Let's Get More Parents Volunteering in the Classroom
http://www.educationbuzz.net/articles/9685/1/Lets-Get-More-Parents-Volunteering-in-the-Classroom/Page1.html
Stephanie Foster
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Published on 12/12/2011
One of the simplest ways to improve schools may be to get more parents volunteering in the classrooms. How can we do that?
This has been an interesting school year for my kids and I, and it's only just beginning. My children are enrolled in a district owned charter school, and in order to guarantee admission I had to agree to do 50 hours of volunteer work at the school this year. There aren't any requirements for future school years, or any opportunities for parents to volunteer their services to get their children into the school for in the future. This was a one time deal as the school got started.
Fifty hours may sound like a lot, but it really isn't that bad. The school gives a lot of opportunities to earn hours, but of course what they want most is parents volunteering in the classroom. I'm comfortably on track to get my hours in, probably with a healthy margin over. That's despite the disadvantage of having a two year old at home who cannot be in the classroom with me. If she comes along, I'm restricted to certain activities in a room set up for preschool aged siblings to play while their parents do paperwork and such. On the plus side, going along on field trips counts.
Can you imagine how much this is helping the teachers at our school? It's pretty significant. They can come up with projects which need a lot of extra help for the students, and have a good chance of a number of parents coming in to help. Teachers may have multiple parents helping at one time, allowing them to focus more on individuals and more readily assess individual skills and needs.
Especially in the lower elementary levels, it's not terribly hard to help the teachers in the class. I've read with kindergarten and first grade students, helped with math and supervised students in the computer lab. You don't have to know as much as the teacher; you just have to know what kind of help the teacher is expecting from you.
Of course, parents have to be discrete when helping in the class. No gossiping about how well this student or that is performing or the troubles another student is having. Talk about your own student, fine, let your friends talk about their students, fine, but let the teacher handle the parts relating to his or her job.
How Do You Encourage More Parents to Volunteer?
It's not always easy for parents to volunteer at their child's school. Employers don't always make it easy to get time off. Schools aren't always welcoming of volunteers. Stay at home moms may have younger children to care for, and no one to give them a break to go help at the school. It really isn't easy.
The most important thing in my opinion is that the school be welcoming of parent volunteers. This is something you need from both office administration and individual teachers. If parents don't feel welcome when they help at the school, it's just not going to happen much, no matter whether they have the time available.
One suggestion I read is for schools to offer a parent's resource center. This is a place for parents to learn about parenting and school issues.
Schools do face some legitimate and/or perceived issues with encouraging more parental involvement, especially in poorer areas. These include:
* Lack of parent education to help with schoolwork,
* Cultural or socioeconomic differences,
* Language differences between parents and staff,
* Parent attitudes about the school,
* Staff attitudes toward parents, and
* Concerns about safety in the area after school hours.
from: http://nces.ed.gov/surveys/frss/publications/98032/index.asp?sectionid=7
These are difficult obstacles to handle. It's very difficult for a parent to help a teacher in class if they don't have a language in common, for example.
For parents, some issues are more easily overcome than others. A stay at home parent with small children, for example, may be able to find another at home parent who will be willing to trade childcare so that both can sometimes go in and volunteer. This has the added benefit of getting the younger siblings together to play. Alternatively, the school may do as mine does and come up with conditions that allow parents to bring small children along when they volunteer. Many won't be willing to have the sibling in the classroom, as preschoolers may be too much of a distraction to the regular students, but I've read to students with my preschooler alongside, which I think was beneficial. More exposure to reading for the little one.
Parents whose jobs get in the way face greater barriers. Some employers will be understanding, but others won't. Even so, there may be opportunities to get involved in extracurricular activities on weekends or other times they don't have to be at work.
What Are the Benefits of More Parental Involvement?
Before I get going on this, I would note that parental involvement means more than just volunteering at school. It's about encouraging your student to be a good student, to take challenging classes and get high grades. It's checking homework at night. Joining the PTA or PTO. Reading to your child. Insisting on good behavior.
These things have benefits. When parents are really involved with their children's education, their children can:
* Get better grades and test scores.
* Graduate from high school at higher rates.
* Are more likely to go on to higher education.
* Are better behaved and have more positive attitudes.
from: http://www2.ed.gov/pubs/PFIE/families.html
While being in the classroom isn't going to give all these benefits to all the students in the class, I would say it's way to show all the class, not just your own child, how much you value their education. That's a worthwhile goal.
Fifty hours may sound like a lot, but it really isn't that bad. The school gives a lot of opportunities to earn hours, but of course what they want most is parents volunteering in the classroom. I'm comfortably on track to get my hours in, probably with a healthy margin over. That's despite the disadvantage of having a two year old at home who cannot be in the classroom with me. If she comes along, I'm restricted to certain activities in a room set up for preschool aged siblings to play while their parents do paperwork and such. On the plus side, going along on field trips counts.
Can you imagine how much this is helping the teachers at our school? It's pretty significant. They can come up with projects which need a lot of extra help for the students, and have a good chance of a number of parents coming in to help. Teachers may have multiple parents helping at one time, allowing them to focus more on individuals and more readily assess individual skills and needs.
Especially in the lower elementary levels, it's not terribly hard to help the teachers in the class. I've read with kindergarten and first grade students, helped with math and supervised students in the computer lab. You don't have to know as much as the teacher; you just have to know what kind of help the teacher is expecting from you.
Of course, parents have to be discrete when helping in the class. No gossiping about how well this student or that is performing or the troubles another student is having. Talk about your own student, fine, let your friends talk about their students, fine, but let the teacher handle the parts relating to his or her job.
How Do You Encourage More Parents to Volunteer?
It's not always easy for parents to volunteer at their child's school. Employers don't always make it easy to get time off. Schools aren't always welcoming of volunteers. Stay at home moms may have younger children to care for, and no one to give them a break to go help at the school. It really isn't easy.
The most important thing in my opinion is that the school be welcoming of parent volunteers. This is something you need from both office administration and individual teachers. If parents don't feel welcome when they help at the school, it's just not going to happen much, no matter whether they have the time available.
One suggestion I read is for schools to offer a parent's resource center. This is a place for parents to learn about parenting and school issues.
Schools do face some legitimate and/or perceived issues with encouraging more parental involvement, especially in poorer areas. These include:
* Lack of parent education to help with schoolwork,
* Cultural or socioeconomic differences,
* Language differences between parents and staff,
* Parent attitudes about the school,
* Staff attitudes toward parents, and
* Concerns about safety in the area after school hours.
from: http://nces.ed.gov/surveys/frss/publications/98032/index.asp?sectionid=7
These are difficult obstacles to handle. It's very difficult for a parent to help a teacher in class if they don't have a language in common, for example.
For parents, some issues are more easily overcome than others. A stay at home parent with small children, for example, may be able to find another at home parent who will be willing to trade childcare so that both can sometimes go in and volunteer. This has the added benefit of getting the younger siblings together to play. Alternatively, the school may do as mine does and come up with conditions that allow parents to bring small children along when they volunteer. Many won't be willing to have the sibling in the classroom, as preschoolers may be too much of a distraction to the regular students, but I've read to students with my preschooler alongside, which I think was beneficial. More exposure to reading for the little one.
Parents whose jobs get in the way face greater barriers. Some employers will be understanding, but others won't. Even so, there may be opportunities to get involved in extracurricular activities on weekends or other times they don't have to be at work.
What Are the Benefits of More Parental Involvement?
Before I get going on this, I would note that parental involvement means more than just volunteering at school. It's about encouraging your student to be a good student, to take challenging classes and get high grades. It's checking homework at night. Joining the PTA or PTO. Reading to your child. Insisting on good behavior.
These things have benefits. When parents are really involved with their children's education, their children can:
* Get better grades and test scores.
* Graduate from high school at higher rates.
* Are more likely to go on to higher education.
* Are better behaved and have more positive attitudes.
from: http://www2.ed.gov/pubs/PFIE/families.html
While being in the classroom isn't going to give all these benefits to all the students in the class, I would say it's way to show all the class, not just your own child, how much you value their education. That's a worthwhile goal.