evaluation of your child’s intellectual power?

O average

O below average

O above average

23) What topic does presently raise a great many questions for your child? Could you give an example of one such question?

_______________________________________________

24) What makes your child laugh?

_______________________________________________

25) Which of the following character traits does your child display?

O He/she tends to be anxious in new situations.

O He/she tends to be courageous in new situations.

O He/she has a curious mind.

O Upon having received an answer/explanation he/she likes to be sure and enquires again.

O When he/she has a choice, he/she prefers to play with adults.

O When he/she has a choice, he/she prefers to play with children.

O He/she draws pictures a lot when at home.

O In groups he/she tends to be shy and bashful.

O While doing something he/she likes to talk about it.

O He/she likes to talk about his/her experiences with me/us.

O He/she remembers incidences far back in time, for example:

_______________________________________________

26) Are there situations in which your child criticizes what you are doing?

_______________________________________________

27) Do you sometimes encounter utterances or behaviour by your child which really surprise you?

_______________________________________________

28) Would you like to ask us something?

O No. O Yes, I would like to know:

_______________________________________________

Thank you very much for answering these questions.

____________________

Developed by Hanna Vock, Director of IHVO Bonn, 2006.

Translation: Arno Zucknick, Berlin.