[blparent] volunteering in your child's school

[dawn stumpner]

Hi, Ronit!
     It can feel daunting sometimes, but I have had several good 
experiences volunteering in my 3 sons' schools throughout the 
years.  I have done the blindness / braille-related things like 
showing the class how to write on a brailler, bringing in some of 
my books and talking clocks, giving them little messages to 
decode in braille with a braille alphabet key, etc.  This always 
went over really well.  I have also taught little mini Spanish 
lessons, which I did once or twice a week for the whole year for 
a couple of my kids' classrooms.  If you have traveled to 
different countries or states, you can let the teacher know that 
if they will be studying any of these in social studies, you 
would be happy to talk about them and show pictures.  I did this 
about Thailand, for example.  I teach English to foreign 
students, so I have also brought them in for social studies to do 
an around-the-world morning with the kids.  Sometimes there is a 
career day where you can come in and talk about your career, or 
you may have other talents or skills to share in science or other 
classes such as gardening, fun little science projects, art, 
sewing, etc.  I helped a kid who needed regular practice with 
spelling and math in the early grades get some one-on-one help 
once a week.  I also came in to read to four or five 
Kindergarteners on a regular basis when my oldest was in 
Kindergarten, and this was fun, but I enjoyed it less because it 
was sometimes hard to tell in the library when one of their 
attention spans was beginning to ebb or if someone was about to 
wander off, so it was distracting while I was reading.  They were 
high-energy and 5-6 years old.  I was asked to volunteer helping 
a group of boys during their writing time, but I didn't enjoy 
this.  I mentioned it might not be a good match because I 
couldn't see what they were writing, but the teacher said I could 
just ask the boys to read what they were writing and help give 
them ideas.  Again, they were young and high-energy, and they 
sometimes drew inappropriate or violent pictures from video 
games, which I didn't always know right away, etc.  I didn't feel 
as useful doing this, but I did give it a try for 7 or 8 weeks.  
I mention this last one just to illustrate that it's good for you 
to figure out what your strengths are, what you feel comfortable 
with, and what needs the teacher has in the classroom, and try to 
pick something you feel good doing and fairly comfortable with.  
You will probably enjoy getting a close-up perspective of your 
child's classroom activities, and your child will enjoy having 
you come in and spend time with the class, too.  Happy 
volunteering!
   Dawn