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Top 10 Reasons To Volunteer at Your Child’s School

My oldest child is 20 years old so I have been volunteering in schools for the past fifteen years. I guess you can say that I am an expert in volunteering at this point. I have done it all from photocopying worksheets, to helping with elaborate projects, to sewing costumes, to reading with small groups, to my current position as the Parent Teacher Association (PTA) president. Volunteering never gets old for me, I love every minute of it. It doesn’t hurt that I have two college degrees in Education, right?

Let me share my top 10 reasons why you should volunteer in your kids’ school:

  1. You will learn more about your child’s behavior in school. Helping at the school will give you a great look into a typical day.  You will see all that happens and have a better idea of what your child and their teacher does each day.
  2. You will also learn more about how the school runs. Offer to help in the office, the library or even the cafeteria. See how all the parts of the school are running. Seeing behind the scenes will give you great insight.
  3. Your free time is used wisely. Teachers are overworked and underpaid. Offer to photocopy papers, buy supplies for a class party, sew costumes, hang up papers, or even cut out shapes. There are tons of jobs teachers would love for you to help with.
  4. Helping makes you feel good! Feeling good makes you a happier person. Win-win for everyone, right?
  5. You will be a mentor to children who might not have one. Imagine the impact you can make—just spending a bit of time with them, helping them do a math worksheet or sounding out a hard word can go a very long way!
  6. You’ll free up the teacher to spend time with the kids who need extra help. Having an extra adult in the room might allow the teacher to do some small group work which is so beneficial to the children in the class.
  7. You can meet your child’s friends that you hear so much about. You can get to know the kids in your child’s grade without much work at all, just help out in the classroom a bit.
  8. You might enjoy volunteering so much that it could turn into a second career for you. Teaching is a natural job for someone who enjoys spending time with children.
  9. The teachers will be very appreciative. They will have less work to do at night and on weekends if you help them do it during the school day.  If you have the time to give, the teachers will be thrilled to have your help.
  10. You will help to make your child’s school better and stronger. Let’s face it, your school needs your help. Budgets are being cut all over the place and your job as a volunteer is more important than it ever was!

You want to be involved in your child’s education. If you have the time, what better way to show it, then to help in their school? Don’t just talk about making their school better, get out there and do it!

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