How can working parents spend more time in their child(ren)'s school?

We welcomed all the parents who could even for just an hour help with setting up for Reading Week. Helping in the evenings gives daytime working parents time to help and their children and the staff are always very pleased. Volunteer around your schedule of upcoming events. Thank you for any time you give. Even if it's once a year. :)

Join your PTA and work at as many non-work hour events as you can. Also make sure that your teachers know that you are willing to help with field trips, if your boss doesn't mind, as well as being a source of any other assistance you may be able to be. This can be getting supplies for the class or taking your childs fundraising information to work and seeing if your co-workers will help out.

Fullcircle,

Great ideas!

My daughter's school varies the times, and we definitely see different people on the Friday mornings versus the Wednesday or Thursday evenings. If it weren't for changing the days and times, some of these families couldn't be there at all.

I have found that parents with any kind of scheduling issues (young children, working outside the home, special-needs children, caring for elderly or infirm parents, money problems, transportation limitations, their own disabilties and so forth) will always find a way to become or remain involved in their child's school if involvement is a priority. If not, then the school or parent association must make intensive and tireless efforts to attract parents to opportunities for involvement that are intriguing, defined, limited and obvious to their children.

Our association inaugurated a free"build it night," with limited enrollment, in which the children constructed a birdhouse with their parent. It was a simple program, held on a Friday evening during the winter, chaired by a brand-new-to-the-school dad with a son who just started kindergarten. Registration for the program closed within a day.

In addition, one of our association officers just started a "Recess Fitness" program that parents can participate in during lunch. The parents do not need to commit regularly but merely sign up on a board in the lobby for whatever days they can join the activities. The parents then show up on that day during the first lunch recess at 11:20 and stay until 12:45 (or anything in between) and set up a fun, loosely organized game of kickball, hopscotch, newcomb, foursquare and the like so that children aren't excluded, game rules are taught, fitness is promoted and healthy interaction with the peers and their parents thrives. The para-professional staff that supervises recess is free to perform their overarching duties of safety and security and the children are kept active and skirmish-free.

We also alternate our association's monthly Wednesday meetings from 9:00 a.m. to 1:15 p.m. (which ends at dismissal and the parents take their children home) to 7:30 p.m. so that even working parents on shiftwork can attend at least 3 meetings a year.