ProudGrandma Posted March 24, 2010 Share Posted March 24, 2010 Do you think that parents should be encouraged to be involved in their children's classrooms and not discouraged to do things like go a field trips with their young kids? My friend who has a 2nd and a Kinder in public school was actually told that she is not allowed to go on a field trip...she is not an overbearing parent and there are no other parents going...the field trip is to a play and she said she would buy her own ticket. There will be about 50 kids K-2nd grade with 4 adults. Does she have a right to be upset in your opinion??? This school is known for never inviting parents to anything...except school parties...but when you stop by (or call for "permission" ) to visit your childn's classroom, the teacher gets very upset...not just one teacher...but most of them are like this. We were wondering if this is "normal" PS behavior. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
myfunnybunch Posted March 24, 2010 Share Posted March 24, 2010 In my experience, teachers are often remarking that they could use more parental involvement, not less. Our neighborhood school is very welcoming to parents. Something is not right. In your friend's shoes, I'd be in the principal's office having a friendly conversation about how to increase parental involvement in the school. It could be in the case of the play that there are limited seats and they don't want to have to choose which parents can go and which parents can't, so they made a "no extra adults" policy for this particular field trip. But that doesn't explain the general resistance to parental involvement in the classroom. Cat Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mandamom Posted March 24, 2010 Share Posted March 24, 2010 In my experience, teachers are often remarking that they could use more parental involvement, not less. Our neighborhood school is very welcoming to parents. Something is not right. In your friend's shoes, I'd be in the principal's office having a friendly conversation about how to increase parental involvement in the school. It could be in the case of the play that there are limited seats and they don't want to have to choose which parents can go and which parents can't, so they made a "no extra adults" policy for this particular field trip. But that doesn't explain the general resistance to parental involvement in the classroom. Cat :iagree: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Night Elf Posted March 24, 2010 Share Posted March 24, 2010 I wouldn't like that policy. The elementary schools that my children attended over the years were never like that. They welcomed all the help they could get. I even volunteered in an elementary school before my first child was born so I wasn't even a school parent. And 50 kids with 4 adults? Egads! I would think those numbers are fine for individual classrooms, but I'm trying to picture that many 5 - 7 year olds in a public place under the supervision of only 4 teachers? Am I wong to think that's kind of unrealistic? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elise1mds Posted March 24, 2010 Share Posted March 24, 2010 That does strike me as odd. My DD attends a private Catholic school, so anyone who wants to volunteer has to go through special training (abuse awareness and prevention), but that is all, and it only applies to people who will be working with children in groups. Parents who want to go on field trips with their own kids are never denied, though we frequently do pay our own way. And there was one time where there was only a limited number of seats, so parents who paid first got them, but even then, we weren't told we couldn't go. I would be asking why I'm not "allowed" to go and maybe buy my own ticket and go anyway and watch from a distance. But I'm contrary like that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T'smom Posted March 24, 2010 Share Posted March 24, 2010 When I was a PS teacher, we had issues on field trips with parental behavior- there was drinking, swearing, separating their kids from the rest of the group, generally being unpleasant to kids that weren't in their kids' clique, and so on. I TOTALLY understand a teacher not wanting parents around. Now- as a parent, I'd be irritated. But, that's why I'm going to homeschool! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GWOB Posted March 24, 2010 Share Posted March 24, 2010 Our local school just wants parents to raise money for the school. When we moved and I requested a school visit, they acted as though no one had ever done that before. They do not want parents involved in anything other than fund-raising. I pulled my kids out. Now, at our previous school, parents were welcomed and encouraged to get into the classroom. I was a room mom for my dd's k class and there were weekly opportunities for volunteering. If you wanted to, you could be in class 3 days a week. It was fabulous. That school district is thriving, while our local one is floundering. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jujsky Posted March 24, 2010 Share Posted March 24, 2010 Do you think that parents should be encouraged to be involved in their children's classrooms and not discouraged to do things like go a field trips with their young kids? My friend who has a 2nd and a Kinder in public school was actually told that she is not allowed to go on a field trip...she is not an overbearing parent and there are no other parents going...the field trip is to a play and she said she would buy her own ticket. There will be about 50 kids K-2nd grade with 4 adults. Does she have a right to be upset in your opinion??? This school is known for never inviting parents to anything...except school parties...but when you stop by (or call for "permission" ) to visit your childn's classroom, the teacher gets very upset...not just one teacher...but most of them are like this. We were wondering if this is "normal" PS behavior. From what I understand, it totally depends on the school. My friend had a bad experience in her son's first first-grade class. He went to a different school for Kindergarten (also in the district) and she was a volunteer all the time. They loved her! Then for first grade at the new school they didn't seem to want ANY parental involvement. She tried to volunteer several times, and was always told, "No thanks." Her son had a lot of issues with that teacher so they switched him to another school in-district, and they loved having volunteers at that school. She told me there are usually 4 or 5 parents helping in her son's class and that the kids there are flourishing. So yeah -- this can happen even in 2 different schools in the same district. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrs Mungo Posted March 24, 2010 Share Posted March 24, 2010 If you really wanted to have cupcakes with your son, why not pull him out for lunch? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lionfamily1999 Posted March 24, 2010 Share Posted March 24, 2010 Our ps has the parents sign a two hour commitment sheet promising to volunteer at least two hours during the school year. Very few of the sheets are returned, but they're trying to make it seem mandatory... How interesting to read that someone wants to volunteer and is being told "no." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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