You’ve gotten some pretty good answers already. It is great to haver parental involvement, but you do have to monitor it closely and set up guidelines from the start. I have had very good experiences and very bad ones, you really can’t predict the outcome. It might be best to go with the prinicpal’s policy, because overall, the principal is your boss.

I think it really depends on how the volunteers are used. My administrator encourages parent volunteers, and the volunteers MUST go through training before they can start working in the classroom. This includes going over confidentiality.

Given the shortage of assistants in so many schools, volunteers are a blessing. They’re not going to have the formal training that teachers have, but the fact that they’re there in the first place shows they’re dedicated to helping students. Last year I had a parent volunteer who let me know what she observed through working with a child one-on-one, and that information was really beneficial in helping me place this child in the EC program.

I think that parent volunteers are great to work with individual students on things they’re struggling with. They’re also great for students who honestly just need a little one-on-one attention. Having the volunteer be a reading buddy helps with this a lot. I wouldn’t feel comfortable having parents in the classroom on a regular basis while I was teaching though- I’d prefer they work with students individually in a quieter setting. Volunteers are also great when you’re doing a special project that requires an extra set of grownup hands.

If I were you, I’d explain your intentions for using volunteers to your principal and ask how she thinks this would be best implemented. You should also ask her why she doesn’t like the idea of volunteers in the child’s room so you know for yourself why her stance is what it is.

I think that is really unusual that a principal wouldn’t let parents volunteer. I am not sure why they wouldn’t want parents to help out. I love parents in my room and at my school that is what makes the school function. If I were a parent I would want to be able to come into the room and see what is going on all day with my child. Some teachers really don’t like parents in because they like to check on you once or twice and then you never see them again. If you are good teacher and have nothing to hide then it shouldn’t be a problem. I always tell parents they have to wait 2 weeks to come in so, I can establish rules with the kids. I love parent help and highly recommend doing it. It is sad to pass up on the help unless you are a school with a lot of money to pay aides to help out. Some teachers like a schedule which makes sense, but I let them come by whenever. Some parents will need a schedule i.e.) every Tuesday at 10am. I will take the help whenever they find the time and that is just what works for me. Re: your administrator that is really sad. The kids are missing out and that it is not best for the kids.

The same parent is consistently in their child’s classroom could cause some problems – the child could become needy to the parent, there could be weirdness with the teacher’s authority, other kids could wonder why. Imagine a control-freak parent that would try and step in during class, stuff like that. All of these reasons you’ve put forward are valid ones.

I think it’s great to volunteer at school – in my experience, I’ve enjoyed working with parents *after* school, getting things ready for an event, helping me in the classroom, stuff like that. Or during special events, where extra hands are clearly needed. But it can put a kink the routine if they are there while you’re teaching. Imagine some person standing around, while you’re at work. They want to help, you want to let them help, but it can slow you down.

if your principal is against it I will guarantee that it is because of bad experiences in the past.

sometimes a group of parents will try to get together and “run the school” and if they have a lot of money (like they operate the parent fundraisers and control how that money gets used!) then they can be very difficult to oppose.

That doesn’t mean that you will experience any problems though. Have some good guidelines that you type up and hand out. Have a litle orientation coffee or something, making it clear that you are setting th parameters.

You should be able to pull this off with some common sense. One warning: on the day of the “big project” that you really need them the most, at least one parent will cancel out at the last minute or just not show up!

The school board makes the rules about this. I’d just contact them to discuss this. If you need the contact information for your school board, you can look up your county’s website. It should be there. If not, ask for the information from the school’s secretary.

Some schools have information regarding this in their “rules of conduct”. Every student is supposed to be given a copy at the beginning of the school year.

Most schools don’t allow parent participation just because they can be sued if that parent does anything to harm a student while they are in the school.

The reason most parents are not allowed to “help out” in their own kid’s class is because it would cause a conflict for the kid. “Who is in charge??” The parent could undermine the teacher’s authority just by telling their own kid to be quiet or by disciplining their own kid. The teacher has to have authority in the classroom. If the kids see someone else with authority in the classroom, it will make them less likely to respond to the teacher’s discipline.

That’s strange. I’m a high school teacher and I’m encouraged to include parents in any possible way that I can. So, it’s surprising that your school has this practice. What you can do is send out a weekly newsletter to keep parents informed, and then invite them in to help for parties.

One reason that I can think of for your principal’s views is that the parent would be taking over the role of an instructional assistant. The parents might not be educated up to par with the standards of NCLB, and they could be essentially using up someone else’s job.

By keeping in touch, the parents will feel so appreciated.

Yes, just make sure that your expectations are clear as to what you want the parents to do. Do you want them to help you record grades? Do you want them to read to the kids? Do you want them to put up bulletin boards? Basically it is important to have a plan before they come to your room to help. The reason for this is that parents will judge you and they want to know you are on the ball with organization. This can be a really positive experience.

Above all else, always go with what makes your administator happy. Making your boss unhappy is the biggest no-no of all because when you need her in your corner you will need to be thought of as loyal and trust worthy!

Volunteers are great as long as your a very specific and plan ahead.Some children can’t handle having their parents a few feet away from them. For those kids have their parent work in the lounge. I have also had parents in the past who are “know it alls” or very interuptive to have in the classroom-send them to the lounge as well or send things home for them to work on.

She is a control freak or does not want to deal with any kind of liability that could result from having parents there. At our school we welcome our parent volunteers and have a parent volunteer breakfast where we give out prizes and show them how much they are appreciated.