Room/class parents

[Cami]

I think a few of us on here are room moms or are helping out in our kids' classrooms. I thought it might be nice to have a place to share ideas during the school year.

To start off...

*What are you supposed to do as room parent? Are the responsibilities spelled out for you or do you decide on your own what to do for the class?

*How much communication do you have with the teacher?

*What (if anything!) are you working on/planning now?


(should this go somewhere else? i just realized preschools have room parents too.)

[TtownAnne]

I was chosen as one (C's kindergarten class has 3-4 so not all the tasks fall on one person) - our first meeting with the teacher to lay out all these details is tomorrow so I will answer all of this after then. :)

[Cami]

*What are you supposed to do as room parent? Are the responsibilities spelled out for you or do you decide on your own what to do for the class?

We have a room mom coordinator who met with all the room moms a couple of weeks ago. We're supposed to organize the Christmas, Valentine's Day, Easter, End of Year parties, and do a birthday party for the teacher and assistant. We also are supposed to create an item to be auctioned at the school's fall dinner fundraiser.

But Coordinator Mom said that each teacher is different with the help they need. Some don't really need parents to do anything because they do it themselves, some let the assistant do it, some want to tell parents what to do, others want to leave it up to the parents. That's where I feel stuck. A's teacher is nice and says, "oh, whatever help you can give" which is such vague guidance as to what we should do. I'm not sure how to get more specific directions from her!

*How much communication do you have with the teacher? I don't want to bother the teacher incessantly but I also want to know that I (and other parents) are available to help. I've emailed her a couple of times with specific questions and told her a few times to let us know what we can help with. But I don't have any regular communication set with her. Maybe i should?

*What (if anything!) are you working on/planning now? We have to create our class's auction item by the end of Oct. I'm talking with the other helpers to decide on that now. I think we're going to have a pottery place create a birdbath and have the kids each paint a decoration to go on the birdbath... like pottery leaves... one of the moms described this to me and it sounded really nice.

Next we have to plan the Christmas party.

Thought of another question~ do you have help? We have three assistant room moms.

[Nichole]

I'm a room mom and I'll be volunteering in the classroom on Thursdays. There are 3 other moms that volunteered to be room mom, so we'll get to share duties. :aok:

We haven't met with the teacher yet, so I don't really know any specifics yet. I'll answer your questions when I do. :)

[Karri]

Aidan's teacher is young and new at the school and decided that she didn't want to go the traditional kindy route of room parent(s) and she just had us fill out volunteer slips - what we were interested in, available for, etc. Then she coordinated it all herself. We (all room volunteers) start in October. She gave us a calendar and has 1 person for each day of the month (i think about 1/2 of the moms are volunteering). We'll get a new calendar for the next month at the end of this month. Our time in the room is a 2 hr shift, but we don't have to be there the whole time if we can't.
*What are you supposed to do as room parent? Are the responsibilities spelled out for you or do you decide on your own what to do for the class?
We can decide if we want to work w/ the kids or work on some classroom prep.

*How much communication do you have with the teacher?
If she needs help, she lets us know via notes in our child's folder. When we get to the class to volunteer, either she talks to us or has a detailed note for us.

[TtownAnne]

I'll be helping in the classroom on Monday mornings, according to the note I got home today.

[Nichole]

From what I understand, room parents here are sort of liaisons between the teacher and the rest of the parents in the class. We're responsible for coordinating parties, getting the teacher gifts, coordinating field trip volunteers, etc. It's separate from helping out in the classroom with prep work, etc.

[Silke]

From what I understand, room parents here are sort of liaisons between the teacher and the rest of the parents in the class. We're responsible for coordinating parties, getting the teacher gifts, coordinating field trip volunteers, etc. It's separate from helping out in the classroom with prep work, etc.
:nod: down to the "T"

[TtownAnne]

*What are you supposed to do as room parent? Are the responsibilities spelled out for you or do you decide on your own what to do for the class? We're in charge of all class parties (Harvest - not Halloween!; Thanksgiving, Valentine's Day), as well as organizing and helping with some Christmas and Easter activities. Gingerbread houses and classroom door decorating for Christmas, the "Last Supper" meal just before Easter break. We also have to decide what to do for the Kindergarten basket at basket bingo and arrange something nice for Teacher Appreciation Week sometime in April.

*How much communication do you have with the teacher? As much as we need or want. We see her every day at pick-up time so we can ask her anything or email her.

*What (if anything!) are you working on/planning now? The harvest party. I'm in charge of snacks/treats for this one, and I found today that our Dunkin Donuts will give me a 10% discount if I get a bunch of Munchkins and hot chocolate for the class! (yes, parents, I checked that there are no peanut allergies in our class since DD is not nut-free)

[Karly]

I haven't heard about anything like this for Tyrus' school. However, tomorrow, I did volunteer to help drive him and a few of his classmates to their first field trip at the apple orchard. I would love to know about a way to more formally volunteer. Everytime I've asked his teacher about how to go about something, she's been super easy to talk with, but I'm seeming to have to ask the questions rather than having the questions answered first, which is the way I prefer! :lol:

[Alyssa]

Our school has room parents, class volunteers and school volunteers. I didn't say I'd be a room parent - which appears to be all about coordination of parties - but I did say I'd be a class volunteer to either staff or bring things in for parties. And then for school volunteering, I said I'd do special occasions since most of the weekly tasks fall to when I work. :sad:

[Joan]

I'm not sure if it is a regional thing or the schools I've worked in, but I've never had a room parent. It sounds like a great idea! I'd love it. Sean is in a private school and his homeroom has 3 parents, but this is the first time.

[MamaGoofy]

I would love to be a room mom but since I have to work it's not really possible.

[LISA]

Paige's school has teachers aid's.. teachers that are in school/College helping out and it's a good thing 'cause I don't speak french at all and would be pretty useless :lol:

[Connie1222]

We don't have anything like that here either. I did sign up at the PTA meeting to volunteer for upcoming events, but that's for the whole school, not just Jack's class. I usually volunteer to chaperone school trips if I can bring Patrick with me. The school is also starting Parents as Reading Partners soon, where parents can come into the classroom on the firat Friday of ever month to read to the kids.

Karly, you should get in touch with the PTA to find out about volunteering.