Inspired by another thread--How do you feel about parents volunteering in the classro

[Erin1700]

At our school you are not allowed to volunteer in your childs classroom. So I usually sign up to volunteer one day every other week for the teacher my child had the previous year.

 

[golfgal]

I'm 35 and I don't ever remember a parent volunteering in the classroom. Never. My mother certainly didn't but she was a teacher herself.

Parents were room mom's...the did the 2x a year parties and chaperoned field trips. I remember one girls mom helping in the office but I think she might have been paid staff.

But no weekly, in classroom, volunteers. One guys dad was a dentist...he brought us tooth brushes every year.

But they didn't run spelling words with us or help with projects. Never anything like that.

I'm a lot older then you and we had moms that would come in and help kids with reading, math, help with big projects, etc. We didn't have "room moms" and the class parties were all done by the teachers. A lot of moms also helped in the lunch room and office as well as with fundraisers, etc.

 

[ilovesugar]

I'm 35 and I don't ever remember a parent volunteering in the classroom. Never. My mother certainly didn't but she was a teacher herself.

Parents were room mom's...the did the 2x a year parties and chaperoned field trips. I remember one girls mom helping in the office but I think she might have been paid staff.

But no weekly, in classroom, volunteers. One guys dad was a dentist...he brought us tooth brushes every year.

But they didn't run spelling words with us or help with projects. Never anything like that.

Could be because back then teachers did not have 30 kids in their classes either, so they had more time to do the busy work that the parents are doing now. I honestly don't know, I am just guessing.

 

[disneyjunkie]

I'm 42. I attended public and Catholic schools. Parents were not in the classrooms when I was in school. Parents would join us on trips but that was it.

 

[JerseyJanice]

There was a thread on here recently where the OP talked about her classroom volunteering, and reading between the lines, I got the impression she was there to observe and gossip about a child of a so-called "friend" of hers. With a friend like that, you don't need enemies.

I don't think classroom volunteers are allowed here as a matter of course. They ask for volunteers for the library, for field trip chaperons, and help during class parties or assemblies, but I've never heard of volunteers actually helping teachers in class. We have aides for that, although with budget-crunching lately, who knows? Maybe they will ask parents to come in and do those jobs for free.

 

[mjkacmom]

Could be because back then teachers did not have 30 kids in their classes either, so they had more time to do the busy work that the parents are doing now. I honestly don't know, I am just guessing.

I attended the same district as my kids do, and we had no volunteers back then either. Most classes here are only 18 kids, and there is an office staff for clerical work.

 

[Pooh Crew]

Our elementary school is very volunteer heavy. When we met the teacher for kindergarten, she requested a helper every single day to stuff folders, make copies, cut out item, etc. She had a volunteer training class that was mandatory. Five yrs later, it's easy to recognize parents "trained" by this kindergarten teacher! We are the work horses! Lol.

As the kids have gotten older, they really don't need people in the classroom, so a list of duties is on a clip board or notebook out in the hall. Volunteers complete and mark off tasks--all outside the classroom. I don't really see the gossippy stuff going on, but maybe it's because we were well-trained from the beginning! She was a drill sergeant and we knew better than to chat.

 

[grafxgirl]

I was a parent volunteer in my daughter's Kindergarten class this year. Her school requires parents to attend certification classes in order to volunteer within the classrooms. If you are a parent that does not attend these classes to become certified, then you can still volunteer at the school doing other things, just not in the classrooms. Our teachers really need the parents to help make copies of work, organize areas of the classroom, create bulletin boards, or work on special projects with the kids. My daughter is used to seeing me around the school since I teach part-time so having me in the classroom wasn't an issue with her.

 

[okeydokey]

I have been a volunteer for many years. Some teachers ask me to do bulletin boards and copying which I happily do. Come ask me to take reading groups and work one of one with students who are struggling (I have a Ed.M.). I do this happily also. I am there to help them in whatever way they ask. I do love the field trips too!

 

[MushyMushy]

There were no parent volunteers at all when I was a kid. The only time you'd see a parent in the classroom was on career day or whatnot.

I spent a lot of time volunteering in the classroom. I'd gone back to school when my oldest started kindergarten and I was majoring in elementary ed, so it was a way to kill two birds with one stone. Sometimes I did classroom work, but most of the time I was a "reading partner" and spent time working one on one with children who had reading partners. I've definitely seen the parents some of you are talking about. They seem more interested in spending the day with their own child or being the life of the classroom party rather than actually helping the teacher. It made it harder for the rest of us who genuinely wanted to help.

 

[java]

This past year one of my children was in first grade. I offered to help and ended up going in every Friday from 9-11:30. That was catch up day. So I had a busy project for about 10 minutes(like stapling things- or cutting stuff out) Oh and one time I dusted! yuck!

And then it was helping everyone else finish up their weekly work. I don't know how you teachers do it. It would drive me nuts with the same kids saying the same thing every Friday. I loved them all - but really the daydreamers would drive me batty. I always ended up having to help the same 3 children(not my child) just getting them through an item.

 

[Jeafl]

.

I'll be blunt, there are Moms at my kid's schools that are there pretty much full time. I don't get it - I don't understand why they are there and I don't understand why the teacher even needs them there. From the time I've spent around them, it is a very weird gossipy helicoptering mostly Moms who are bored and should probably just go get a job kind of atmosphere. I know I'm being a witch but that's about as polite as I can be about it.

And herein lies the problem. I teach special ed, so every child in my room has an IEP. Some have physical challenges and some have psychological ones. The problem is with HIPPA laws, we cannot discuss any child's disability with anyone (not that I would anyway). I would have parents that would want to know what another child's disability was, or what accomodations were being made for another child, etc. It started to become a legal problem. The law is very clear about privacy issues when it comes to children with IEP's.

Also, we found that some of the moms were discussing what they saw in the classroom with other parents and it was NOT good.

 

[Belle0101]

I just got back from registering my son for school. There are 21 students in the classroom, the regular teacher, a student teacher and a permanent volunteer. Which leads me to why I no longer volunteer at my son's school. It's very clique-y (real word?).

We're not from here, we're transplants. It's a small town, the kind that everybody went to school with everybody, the same doctor delivered everybody, everybody shops at the same stores, goes to the same hair salon, etc. We don't go to a local church. I don't drive the right vehicle either.

The parents that are "in" get assigned the permanent volunteer spots. Those are nice. You get a desk in the classroom even. The parents not in get the lesser positions - cafeteria clean-up and the like.

That's not to say volunteers aren't needed at schools. I just choose not to participate with our school's volunteer program based on how I know it to be.

 

[JVL1018]

They don't have classroom volunteers at my kids' school.
Sometimes, in the younger grades(K, 1, 2) for parties, but that's it. I don't think the teachers even want any parental volunteers.
They have high school kids who come in an hour every day in a teacher apprentice program and they do whatever copying/cutting/what have you needs to be done.

I volunteer a lot, but never in the classrooms, which is fine with me.

 

[Mkrop]

I am 41 and my mom always volunteered when I was in school.

I volunteer for both stuff inside and outside of the classroom. But I will be honest I prefer the stuff that does allow me to see my kids. I like not only helping my child but the other kids as well. I think it helps me get to know their classmates better. I like when I walk down the hall or when I am at the grocery store and the kids say hi Mrs K.

But on the same note, I have no desire to be a teacher. I do not have the patience for it day in and day out. I give our teachers so much respect for dealing with the kids and the parents. I go in, I help out but then I am able to get the heck out of there

 

[JVL1018]

I'm 35 and I don't ever remember a parent volunteering in the classroom. Never. My mother certainly didn't but she was a teacher herself.

Parents were room mom's...the did the 2x a year parties and chaperoned field trips. I remember one girls mom helping in the office but I think she might have been paid staff.

But no weekly, in classroom, volunteers. One guys dad was a dentist...he brought us tooth brushes every year.

But they didn't run spelling words with us or help with projects. Never anything like that.

We never had that either when I was a kid. My mom was definitely involved, on the PTO, room mom,class trip chaperone, that kind of thing-but never in the classroom. I am the same way, as my kids' school is the same way as mine was. I don't really get the need for parents to be teachers aides, anyway. Teachers seem to be able to handle 20 or so kids on their own, from what I can see. If it's a huge class of like 35 kids, then yes, but my kids' classes are usually 15-20 kids.
I have a desire to be involved, but I have no desire to be in their classroom all the time.
I go once a year to each of their classrooms, on the one day designated for parents to come and sit in for 1/2 an hour-that's it unless I'm delivering food for a party or pizza day.

 

[Tinker'n'Fun]

When my kids were in elemantary school I volunteered as a reader all the time. I didn't care what class I got. I would go in when the teacher needed some time to themselves. I would read a grade appropriate book that was fun and I usually brought a treat that went along with the book. It usually was a pencil, but back when I read, food was okay. I do understand how now it would be impossible and I guess it would be all pencils and stickers for the teachers.

I love to read. I love reading to children and when you really love something, it shows. I had teachers calling me to come in. I never had to call them. And it really wasn't about the pencil. It was being able to captivate the kids even in 7th. grade so the teacher could breathe and get whatever they needed done, even if it was getting a lunch/bathroom break.

I also volunteered for the book fairs and bullwork that no one else wanted. And I will admit, I met quite a few "different" types of volunteers in my days.

But back to the original question, I think parents should be involved in volunteering in schools however it fits for them personally. Not everyone can come to a classroom but I am sure many parents can find something to help. I think parents should be able to volunteer. I think it would be a sad day if parents were pushed out of the schools/classrooms. On the flip side, I don't think there is anything wrong if a parent never volunteers either. It should be a personal choice.

 

[Luv Bunnies]

I think parent volunteering is only a good thing if the teacher wants it and the parent is good at it. Our school encourages volunteering and each teacher has a sign-up sheet of shifts they need covered. If you can't make your regular shift, you're supposed to find another parent to replace you. I have mixed feelings on this. Some parents do really well with the kids. Others don't. My son has brought home work before that was wrong and he said a parent helped him with it. Some people sign up for shifts that suit their schedules but not necessarily their strengths. For example, I would never sign up for a math center. Math is not my strength and I'm not good at explaining it to others. I try to sign up for spelling, reading or writing since those are my strengths. A few years ago, I did a weekly spelling center with 2nd and 3rd graders. The kids did different activities that included defining the words, finding the suffix or prefix, finding the root word, writing sentences, etc. Another mom also worked during this time because she could only work in the afternoons. The problem was, English wasn't her first language. We would sit outside and read our assignments until the teacher called us in. I would have to go over the spelling list and the activity instructions with the other mom to make sure she understood what to do. She often hadn't heard of some of the words on the list. When my son worked with her, he said he didn't understand some of what she said and she wasn't much help to the kids.

This was a case of a mom needing to sign up for something that fit into her schedule, not necessarily her strength. Working in the classroom wasn't mandatory. You could help with fundraisers, gardening, parking lot duty, etc. I figured it was up to the teacher to ask this mom to change assignments but she never did.

 

[java]

What is difficult is finding the line and not crossing it. I am not a teacher. I do what she tells me to. What made me a bit uncomfortable was when that line got blurred. When I was asked to help Child A get through a book writing project. Child A didn't have even an idea yet for their story. I didn't know exactly how much help I should be passing along. I always encouraged the child to do it themselves. I found if I gave an example 9 times out of 10 that was what the child would write about - so I had to stop giving examples. It was a lot of "what do you thinks?" It's quite difficult getting a child to use their imagination when they don't really know they have one. There were days that I cried in the car. Worried about them.

 

[dislaney]

Or is someone is needed in the classroom maybe volunteers shouldn't be allowed in their own child's classroom.

When my children were small, I volunteered but parents weren't allowed to volunteer in their children's classroom. It was the school's rule. I really enjoyed helping and really wouldn't have wanted to be in the same classroom that my children were in. I'm sure there was less drama that way!