Designing a preschool parent survey with great questions about communication preferences can have a huge impact on home-school partnership. In this guide, I’ll share research-backed questions that help schools deeply understand how parents want to communicate and work together.
You’ll see multilingual wording examples to make your surveys more inclusive, plus tips on using AI survey tools for smoother, more personalized outreach. Let’s make parent engagement easier and more effective for everyone.
Essential questions for parent communication preferences
Understanding how parents prefer to be contacted is crucial in preschool parent surveys. When schools match their outreach to families’ communication preferences, parents feel more informed and involved—which directly supports student outcomes. In fact, 62% of parents wish for a centralized communication hub to simplify school interactions [1].
Here are 5 essential questions, each with multilingual wording, to include in your survey:
1. What is your preferred method of communication with the school?
English: What is your preferred method of communication with the school?
Spanish: ¿Cuál es su método de comunicación preferido con la escuela?
Mandarin: 您与学校沟通的首选方式是什么？
Arabic: ما هي وسيلة التواصل المفضلة لديك مع المدرسة؟
2. What days and times are most convenient for school updates?
English: What days and times are most convenient for school updates?
Spanish: ¿Qué días y horarios son más convenientes para recibir actualizaciones de la escuela?
Mandarin: 你觉得哪些时间和日期最方便接收学校消息？
Arabic: ما هي الأيام والأوقات الأكثر ملاءمة لتلقي تحديثات المدرسة؟
3. How often would you like to receive updates from the school?
English: How often would you like to receive updates from the school?
Spanish: ¿Con qué frecuencia le gustaría recibir actualizaciones de la escuela?
Mandarin: 您希望多频繁收到学校的更新？
Arabic: كم مرة تود تلقي التحديثات من المدرسة؟
4. Do you have access to a smartphone or email for school communication?
English: Do you have access to a smartphone or email for school communication?
Spanish: ¿Tiene acceso a un teléfono inteligente o correo electrónico para la comunicación escolar?
Mandarin: 您用于学校沟通是否有智能手机或电子邮件？
Arabic: هل لديك هاتف ذكي أو بريد إلكتروني للتواصل مع المدرسة؟
5. Which language do you prefer to receive school information in?
English: Which language do you prefer to receive school information in?
Spanish: ¿En qué idioma prefiere recibir información escolar?
Mandarin: 您希望以哪种语言收到学校信息？
Arabic: بأي لغة تفضل تلقي معلومات المدرسة؟
6. Is there a type of information you’d like more (or less) of?
English: Is there a type of information you’d like more (or less) of?
Spanish: ¿Hay algún tipo de información que le gustaría recibir más (o menos)?
Mandarin: 有哪些信息您希望多一些或少一些？
Arabic: هل هناك نوع من المعلومات ترغب بزيادتها أو التقليل منها؟
These questions don’t just collect preferences—they reveal how best to reach each parent. Follow-up questions, like “You prefer text messages—what times work best?”, help clarify details in a respectful way. Schools using an AI survey generator can easily create, adapt, and personalize these questions on the fly—great for getting real, actionable insights.
Building stronger home-school partnerships through thoughtful questions
The best-designed surveys do more than collect data—they invite parents to share their ideas and support needs, making them true partners in their child’s education. Asking the right questions can transform how welcomed and valued parents feel in the school community. Research shows 95% of parents believe their involvement is key to their child’s academic success, and 80% want more information from teachers about their child's progress [3]. That’s a huge opportunity for meaningful connection.
Here are some powerful questions to consider, with inclusive wording:
1. How would you like to be involved in your child’s preschool experience?
English: How would you like to be involved in your child’s preschool experience?
Spanish: ¿Cómo le gustaría participar en la experiencia de preescolar de su hijo/a?
Mandarin: 您希望如何参与孩子的学前教育？
Arabic: كيف تود المشاركة في تجربة طفلك في رياض الأطفال؟
2. What support or resources would make it easier for you to participate?
English: What support or resources would make it easier for you to participate?
Spanish: ¿Qué apoyos o recursos facilitarían su participación?
Mandarin: 有哪些资源或帮助能让您更方便地参与？
Arabic: ما الدعم أو الموارد التي تسهّل مشاركتك في الأنشطة؟
3. Are there any challenges you face in staying connected with the school?
English: Are there any challenges you face in staying connected with the school?
Spanish: ¿Enfrenta algún desafío para mantenerse conectado/a con la escuela?
Mandarin: 您在与学校保持联系方面有哪些困难？
Arabic: هل تواجه أي تحديات في التواصل مع المدرسة؟
4. What is the best way for us to collaborate on your child’s progress?
English: What is the best way for us to collaborate on your child’s progress?
Spanish: ¿Cuál es la mejor manera de colaborar juntos para el progreso de su hijo/a?
Mandarin: 关于您孩子的进步，我们怎样合作最合适？
Arabic: ما أفضل طريقة للتعاون بشأن تقدم طفلك؟
Conversational surveys encourage parents to express what matters to them most—making them feel heard, not just surveyed. With AI-powered conversational tools, even open-ended responses can trigger gentle, polite follow-ups that dig deeper into specific ideas, such as “Can you share an example of a challenge you mentioned?” or “How might we help you join more activities?” Explore the power of automatic AI follow-up questions to create these meaningful exchanges and uncover actionable insights for your preschool.
Creating culturally responsive preschool parent surveys
Cultural sensitivity in parent surveys shows respect for diverse families and builds true trust. It’s about more than just translating language—it means shaping questions and tone to feel comfortable, respectful, and relevant in different cultures. For example, a direct question in one culture may need softening in another to avoid sounding demanding.
Here are examples of how the same question can be adapted culturally, not just translated:
Direct approach | Culturally adapted approach |
|---|---|
How can we work together to improve your child’s experience? | We’d love to hear your ideas on making your child’s school experience even better. Is there anything we could do differently? |
What support do you need? | Are there any little ways we might support you and your family, either at school or at home? |
Do you have concerns about our communication? | We always want you to feel comfortable sharing concerns. Would you like to let us know how we might communicate better with your family? |
AI-powered surveys can automatically adapt not just the language but the tone and style, making every parent feel truly welcome. Specific’s localization makes it easy for parents to get—and respond to—surveys in their language of choice. If you need to adjust survey wording, the AI survey editor lets you describe the tone you want, and the AI instantly adapts every question, so surveys feel warm and inclusive for every family.
Making your parent survey successful
Choose a simple, mobile-friendly format so parents can respond anytime—ideally in a conversational, chat-like style.
Keep surveys short, no more than 5–8 questions, to respect parents’ time.
Distribute surveys at convenient moments: after school drop-off/pick-up, via messaging apps, or through a centralized digital hub.
Send a gentle reminder a few days after the initial invite—research shows weekly updates are preferred by 69% of families, though only 52% receive them [2].
Always follow up on survey feedback, sharing what you learned and what actions you’re taking.
Conversational format boosts response rates and depth, since it feels more natural and personal than old-school forms. AI can then analyze patterns, surface trends, and help you craft actionable parent communication plans based on real preferences—just chat with the insights using AI-powered survey response analysis.
The key is to turn insights into real changes—like customizing parent updates or sending reminders at preferred times—so families see and feel the partnership in action.
Start building stronger connections with parents today
Understanding parent communication preferences with thoughtful, inclusive surveys can transform your home-school partnership. Great questions and welcoming formats lead to trust, engaged families, and better outcomes. Ready to create your own survey? Specific makes it simple to build multilingual, culturally sensitive parent surveys in minutes—try it for yourself and strengthen your preschool’s connection with families.