Helping at School?

I have volunteered in my kids' classes every year -- everything from photocopying and cutting out things at home to reading to the kids to teaching art lessons and foreign language lessons for free (all materials at my expense) to field trips and class parties. As they get older, the opportunities are fewer, but I still do whatever I can. Because I do this, I know almost all the kids in my kids' grades -- I know who the sweet kids are, who the trouble makers are, who needs more help and who my kid likes and doesn't. I know how the teachers relate to the kids and to each other. I see what the teacher's approaches are and I know how to help my kids. And I volunteer because I can -- I'm blessed to be able to stay home and volunteering and being there was one of the promises I made to myself when we made the decision for me to be home. It was part of the reason I stayed home in the first place. How could I not?

I would volunteer in a heartbeat if I didn't have to work. I volunteer my time for anything that I can do at home or donate supplies needed for the classroom. I will also volunteer for school events and will even leave work a little early to get there. I think it's great you are able to volunteer. I think in order to get parents to volunteer maybe some kind of newsletter could get sent home asking for volunteers with what kinds of volunteer opportunities there are and maybe times.

I always volunteer at my kids' school. In their class and elsewhere.
It is VERY common, at my kids' school.
AND there is also a "Room Mom" too, for EACH class, in EACH grade.

I volunteer at my kids' class and school, because I can. I MAKE the time to do so. It is important... to my kids. They LOVE having me there and their Teacher as well. I do anything the Teacher needs help with. I don't get in the way, but I do what is helpful for the Teacher. My kids' school, ENCOURAGES it, whether it is a parent or grandparent. And they have a recognition "brunch" for the "Volunteers" each year.

I never knew of a school or Teacher, that discourages this.

It is wonderful that you are volunteering and especially that you are seeing the big picture and wanting to help get more parent volunteers into your child's school!

Is your child fairly young -- K or lower elementary? I ask because generally, parents are most welcome to help IN the classroom in those early years. As children get older, and class and student dynamics change, teachers do not necessarily want parent volunteers inside the classroom except for specific events (holiday party, for instance). I say this not to discourage you or other parents, but to let parents of younger kids know that they should be prepared for that shift over time -- the parent who is in the K classroom a lot will be in the first grade class less, and by older elementary, most classroom tasks that parents helped do are either gone or done by the kids themselves!

Our school does encourage volunteering both in classes (which is entirely up to the teacher's needs and style and desire, or not, to have parent voluteers) and especially in other places.

Some thoughts:

Does the librarian need help shelving books or checking out books? I check out my daughter's class twice a month and go in before that to help shelve whatever's there. Talk to the librarian about her needs. Would she or he be willing to e-mail parents and let them know? Would she set up a schedule so parents know that she needs help, say, shelving on Thursdays from 2-3? Can she let parents know that they are welcome (if they are) to do check out for their kids' own classes? A parent volunteer could even take on the scheduling part for her.

Extracurriculars always need parents. I have coached Science Olympiad and been the adult present when the teacher-coordinator had to be elsewhere. Does your school have any extracurriculars or before or after school programs that need help? The PTA should know.

And all PTA programs need help. Are parents actively involved with the school's social events, etc.? usually folks are glad to help with those because they are one-time commitments but if there is an issue -- I'd join PTA pronto and find out what the problem is. Do working parents feel they are not able to volunteer because stuff is done entirely in the school day? Make some opportunities for them outside the school day, such as coordinating or staffing the school ice cream social or a bingo night once a year.

Do have a volunteer breakfast or tea once a year in spring to honor volunteers! Our librarian coordinates it and holds it in the library. Teachers provided homemade goodies and the librarian brings in coffee etc. Chorus students sing a song or two and a small ensemble from the school orchestra and/or band plays a song to make it very nice.

Does the PTA have a web site where people can see all events and volunteer right there online? That really helps too.

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This is my daughter's first year in 'real' school (K). Last year she was in 1/2 day preschool and I was the room mother who took care of the Halloween and Christmas parties.

I volunteered to go in and assist the class 1x before and 1x after Christmas as well as for the Halloween party. We will be gone during the Christmas party so I cannot help with that. I also volunteered to assist at 'home' meaning she can send things home for me to cut up, organize, sort, etc. (this was one of her options). She has a banana tree outside of her classroom with different bananas with names of items she needs for her classroom and on Orientation night, I took three and sent those items in with my daughter. My mother (a retired teacher) will begin volunteering in her class every Friday starting next week.

I have a very flexible schedule at work but because my mother will be in her class 1x a week and I know I will be there for all field trips and the halloween party, I figure that is participating at least 1x a month!

I am also going to be on the PTO (first meeting is tomorrow) so I am not completely sure what that will entail. My goal is to assist as much financially and emotionally as I can for the teacher and the school in general. I would love for the teachers and administrators to know me by name - for a good reason like volunteering!

during meet the teacher night, the teacher brings it up to parents that she will need volunteers to supervise lunch (they stopped taking volunteers for recess due to liability issues.). then she passes a list around with names of the kids, and the parent writes down which days work for them. most do once a month, some do twice a month, and very few volunteer once a week.
i do volunteer for lunch. i used to go every week. now i have put down my name for 1 a month. reason, being, the school is 20 min away, and i don't want to do the drive.
i volunteer only because the school needs people to supervise so teachers get a break, but i also understand those who don't want to.

I did volunteer several times for my son's kindergarten class...I taught science and gave demonstrations because that is my strong point. This was with a long-term substitute when my son's teacher was out on maternity leave. I had offered to do the same for my son's regular teacher, but she frankly blew me off and never took me up on my offer.

I have offered for 1st grade this year, but I haven't heard anything back yet...it has only been a few weeks into the school year though...

I think if teachers were more receptive to this and let the parents know what they needed, they might get more responses. For instance, I asked my son's kindergarten teacher about this last year during the parent teacher conference and her response was that I was welcome to come in if I really wanted to... Her tone really told me that she was not receptive to this. I had also sent her a copy of a science experiment to go along with the curriculum. I offered to buy all the supplies and bring them in and do the demostration. She said that she would get back to me, but never did. Her actions told me that she really did not want volunteers in her classroom.

I always volunteered with our daughters teachers.. Also the school.
Parents are very active here, they are also welcomed into the schools. .

Even some of the working parents would schedule time to come at least once a school year to volunteer in the class.

The way our schools encouraged this was to send out a list of ways to help in your childs class and the school.

There was a monthly list. We also had a way to go to the teacher workroom and find the box with requests of things teachers needed.

It listed things that would be helpful.. Then these were sent either to the homeroom parent . With the school websites, they can also post, requests.

We even had parent helpers for the, Library, PE teachers, the Music teacher and the art teacher.. Since they do not have homeroom parents.. we discovered they were having to do everything themselves.

In middle school and high school our PTA's would send out emails to parents, when there were volunteer opportunities up at the school.

This included the offices. Of course the booster clubs helped the special studies like, Orchestra, Band, Art, Theater.. etc..

Volunteering is a great thing and shows the kids that the parents are invested in the school. That said, some parents can be a little intrusive, and also some children have issues that are private and not always good for other parents to observe and potentially talk about outside of the classroom. Some kids don't do well with their own parents in the room. They talk to the parent, don't listen to the teacher, they get upset if the parent pays attention to other children, etc. Some schools encourage parents to volunteer in OTHER classes, or do a lot of work in the school in other areas. For example, to encourage writing, our elementary school has kids write stories, and then parent volunteers type them up and other volunteers assemble them into a book (they make book covers out of heavy cardboard and wallpaper remnants). It's a nice teamwork thing, but we were rarely in the classroom except to deliver the finished book or to take the typed pages back in for the children to illustrate before assembly. Other ways we volunteer is running fundraisers, doing bulletin boards, taking photos, cutting out things for class-wide crafts (so the teacher doesn't have to cut out 22 sets of everything), millions of other things. We also have room parents who get info to parents on what's needed, get chaperones for field trips, organize the teacher gifts, and more.

So I think you need to find out whether this teacher has valid reasons for not having parents in the class, or whether she just doesn't know what sorts of things to have help with, or she never had anyone volunteer on a consistent basis. Or whether confidentiality is an issue. It can take a LOT of time to organize and train a volunteer, so just showing up now and then for an hour is more work than help to the teacher. So check out the school's philosophy by talking to the principal and by reading all the handouts and flyers to see what sorts of things are needed. And check with the parent-teacher organization to get a sense of what is school-wide and what is up to the individual teacher.

Here's few things I've learned over the years (my girls are now in highschool)

Some teachers love volunteers, others hate them. The vast majority truly do appreciate some assistance.

Depending on the child, it can be a huge distraction to have his parent in the classroom. Sometimes it's better if you volunteer in another classroom, the lunchroom, or the office.

Most teachers will send home a "sign up" sheet at the beginning of the year listing volunteer oportunities. They include things like, helping in the classroom, assisting with a special day, chaperoning a field trip. Then the teacher chooses and contacts the parents.

Some schools have a volunteer program organized through the PTA that finds a room mom for each teacher. The room mom finds out the teachers needs and then sends out requests for help. I heard that there have been issues with this method.

I once commented to a teacher that I liked her bulletin board in the hallway. She said oh thank you, Susie's mom gets all the credit, she comes in every few weeks and changes it for me. This is a great way to help without disrupting a classroom.

Our school district used to keep a list of volunteers and at the end of the year would give a small gift and invite you to a dinner. I never went to the dinner. I really didn't care about the gift. It was nice to get a letter of appreciation.

I'm not really sure I get your question -- you want to use our opinions to help your kid's school be better at what? Recruiting parent volunteers? Taking advantage of the ones they have? Something else?

Anyway, here's my experience (not sure if this is what you're looking for):

Last year I volunteered one day a week for selfish reasons. It was our son's first year in preschool and I wanted to see how he was doing, what he was learning, how he was interacting, etc. so that we could be more aware of his school life. (We LOVE his preschool, btw.)

Of course being able to help the teachers was a nice bonus -- they said several times it was *really* nice to have another adult to read books to kids, play pretend games during outdoor play, and so on.

I will continue to volunteer and will start next week in his new room.

I volunteer in my kids' school library 3 days a week for 3 hours in the morning. The librarian truly appreciates my help and I get to see both my kids during their library time. I also get to know all the teachers and they know me and are comfortable asking me for extra help if they need it.

When my oldest was in school though, I worked full time and wasn't available during regular school hours to volunteer -- if the teachers had anything that could have been sent home to be done during the evenings to help out I would have loved that.

I've always volunteered in my children's kindergarten classrooms. They always seem to need the help.

With my oldest daughter, I volunteered in her first grade classroom for a couple of months. But the teacher didn't utilize her volunteers well and would give me random jobs, even though she knew I was coming b/c I had a set day/time to volunteer, so I stopped after a couple of months. I'm more than willing to help but don't like to have my time wasted with busy work just for the sake of giving me something to do. My youngest is now in first grade and I don't see the teacher utilizing her volunteers well either. She has had several parents interested but doesn't know how to use them well.

As far as the other grades, no I've never offered to help nor have teachers requested help. I do chaperone field trips though.

I totally want to! I was a little sad to know that there's this long involved process to do so though. I had to go through a FULL job application (to volunteer?), online only, including work references (not friends or family? I haven't worked a "real" job where I'm really involved with people in 6 years! I don't still talk to hardly any of them---I've moved twice since then, and does the school need to know that I am good with electrical conduit and run reliable concrete tests? Poo!). Then a friend who I provide childcare for did the whole online stuff the school sent her regarding me, and then after it was all done it gave her an error message and told her to contact the HR department. She emailed them, and I'm grateful, but I don't think the other references I had would be bothered to do that. They'll answer a short email or phone call, but......will they jump through hoops? Dunno. I was kind of expecting they'd just take my maiden name, current name, license number, and social security number, then run a couple checks (they are running background, criminal, credit, driving record, as well as looking at previous experience and referrals). I'm thinking there won't be a lot of parents spending 40 minutes on an online application, then waiting 2 weeks to be cleared, to do some cutouts, watch the lunchroom, or read a story. My excitement started to wane a bit, I must admit.
Of course I'll be cleared of all the checks they run. It's just.....strange to me. I was imagining being like MY mom and just helping in all kinds of ways, and the teachers weeping openly with gratitude at my creative genius. Being sainted by the time my son is in 5th grade. Rainbows, gumdrops, and unicorns. That kind of thing. (ha) Whatever...I'll get over myself and my silly first time mom expectations, and I'll still volunteer.

Journal entry from September 6th:

Today was... different. I went to drop my daughter off at school and when we arrived it was pandemonium! There was a blockage of parents and kids at the front door. Apparently everyone, all twenty-two students and parents all arrived to class AT THE SAME TIME this morning. Strange and unusual indeed. The poor teacher was rushing about trying to complete her morning ritual of going over the currently covered alphabet letters with each child but she just didn't have the time as the bell was about to ring and she had to begin class.

I slipped back into a corner near the cubbies and watched, trying to stay out of the way but still observing my kid as she navigated the gauntlet of adult legs and small children milling about. I wanted to be there until she was settled on the story time rug, just in case.

Just as quickly as it had occurred, all the parents dissipated and I was still in the corner, watching things when the teacher spied me and in a slightly desperate voice asked me, "Can you stay? Do you have anywhere to be right now?"

I told her that I was hers for as long as she needed me and she sighed with relief and put me to work. She sat me in a little red chair in front of the capitol letters A through I and gave me a list of student names. I was to call each student who did not already have a red check-mark next to their name and have each child recite the letters in front of us. Then she handed me a small stack of laminated cards with lower case letters that corresponded with the letters on the table. I was then instructed to hand these cards to the child and have them match the lower case letter with their upper case partner and once completed, go back through the list and listen to them recite again. When they were done, check off the name and call the next student.

I had trouble pronouncing many of the names and I was so embarrassed, but the children were forgiving and enjoyed teaching me how to say their names properly. In turn, I showed them how to sound out their letters. My daughter and a handful of other children flew through their turns but some of the students needed much more time. Some were great at the matching but very bad at the pronunciation. Others sang through their alphabet like little song birds but couldn't match a single lower case to upper to save their lives. One boy was having so much trouble I turned him to face me so he could watch my mouth as I sounded out the letters. It helped. With lots of encouragement and patience, he managed to get through it all without having to skip anything, but it was a struggle.

I was nervous at first but then fell easily into the same routine I had with my daughter at home and found that teaching kids other than my own wasn't much more difficult. I don't know why I was scared.

When I had managed to get through the whole list I think the teacher expected me to bolt, but I asked her if there was anything else she wanted. Her hand fluttered up to her heart and she rushed over to drop a stack of dittos and a pair of scissors in front of me. She showed me an example of what she wanted cut and I dutifully clipped away at the entire stack.

When that was completed she had a few other tasks for me to do, mostly filing paperwork and stapling a sheaf of papers into little booklets. When it was all said and done I had worked nearly the whole morning away and felt like I had done something good.

My daughter was already outside for her first break and there was nothing left for me to do so the teacher thanked me for my time and informed me that to become an official classroom volunteer I need to go to the district office to fill out some paperwork, make an appointment to get myself fingerprinted and go to a clinic to have a free tuberculosis test done. I was a bit taken aback. Noticing my confused look she explained that things are a lot different now then they used to be, and that for the children's protection they have to run background checks on all volunteers and make sure they aren't infected with TB. She told me that today was sort of an exception due to extenuating circumstances, the two being her aid didn't show up this morning and everyone else did.

I left a message with the county office that takes fingerprints and have an appointment to get my TB test so that I can officially become official. This will be my second fingerprinting ever. The first time was when I signed the paperwork to buy a house. I thought only criminals were fingerprinted up until that point so I was shocked when they came out with a huge ledger and a pad of invisible ink to put my thumb on. Learning something new every day.

I work 9-5 so I can't really help out during school hours. I do help out in the evenings and weekends for stuff like parties, fundraising events and Christmas & summer events. I am on the PTO and was treasurer for 3 years and also organise a twice yearly visit to the movies for the whole school. I love that I know most of the teachers/staff more personally and its so cute when the kids give you a smile or say hi because they recognize you in the school.

I remember my mom volunteered in my Kindergarten class as much as she could until my sister was born. She was always giving of her time, and I'm trying to do the same now that my son is in Kinder. It truly started when he was in preschool; I'd do little things like ask the teachers what they needed for their classroom (usually tissues haha), and now I get to "graduate" to actually helping in the classroom. My time is limited, though, because I also have a 2.5yo who I'll need to find a babysitter for.

I've also volunteered:
- to be the Class Chef and do monthly recipes and cooking,
- once per month, I'll go clean the classroom (take 15 minutes to wipe all surfaces down with antibacterial wipes)
- help in the library while my in-laws are here to watch my daughter
- to be the class representative for the BCE (raises funds for our school system to keep class sizes small and enrichment activities like drama, choir, science, PE, and music)
- to help with the Halloween party
- to help with the Book Fair
- to take projects home to cut things out and prepare them for the kids
- to do anything at home for the teacher that will cut down on her time in the classroom without the kids

There are LOTS of volunteer opportunities at our school, and I love that the parents are so involved with our kids' educations!