What is the central idea in the passage you’ ve heard?

Administrators have been aware of the need to keep parents apprised of the newer methods used in schools. Many principals have conducted workshops explaining such matters as the reading readiness program, manuscript writing, and developmental mathematics.
   Moreover, the classroom teacher, with the permission of the supervisors, can also play an important role in enlightening parents. The many interviews carried on during the year as well as new ways of reporting pupils’ progress, can significantly aid in achieving a harmonious interplay between school and home.
   To illustrate, suppose that a father has been drilling Junior in arithmetic processes night after night. In a friendly interview, the teacher can help the parent sublimate his natural paternal interest into productive channels. He might be persuaded to let Junior participate in discussing the family budget, buying the food, using a yardstick or measuring cup at home, setting the clock, calculating mileage on a trip, and engaging in scores of other activities that have a mathematical basis.
   If the father follows the advice, it is reasonable to assume that he will soon realize his son is making satisfactory progress in mathematics and, at the same time, enjoying the work.
   Two of ten, however, teachers’ conferences with parents are devoted to pretty accounts of children’s misdemeanors, complaints about laziness and poor work habits, and suggestions for penalties and rewards at home.
   What is needed is a more creative approach in which the teacher, as a professional adviser, plants ideas in parents’ minds for the best utilization of the many hours that the child spends out of the classroom.