Just took the first step at being involved with ds's school

[marieangela]

It may not mean much to more outgoing people, but I am quite the introvert! I signed up for a PTA email list at ds1's kindergarten orientation last week and got an email about volunteering for the Scholastic Book Fair next week. I just sent an email offering to volunteer. I did this at ds's preschool, too. I am totally nervous that everyone else will be old friends and have long-time involvement with the school, but I have to start somewhere.

[MiaPia]

I know just how you feel. My kiddos started a new school this year - a very small school where everyone seems to know everyone else. I'm really trying to jump in with both feet, but it is DIFFICULT. Good luck to you!

[Heavenly]

I wish I could volunteer at my kid's school! They are starting school for the first time at a private Christian school. Unfortunately, I have a REALLY rambunctious 2 year old and I don't have anyone to watch her. I wish I could find some way around that and volunteer but I don't know how that would work.

[supervee]

Enjoy the book fair! They are sooooo much fun. There will be other kindergarten-parents volunteering for the first time, guaranteed.

[1xmom]

Good for you. Actually our PTA's officers (except me) had children that were in K last year so everyone is pretty new. I think you will come to enjoy it. I can be quite the introvert as well, but has slowly come more and more out of my shell when I got more involved w/dd's school.

[mistymama]

Good for you! I just did the same thing and am going to a meeting tomorrow to help with the fall festival, and the haunted house.

I'm pretty shy and don't make friends easily .. all the Moms at this school seem to know eachother from the neighborhood, country club, etc .. and I live in an apartment nearby. Ugh. But I'm getting over it, and I'm going to get involved if it kills me!!

Let us know how it goes!

[marieangela]

I volunteered for the book fair at ds1's preschool, too. I was nervous about that, too, but it was fun. Out of any list of volunteering options, I will always gravitate towards books. There is going to be a meet and greet on the first day of school and different volunteer things to sign up for, too. Luckily, my husband is off on Mondays, so I can leave my very soon to be 3 year old with him. I definitely dread fund raisers and selling things, but hope to contribute and be involved in other things. I am lucky to have ds's school be right in between my house and my parents' house. It is actually closer to my parents, but walkable from either. My parents are a great help with watchign the boys since my dh works very long hours and isn't home much.

[mommy68]

Originally Posted by marieangela

I am totally nervous that everyone else will be old friends and have long-time involvement with the school, but I have to start somewhere.

When my kids attended a school outside the home for two years I was this way. I'm very introverted. You may find that in that type of position (Scholastic) that you will be around more veteraned moms, but that's just because of the type of activity you chose to volunteer for.

The key is to sign up for activities inside the classroom as much as possible. That way you know you will be around other moms with kindergartners or children just starting out. And even if those moms have older children and have "been around" they will likely be more in tune to you and where you are at right now.

I remember a few years ago when my oldest had started 4th grade. I got excited and signed up for the science fair that the school was doing and all the moms of course ended up knowing each other and I felt very left out. I stood by my booth totally alone and all except 1-2 moms never even approached me to say hi or anything. I never volunteered for that type of position again and stuck to classroom positions. I felt like a total goober.

[marieangela]

Mommy68, that it a good point. I will definitely be on the look out for things that I can do with his class. I will happily browse through the books if no one talks to me next week. I've gotten a little better with expectations. I'm not going to be making friends with any of the moms at the school anytime soon. Making friends takes A LONG time for me. So, if I just expect to get a foot in the door and become a little bit familiar to people, that is enough for me.

[Mary]

I'm relatively introverted too and I understand how that can be a big step. Even if all of the moms know each other don't sweat it! I know so many of the moms at my kid's school now and I still sometimes feel like an outsider. There are even times that my feelings get hurt (feeling more or less left out), but to a newer mom hanging around I might seem like one of the gals. Good luck and enjoy!

[Amys1st]

As someone on the other side- volunteer mom president of the preschool board, PTA board member, girl scout cookie mom, Sunday school teacher, team mom for cheer, you get the idea I always go out of my way to get new people to get involved. Otherwise its the same old people for everything. Granted, I am not introverted by any strech but I always grab the new people and get them involved. Sometimes they are relieved to have someone notice them among the clique of neighbors, friends etc and other times, they are a bit taken back that I even spoke to them.

But being involved and seeing the ins and outs of what needs to be done, there are soooo many tasks to do for anyone and everyone. At any school or organz needs people to work the front work- like refreshment stand, host the coffee, call people, talk to parents at a meeting etc.
Then there are the papers to be filed, sent in, mailings to be sorted and sent, budgets to be balanced, inventories to be sorted, webpages to be updated never mind the work you can do in the classroom for the teacher behind the scenes.

IF you're not sure where to start and are new at a school, introduce yourself to the PTA president and say you want to volunteer and describe what you can do. Believe me, she has a list of a dozen or so things she can have you do that you would like doing and have the talent to do so. A lot can be done at home too.

[katheek77]

I'm not sure if you're looking for further suggestions, but, I'll throw this out there.

As a former teacher, if you're comfortable being in the classroom, that is extremely valuable. Often, there will be one or two students who may not understand a concept and just need a little one on one, which teachers try to provide but, there's a limit, obviously. Having an extra adult who can take those students to another part of the room and go over that skill is great. Often, the parent would explain it slightly differently than I did, and that's what was necessary for the student to "get" it.

I 'ed my parent volunteers who did that. It helped everyone so much, especially if you can commit to a particular block of time (like, 10-1045 every second Tuesday or whatever). I had a parent who did that, and we would specifically plan for her to assist some of the students in a small group during that time (and it wasn't always the kids who needed help catching up - it was occassionally the students who needed enrichment). Or we would plan for an activity where I knew it would be very helpful to have a second adult in the room for supervision and assistance.

If you're not comfortable with large groups of adults who may already have their "cliques", this may be for you since, in most cases, you'd really only be working with the teacher.

[marieangela]

Thank you for the ideas and suggestions. I would like to be involved with his class, so that I can see what's going on and be a part of things. I do work part time, but my younger son will be going to preschool two mornings a week and I could possible do some volunteering while he's there. I do plant to try and be up front about what I'm comfortable doing. During the last election I did some canvassing and made phone calls and it just made me sick to my stomach to do those things. Not for me. I will happily do behind the scenes work, but don't want a ton of contact with people. Only two days until I meet some of the PTA people and have a chance to try and get myself involved.

[lisac77]

I'm hopeful that I can volunteer in a classroom this year at DS's school. I have Thursday afternoons completely off and I wrote that I'd be willing to read with the kids or to help in the computer lab.