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I know, sounds like a question a teen would post. Rest assured, I'm a parent of a young daughter.
I've noticed that certain people I know seem to spend a lot of time at their kids school. In my opinion, they don't have much else to do with their life. They "volunteer" to help the librarian or what have you.
I'm wondering, how many parents hang out at their kids school volunteering because they don't have much to do? Does the staff ever find a need to shoe these parents away?
I know, sounds like a question a teen would post. Rest assured, I'm a parent of a young daughter.
I've noticed that certain people I know seem to spend a lot of time at their kids school. In my opinion, they don't have much else to do with their life. They "volunteer" to help the librarian or what have you.
I'm wondering, how many parents hang out at their kids school volunteering because they don't have much to do? Does the staff ever find a need to shoe these parents away?
If a woman's husband has such a great job that she can hang out at her kids' school, why the heck wouldn't she??? How much Zumba can the average housewife take anyway?
Seriously, sometimes a mother does rub staff the wrong way, and it's tough to get rid of her. But so it goes.
I know, sounds like a question a teen would post. Rest assured, I'm a parent of a young daughter.
I've noticed that certain people I know seem to spend a lot of time at their kids school. In my opinion, they don't have much else to do with their life. They "volunteer" to help the librarian or what have you.
I'm wondering, how many parents hang out at their kids school volunteering because they don't have much to do? Does the staff ever find a need to shoe these parents away?
I would never shoo away a parent who was volunteering, whether that was helping the librarian, answering phones, or cutting out stuff. Now a parent just there to hover over their child is a whole new ball game and they need to leave.
I've noticed that certain people I know seem to spend a lot of time at their kids school. In my opinion, they don't have much else to do with their life. They "volunteer" to help the librarian or what have you.
Seriously?
I was a library volunteer for 18 years. I LOVE books, so it was a good match for me.
Three hours a weeks does in NO way mean that I don't have much else to do with my life.
I also ran a food bank for 10 years, volunteered at the local hospital, and served on many committees in my community and church.
I volunteered in the library at my kids school two or three times each week after school. My kids were in the library for different things, so why not help out if I am already going to be there. The librarian had 5 classes a day in her library 4 days per week. The teachers used library time as a prep period and were not in there with the class. The librarian would lead a workshop for each class, then the kids could turn in and check out books. Have you ever seen what happens when 30 kids are unleashed in a library with 20 minutes to find a book and check it out? Now multiply that by 5. So at the end of the day there were usually 2 carts full of books to be put away. Not to mention the books left here and there by the kids. Then there is book club and kids who need extra help reading after school for an hour. I loved helping a struggling reader after school. Many of those kids didn't have parent support at home and depended on the librarian and other volunteers to help them read. It took 3 hours a week of my time. The librarian really appreciated it. She was able to get other projects going for my kids and their classmates. She would have done that even if I didn't help. She would have done it on her time at home. Believe me, she invested a lot of her own time each week to my kids and their classmates.
When my son was in kindergarten I helped at the reading stations during class twice a week. Again, I loved helping the struggling readers. Watching those kids grow all year long was amazing. You get to know these kids and form a relationship that lasts outside of the classroom. I would see these kids frequently outside of school sports, scouts, community functions and social events. One little boy came to our home when there was an emergency at his house. He knew I was a safe person to ask for help. I was volunteering while I owned a small business. My husband coached sports and I was a scout leader.
Maybe I asked the wrong question. I value the work that volunteers do.
I'm wondering - have you ever ran into a parent who was a volunteer that you really wished wouldn't volunteer at the school? THe kind that isn't there to contribute but to follow their kids around and more gets in the way than helps out?
Maybe I asked the wrong question. I value the work that volunteers do.
I'm wondering - have you ever ran into a parent who was a volunteer that you really wished wouldn't volunteer at the school? THe kind that isn't there to contribute but to follow their kids around and more gets in the way than helps out?
No. When my son was little, I and several other parents volunteered at his school. As far as I know, we were all there to help the school, not follow our kids around. In fact, when I helped in my son's second grade science class, he and I rarely interacted with each other during the class. I interacted with him all the time at home. At his school I was interested in helping other kids learn to love science, too.
I know, sounds like a question a teen would post. Rest assured, I'm a parent of a young daughter.
I've noticed that certain people I know seem to spend a lot of time at their kids school. In my opinion, they don't have much else to do with their life. They "volunteer" to help the librarian or what have you.
I'm wondering, how many parents hang out at their kids school volunteering because they don't have much to do? Does the staff ever find a need to shoe these parents away?
Parents do this for several reasons and one of them is that they are bored but they also do it because they think their child will be given preferential treatment of if they are a presence at the school or so that they're close in case they need to intervene on the behalf of their child. It can be from boredom or a form of helicopter parenting. Some parents just can't let go. Some parents find their sense of self importance through their kids and the school as an extension of their kids. And some do it just because they think the school needs the help. There are a lot of reasons parents volunteer at school but I do think some volunteers need to be told to go home. There comes a point when it's intrusive to the education process.
Man, if I were a parent who was fortunate enough not to have to work full time, I'd absolutely volunteer as much as possible at my kids' school. I've been a teacher for years, and were I to not be, I'd really enjoy going in on a volunteer basis, helping with the things my skills already suit me to helping out with, and be able to walk out the door at the end of my experience with no further responsibility, because I'm not an employee, I'm a volunteer...best gig ever.
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