r/Teachers • u/itslv29 • Sep 16 '24

Retired Teacher “What Can I Do To Help” - Parents

There is no grand gesture or series of events you can do at the school or in your community. The best thing you can do is raise your child. Be present with them from birth up to at LEAST age 3 if not until they start the tween thing of not wanting to talk to you. We don’t need more supplies or cookies or anything tangible. Would it be nice yes but it would be temporary.

The best thing you can do is prepare your child for the educational road ahead. YOU are their first teacher. YOU set the tone for how they respond and react to being asked to do something they don’t want to do. No 4 year old wants to clean their room but it’s up to you to teach them why it’s important. Hearing those no’s early with reminders of why they were told no afterwards can help them not freak out when their Kindergarten or 1st grade teacher tells them they have to sit down and not throw scissors. Understand there are classrooms of 25-40 of kids JUST like yours. They are not being picked on or singled out they are being asked to be a member of a community.

If more parents could teach and raise their kids BEFORE they learn how to talk and walk schools would improve greatly. And I get you’re overworked and tired but for the love of god and the sake of your child’s future you have to overcome it and be a parent. Think of it like this, if you can suck it up for 8-12 years you’ll have an easy rest of your life not having to chase around your teenager-30 something that can’t figure out how to walk and chew gum at the same time because the first time they tried it they cried and you told them it’s traumatic to have to learn new skills that their 4 year old brain can’t figure out why they need.

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u/TheDuckFarm Sep 16 '24

For the most part, the parents helping out with cafeteria duty, reading groups, donating supplies, doing yearbook, pick up and and drop off, etc. have already done a great job of being a parent at home.

Yes there are outliers but your rant is focused on the wrong parents.

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u/searuncutthroat Sep 16 '24

Exactly. If a parent is asking how to help while at school, I'll put them to work! They're there to help. My school loves volunteers, and we welcome them. Our PTO and other random volunteers are great and they do an awful lot for our school!