[blparent] Volunteering in your child's classroom

Fri Sep 2 15:36:44 UTC 2016

I find it so ironic that schools do not want parents help because they are not qualified expert. I do know what you're talking about and I have heard this many times.  

We did homeschool our daughter from eighth grade to graduation.  I was a room mother or as they call them then parent liaisons. I saw the classrooms first hand and was very disappointed to see that my daughter didn't even have textbooks!  It was a middle-class school district with a budget of $8000 per student but they said they couldn't afford textbooks. This was the last straw for our decision to homeschool.

Our daughter got her diploma when she was 16! So much for not being qualified! I guess we did OK.

JODY 

thunderwalker321 at gmail.com

50 Years of STAR TREK

"Live Long and Prosper."

> On Sep 2, 2016, at 11:27 AM, Judy Jones via BlParent <blparent at nfbnet.org> wrote:
> 
> Hi, Bridgit, very interesting perspective.  I understand about school security, which is a good thing.  But what would concern me is not having the parent input, and the parents not being around so much to see what is actually being taught to the kids, the interactions and such.
> 
> Back when my girls were in school in the 90s, there were things taught then that were contrary to our beliefs and what we would promote in our home, but parents could see and interact.  More and more I'm becoming a proponent of home schooling as long as there are social outlets.
> 
> Our girls stayed 3 months in public school in their early high school, then asked to be home schooled.  Since I had already been checking out the resources, it was no problems for us to switch over, and we lived in an area where, for instance, home schoolers had gym class at the YMCA, and the public schools would allow home schoolers to participate in the extra-curricular activities.
> 
> I also was a teacher in the public schools before marrying, and I understand what you are saying about schools.
> 
> Thanks.
> 
> Judy
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: BlParent [mailto:blparent-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Bridgit Kuenning-Pollpeter via BlParent
> Sent: Friday, September 02, 2016 9:14 AM
> To: blparent at nfbnet.org
> Cc: Bridgit Kuenning-Pollpeter
> Subject: [blparent] Volunteering in your child's classroom
> 
> My son is only in preschool, but nowadays, schools rely little on parent volunteers. The exception is when there are school field trips or specific PTA activities. My mom has been a teacher for 30 years, so I've been given an ear-full through the years, grin.
> 
> Not to get political, but since the No Child Left Behind Act passed years ago, schools have cracked down on who helps and when. Teacher assistants, or paraeducators as they are now called, are required to have degrees. This used to be parents and people who enjoyed working with children but didn't necessarily have degrees in education. Now, by law, paras must have at least an Associates degree in education. They think a degree is necessary for an assistant to be effective. My grandma, who had an eighth-grade education and later received her GED, was a parent assistant when my mom was in school.
> Today, she would be laughed out of the classroom. I'm only 35, but I remember parents helping during class time with various things, and they were just parents wanting to help out.
> 
> In the public schools, they rarely want parents assisting in the classroom because we are not "experts," and do not have the necessary pedigrees to teach in any capacity. They now think this benefits children. Blind or sighted, it's not often a school will allow this kind of volunteer work.
> Plus, with all the increased security these days, they don't want to rely on volunteers much. They prefer few non-paid people are present on school grounds, making it easier to identify who belongs and who doesn't.
> 
> Public schools usually don't allow parents to bring food prepared at home.
> If you bring food for the class, it must be pre-packaged, whole fruit being an exception. When it was our turn to provide a snack for my son's class, we were told the usual info about no peanuts and stuff, but also, I could not make something myself. It had to be store-bought and sealed in a package. I remember when parents would make home-made goodies for class, but nowadays, you can't do this.
> 
> At least in our school district, if you want to volunteer to read to a class or give a presentation, you have to do it at the end of the calendar year, as they prepare the next year's calendar. I can't, say, in the beginning of the year request to read Braille books during October for Meet the Blind month. I would have to ask in May for the following school year. Smaller or private schools may be more lax on this, but the public schools are pretty strict about this stuff around here. I asked my mom about it, and she said yes, it's difficult to do some kind of presentation at a school without a lot of advance notice.
> 
> The only real volunteer experiences I've had the opportunity to assist with are field trips, and then, I'm expected to supervisor my own kid, but no one elses. I usually ignore this and help regardless, which has allowed teachers to realize I'm capable of doing it, but they usually don't think this at first. I have to demonstrate it. And schools take fewer field trips then they used too, especially in preschool, so even these opportunities are few and far between.
> 
> As my son grows older, perhaps more volunteering opportunities will be available, but in my experience, especially in public schools, they don't seem as common these days.
> 
> Bridgit
> 
> 
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