Now that school is back in session, I am sure many of you-- especially parents of elementary-aged students-- have been
hounded harassed encouraged to volunteer in your child's classroom. Many were asked to sign up as volunteers at the very beginning of the school year. However, now that the first quarter grades are about to go out, and the first of the school seasonal parties are about to begin
(as in the nebulous "Fall party", which usually mashes Halloween pumpkins and Thanksgiving turkeys into one non-denominational celebration), teachers may be requesting some help again to fill in the volunteer gaps. Or, maybe now that school is underway, you have realized that you want to be a bigger part of your child's school experience. Maybe because you want to
keep tabs on get to know better his/her teacher and classmates. Maybe you realized that volunteering is one of the best ways to keep up with how your child is progressing at school. Or maybe your child has asked you help out. Whatever your reason for wanting to volunteer, I know that this is sometimes easier said than done...
Volunteering can be hard to work into your schedule, particularly if you are a working parent. But do not fear, there are still many ways that you can contribute to the success of your child's classroom, even if you cannot carve out time in your week to be at school. My friend Carol, one of the administrators for the website National Nannies, has compiled an excellent list of 10 things that you can do to help out your child's teacher from home. You should take a moment and check out her suggestions:
Link to Carol's article on NationalNannies.com:
http://www.nationalnannies.com/blog/10-ways-working-moms-can-volunteer-at-school/
Aren't these great ideas?! You're child will be so excited that you have taken some time to devote to his or her class, and the teacher will be ever-so grateful as well. Please don't feel like you've missed your opportunity to volunteer-- it's never too late to offer a helping hand!
I live in the concession stand at my daughter's high school. When you volunteer to work concessions, you get a portion of the evening's profits into your child's band account which offsets the cost of the yearly trip or the cost of band camp (NO American Pie jokes, please). So I usually work every home varsity football game, several soccer games and some jv football games as well. The funds do add up and we really have fun working in that crazy place!
ReplyDeleteTeri
I used to love helping out in the school concession stand! It's really great that you can earn camp dollars for helping-- that's some serious incentive.
DeleteThanks! I do a number of those things. I also volunteer to correct the homework once a week, so I get into work a little late but that's fine with my co-workers!
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