Tips for Volunteering at Your Child’s School
When, Why, and How you should spend your time volunteering.
Cherylyn Feierabend
Listen
Tips for Volunteering at Your Child’s School
You’re listening to the Mighty Mommy with some Quick and Dirty Tips for Practical Parenting.
The day I wrote this, I took my daughter to her very first day of first grade. It’s a huge milestone for her. It’s a huge milestone for her daddy and me too. We took pictures, talked about behavior, and then recapped the day by going out to dinner and listening to her tell us all about her classroom, teacher, and friends. A couple of nights earlier, we all had gone down to the school to meet her new teacher. As usual, she gave us a sign-up sheet asking about our availability to volunteer. This year, I decided to think about it a little more and really decide what I want to do.
Tips for Volunteering at Your Child’s School
When you sign up for volunteer work at your child’s school, you generally have a few options. You can volunteer here and there. You can have a set schedule of once a week, or once a month, or something similar. You can sign up for special projects only, field trips, grading papers, or you can get yourself more involved by joining the PTA or another organization at the school. Knowing what to choose isn’t always easy. It helps to think about why you want to volunteer in the first place. If you want to volunteer because you have spare time and want to feel useful, you may want to volunteer for a couple of different things. Almost every school is always looking for volunteers to help in the classrooms, libraries, and, of course, with the PTA or similar committees. If your goal is to spend more time with your child, you’ll probably lean more toward getting involved in classroom activities. Some parents like to volunteer because they want to see what’s going on at school and being involved helps them gain information. For that type of volunteering, you should focus on the information you are trying to garner. Do you want to know what’s going on in the classroom, or are you more concerned with how the school is being run as a whole? Place yourself where you feel you can do the most good.
Make the Most of Your Volunteering Time
The next thing you will want to consider when choosing what volunteer work to sign up for is how much time you have to spare. As I mentioned before, if you have spare time, you might want to contribute in multiple areas or on multiple days. Last year I wasn’t working full-time and I volunteered weekly in my daughter’s classroom. I wanted to spend time with her so being in the classroom made sense. I volunteered one day per week only because I still had my son at home during the day. This year, I’m working full time and I want to volunteer in both my children’s classrooms, but I have much less time to offer. For me, once or twice a month is the only time I will actually have; therefore, I’ll want to spend it where I can be with my kids as much as possible, especially since I am missing out on time with them while I’m working. Make sure that you focus on where you want to spend your time and then make your commitment to it.
How to Decide How Much Time to Volunteer
Once you commit to volunteering or to a specific schedule, I believe you should do your best to stick to it. Schools need and appreciate any volunteers they can get. These days many families are made up of either single parents or two working parents–and so there isn’t always an abundance of people available to help out. And though you should do your best to make good on your commitments, you also need to do what is best for you and your family. Some people thrive on being busy and can take on extra projects left and right, whereas others become stressed and unhappy when they are under more pressure than they can handle. Know which type of person you are, or have your best friend tell you, and then make sure you plan accordingly. If you know that working the bake sale on Friday is going to have you rushing around like crazy because you have a doctor’s appointment that you scheduled three months ago and can’t be late for, you might want to consider skipping the bake sale this time. Be reasonable with what you can and can’t do. If you know that joining the PTA is going to have you attending meetings at night when you already work full-time during the day–and you’ll be missing out on quality time with your family–that might not be the right choice for you.
Finally, I highly recommend consulting with other family members before you make your final decision. You might be surprised what kind of input they have to offer. Maybe your husband would like you to spend more time at home instead of attending evening meetings about book fairs; or just the opposite, maybe he’ll think it’s a great way for you to connect with other moms and get involved socially. Gather your thoughts, your information, the input of your loved ones, and then fill out that volunteer sheet–or don’t. And remember, although it’s important to keep your promises as much as you can, most people understand that situations change, and if you have to make a change to your volunteering schedule down the road, be open and honest about it with whomever you are helping. They’ll understand and appreciate any help you’ve been able to give because as it is right now, a lot of parents don’t have the time to help out–so really, any assistance, no matter how small, is a wonderful thing.
I’m honored to be nominated in SheKnows.com’s Parents Choice Awards. Voting is now open! You can vote at https://sheknows.com. Mighty Mommy is listed in the “Audio” section under voting. It only takes a couple minutes and I’d truly appreciate your support.
https://www.sheknows.com/surveys/2010-sheknows-best-parenting-awards
That’s it for now. Thanks for listening.
If you’d like to request a topic for the Mighty Mommy you can e-mail me directly at mommy@quickanddirtytips.comcreate new email.
This is your friend the Mighty Mommy wishing you happy and fun parenting!
P.T.A. image courtesy of Shutterstock