Growing up, did you have a "class parent"? I don't remember anything of that sort!
Would love to be involved on that level in my kids school. But I don't foresee being a SAHM full time a possibility!
Growing up, did you have a "class parent"? I don't remember anything of that sort!
Would love to be involved on that level in my kids school. But I don't foresee being a SAHM full time a possibility!
nectarine / 2085 posts
No, I don't remember having one. What's the nature of this role in most schools? In the preschool we were at the class mom planned parties and collected money for class gifts to the teachers. It didn't seem like much fun to me, to be honest.
grapefruit / 4321 posts
My mom was usually the one to help with parties and chaperone field trips because she was a SAHM but she didn't have any formal title like that.
GOLD / wonderful pomegranate / 28905 posts
@honeybear: no clue! Didn't even know it was a thing at the grade level till the blog post.
cherry / 180 posts
nope, and haven't heard of anything like that here. possibly a regional thing or a private/secondary school thing.
cantaloupe / 6885 posts
Nope, never heard of it, either as a kid myself or as a teacher today
persimmon / 1379 posts
Our school has them, but I am fairly sure that their only responsibility is to email parents when the teacher has something they want shared. It isn't a big job and doesn't involve anything in the classroom.
pomelo / 5258 posts
Yes, my mom was class parent for both my kindergarten class and my brother's. It was a Catholic school. She hated the 1st grade teacher so she didn't continue. I think I remember my grandma being a class parent back in her day too, also Catholic school.
We switched to public school in 2nd grade and my mom was effectively the classroom mom through elementary but I don't remember her having a title. She was always doing something for the teachers or the class.
cantaloupe / 6669 posts
I think it may be regional. There was always a "room mom" growing up and they have them at our preschool.
watermelon / 14206 posts
Nope. I first learned of it when D started kindergarten. It's not something I'm interested in doing, either.
honeydew / 7488 posts
I have no idea if I had it growing up, but my mom was involved a lot in the school.
I don't think you have to be a SAHM to be room parent though.. the lady who does it now for my DD's 1st grade class is a nurse. She doesn't even make it to all of the events. She just coordinates the events, communicates home with notes, gets parents to sign up for stuff, collects money, etc. There is a core group of parents in the class that always helps out though.
grapefruit / 4355 posts
I had class parents in the lower grades of elementary school (public school).
grapefruit / 4085 posts
Yes, we had them
Growing up. They would usually help out on field trips, parties and other special events. My mom worked but she was able chaperone some trips.
grapefruit / 4663 posts
We had them in the Midwest, they chaperone field trips and help the teacher arrange parties.
GOLD / wonderful pomegranate / 28905 posts
@T-Mom: wow - she's wonder mom! Hahah I can't imagine coordinating all that with a FT job!
pomegranate / 3791 posts
I'm in the Midwest and have never heard of this until recently, it's not a thing in my area. We had some PTA moms but they weren't there all the time and it was for the whole school.
I probably would have hated it if my mom was there that often - she was a substitute teacher and would occasionally sub for our class. It was cool every now and then, but I'm glad she ended up getting a job at a different school. I was a good kid, but I liked my space.
honeydew / 7488 posts
@regberadaisy: her son in my DD's class is her 3rd and youngest, so maybe she is a pro by now? There are so many opportunities to participate as a parent though, even without being room parent. I'm sure there will be a ton of ways for you to be involved!
pineapple / 12053 posts
@T-Mom: @regberadaisy: my mom was a crazy Wonder Woman. I don't think she slept. She was PTA president with 3 kids and held down a FT job. I get tired thinking about it.
pomegranate / 3113 posts
Nope, never heard of it until recently. But SAHPs were extremely rare where I grew up -- pretty much all parents I knew worked outside the home whether they had to financially or not -- so it's not like they could have easily been there much during school hours.
grapefruit / 4049 posts
The term is "room parent" here in SoCal now! I was one when DD1 was in TK (in a Jewish school). I didn't know what it meant at first, but I volunteered because I happened to be one of the only parents in my DD's class who attended a school-wide meeting at the start of the year when the director was asking for parents to sign up. We were new to the school and area and I thought it would be a good way to get to know other parents/families. There were two room parents for each class, so the tasks were shared. We mainly acted as liaisons between the teacher and parents and went to meetings with director and other room parents from other classes monthly. We coordinated holiday and teacher appreciation gifts. We also helped throw some class parties and made cookie dough for the kids to bake at Passover.
I just got asked to be room parent next year... This time it's for DD2 and we're in a Catholic school now. All parents have a 30 hours/year volunteer service hours quota to fulfill anyway, so being room parent will allow me to fulfill those hours easily.
Btw, when I was a room parent before, I was a SAHM and I was the minority. Usually I saw working moms as room parents!
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