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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]We have 3 kids, one in ES and two younger ones.  The ES kid seems to have some 'activity' we have to do every week in addition to homework.  Many times it involves getting some supply or going out for something we don't have.  For example, this week we're supposed to keep the class pet and take photos with him.  There's a book everyone writes in and put the photos.  Photos means a trip to target or some other place like it to stand in line and print them.  Last week we were supposed to come in to read a special story.  Then it's wear a certain thing day or print pictures of your family and do x.y.z. Next week it's bring things and volunteer for the holiday party. I don't mean to sound grinchy but do teachers not realize that parents have a zillion things to do and adding one more random errand to the mix for no real purpose is so irritating.  I only work very PT and I feel overwhelmed with all the stuff.  I can only imagine how people with more demanding jobs feel.  It also seems kind of insensitive to assume people have the time/resources to do all this.  I don't do everything they ask of course but I also don't want my kiddo to miss out so I do try to do as much as I can.  Thanks for letting me vent DCUM![/quote]

lower expectations on yourself -

-- photo with class pet - print out on home printer in color, you don't need an actual photo on photo paper

-- wear something specific - ask your kid to pick something out to wear, go with what he picks unless it's inappropriate, if he doesn't want to participate after you encourage it, be ok with that

-- story reading - it's an invite, not a summons, so if you can't do it, you can't do it, you won't be able to go to everything and you don't need to

-- bring things for party- volunteer for the easiest item and pick up on your grocery run

-- party volunteer - again it's an invite, not a summons[/quote]

Love this post. OP, heed this. These are not orders, they're requests, unless they're for an academic assignment, and even then, keep it simple (like printing out a photo on paper on your regular printer as mentioned above--no need to go stand in line for a printer somewhere. That's just making work for yourself.).

These things do drop away as kids get older; by around third to fifth grade there will be less that parents are asked to help with, fewer parent volunteers needed for class events, etc. But most kids do like to see a parent at school, participating at least once in a while. You don't have to read a book every time the opportunity comes up, and you don't have to be there in person for every class party and so on. But if you can do it consistently, though not often, it's good; it sends a signal to your kids that you value school too, and school is a place where you, not just your kids, are part of the group. If you give off a vibe that "it's all just a hassle" then your kids will pick up on that--not something you really want them to feel about school, right? .

As for supplies, I'd ask the teacher what to expect the rest of the year -- do we need to stock up on plain posterboard because it'll be used on a couple of things between now and June? And so on. Make yourself the other parents' hero and volunteer to get a list from the teacher and distribute it by e-mail to parents.

By the way, you mentioned how the teacher doesn't understand that these are more irritating errands and requests. Keep in mind, when it comes to things like parties etc. it's usually not the teacher asking for these things but a room parent, so please don't lay it at the teacher's feet if the teacher isn't the one organizing. And if the teacher IS the one having to arrange stuff like volunteering and contributions for parties, your class's parents need to organize a room parent system to take that stuff off the teacher's plate.[/quote]

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