Does your child's school allow parents to help in the classroom?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Leave it to the professionals. I want my children taught by professionals.

I was certified to teach 7-12, but I enjoyed working with elementary kids as a volunteer. In fact, I enjoyed it enough that I am looking into elementary certification in the future.

Is that professional enough, or should we not allow full time moms with an education background in the classroom to help out?

That's awesome, but what about the moms who barely finished high school (or didn't) or the lawyer moms who have no idea how to educate? (By way of disclosure, I'm a lawyer mom.)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Leave it to the professionals. I want my children taught by professionals.

I was certified to teach 7-12, but I enjoyed working with elementary kids as a volunteer. In fact, I enjoyed it enough that I am looking into elementary certification in the future.

Is that professional enough, or should we not allow full time moms with an education background in the classroom to help out?

That's awesome, but what about the moms who barely finished high school (or didn't) or the lawyer moms who have no idea how to educate? (By way of disclosure, I'm a lawyer mom.)

ha ha ha I'm also a lawyer mom.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Leave it to the professionals. I want my children taught by professionals.

How limiting. I know my kids can learn from people from all walks of life, not just the 'professionals'. In fact, the school janitor is one of the people I most admire at our school. He's so very kind and engaging. Many kids have learned a lot from him. Too bad you don't think non-professionals can be amazing teachers.

[Anonymous]

I was certified to teach 7-12, but I enjoyed working with elementary kids as a volunteer. In fact, I enjoyed it enough that I am looking into elementary certification in the future.

Is that professional enough, or should we not allow full time moms with an education background in the classroom to help out?

Great. You still don't need to volunteer in your child's class.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Leave it to the professionals. I want my children taught by professionals.

How limiting. I know my kids can learn from people from all walks of life, not just the 'professionals'. In fact, the school janitor is one of the people I most admire at our school. He's so very kind and engaging. Many kids have learned a lot from him. Too bad you don't think non-professionals can be amazing teachers.

OK, then I guess we don't need educated, certified teachers. We'll just have the custodial staff teach. It will be much cheaper.

Seriously, of course you can learn all kids of things from all kinds of people, but teaching is a profession. Teachers learn how to teach in college. It's not as easy as it looks.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Leave it to the professionals. I want my children taught by professionals.

How limiting. I know my kids can learn from people from all walks of life, not just the 'professionals'. In fact, the school janitor is one of the people I most admire at our school. He's so very kind and engaging. Many kids have learned a lot from him. Too bad you don't think non-professionals can be amazing teachers.

OK, then I guess we don't need educated, certified teachers. We'll just have the custodial staff teach. It will be much cheaper.

Seriously, of course you can learn all kids of things from all kinds of people, but teaching is a profession. Teachers learn how to teach in college. It's not as easy as it looks.

Just tell the teacher you don't want volunteers working with your child. I welcome volunteers in the classroom and don't mind them working with my kids. The teachers are professionals and I trust that they would only delegate when appropriate. My oldest DC is in 4th grade now and there has yet to be a question on his homework that I wouldn't have been able to help him with if needed. I'm sure that will change in older grades, but so far I don't see why volunteers can't be used to assist in the classroom.

[Anonymous]

I volunteer a lot at my kids' school. I do it so I can gauge how my kid feels in school, who their friends are, to get to know the teacher and the other parents, and most of the time I really enjoy it. Most kids are just so sweet, and it's nice to connect with them. My kids spend 35 hours a week there, I like to get a feel for the classroom environment. And teachers ask for the added benefit of the kids, it does not replace th teachers. Most of the moms that volunteer are nice.

[Anonymous]

I volunteer weekly in my child's K classroom and am room parent. The teacher and aid do not allow parents to directly work in the classroom, but rather they help with copying papers, filing, putting books together, etc. Getting art projects ready, cutting out things. More admin type stuff. I assume this is to keep parents from "gossiping" about the kids in the class.

[Anonymous]

Our school encourages it

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think you'd be surprised who actually gossips and who doesn't. They may not be gossiping about academics, but I see it all the time with parents gossiping about behavior in the classroom and typically it's from the teacher's pet mom.

Who cares if they gossip though? I am very grateful to the room moms. I work full time and don't have the time to volunteer. Even if I have all the time in the world, I know I won't have the patience to deal with the kids, the parents, and the teachers.

I gossip at work about clients and bosses too. Who cares?

Because they work eachother up and sometimes try to start little revolutions.

[Anonymous]

I volunteer monthly at the school, helping the teacher come up with a project idea for a lesson that the kids are learning like continents and oceans, harvest day, etc. I work full-time but I have time in the evenings. The kids love to help put the materials together. Plus, I reach out to the parents for basic stuff like newspapers, coffee filters, empty baby food jars, 2 liter bottles, etc. My actual time in the classroom each month is no more than 1.5 hrs so it isn't a major production to take off from work. We usu schedule the day for Thurs or Fri. I wish more parents would do it because the kids love that interaction and diversity. If you want to go to compare notes, then it isn't a good idea. For me, I genuinely like the children, enjoy being with DD, and truly want to help the teacher out. I was just there today. My 2nd grade DD told me that today was the best day ever for her this week and wrote about it. She loves that I am in there with her because she knows I work and am choosing to do all of that. I wouldn't have it any other way because time flies and I won't get this time back. I don't want to be saying 5 or 10 years from now, "I wish I had been more in tune or involved." Spending just an hour to an hour and a half a month in the classroom is a small contribution from me with HUGE rewards.

[Anonymous]

As a former teacher, I volunteered in my kids' classroom. I knew not to talk. Unfortunately, all parents do not know that. I heard terrible things about other kids from parents who volunteered. It is not worth the risk.

[Anonymous]

cont. One parent called me about our second graders' class. She was very disturbed and wanted to start a petition or rebellion of some type because the LD kids were mainstreamed into that class (along with the LD teacher.) It was team taught by the two.

[Anonymous]

I knew of another class where the teacher had a parent putting grades in the gradebook. Turned out she was a nutty parent and was changing the grades............same woman who wanted to start a rebellion against the LD kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think parents volunteering in order to gossip about kids is a total fabrication.

parents volunteering to gather information about other kids is not a fabrication whether or not they gossip about it.