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Parental Involvement

nah82nah82 member
edited August 2013 in Pre-School and Daycare
I signed my son up for preschool for the first time for this fall and I have zero experience with this, so I am just curious.  How involved are parents expected to be at your school?  I expected to attend special occasions like Mother's Day, help out every so often, bring in a snack on his birthday, help enforce lessons at home, etc., but after attending the first parent meeting and getting our list of expectations, it seems like our program is asking a lot.

It is a new program taking place at a church.  There are 6 kids in the class.  One teacher for 6 kids is a legal ratio in our state, but the church has a rule that there must be at least 2 adults present, so there is to be a parent helper each day, and we will all be assigned our days on the class calendar.  Class meets twice a week, so with only 6 kids in the class, each month at least two of the six moms will have to be class helper twice.  Plus the special events like Mother's Day, Father's Day, and at least 4 field trips where the parents are required to transport and accompany their child.

I am fortunate that I work from home and can rearrange my schedule, but I will have to find a babysitter for my 18 month old on my helper days.  I don't know how a working parent would ever be able to fulfill so many class helper obligations throughout the whole school year, though.  Is this the norm?
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Re: Parental Involvement

  • nah82nah82 member
    cmeon_the_water said:
    That sounds like a co-op, it would definitely be considered normal for that type of preschool (and generally, the lower prices of co-ops reflect the higher dependency on parents).
    That might explain why this one was $15 less per month compared to another one I had considered.
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  • nah82nah82 member
    Thanks for the reassurance, I was feeling like a lazy parent thinking that this was maybe a little over the top.  I enrolled him in preschool to help him socialize and start to feel comfortable without me there ALL the time, and also so I would have a little one on one time at home with little brother.  Being class mom so often and leaving little bro with a babysitter will be kind of taking away from both of those objectives.
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  • shannmshannm member
    No, that is not the norm. DS went to a school that also expects parental and family involvement last year but not like that. They are clearly not concerned about working parents.
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  • meg1974meg1974 member
    That's not normal at our school, or any others I am aware of in our area. There are around 20 kids in DD's class (which is a little higher than normal) and two teachers, plus the administrator who helps out a lot. Parents are encouraged to volunteer, but are not required to do anything; even holidays like Mother's Day are optional. With that many kids and teachers, having a parent around all the time would probably get in the way anyway.

    I've thought about volunteering, but I, too, would have to find care for my other child and/or take off work (I work part-time). I also wonder if it would be the best thing for DD b/c she is kind of shy and might cling to me all day, not allowing me to really be of any help.


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