Mum and Dad back in school?

[MotherBear]

Parents 'should help out at schools'
Thursday January 11, 2007

The Parent-Teachers Association (PTA) is proposing a scheme that would see mums and dads helping out in schools.

The PTA's Give Me Five scheme, reported today in the Press newspaper, would involve family members volunteer for five hours a year.

They would help with fundraising, school trips and general classroom activities.

PTA South Island president Jenny Muschamp said it was vital for parents to get involved with their child's education.

Read more on here .

[Glenda]

Are they suggesting it will be compulsory? :-?

Quite frankly, I've found that schools already expect parents to have a big input in school life, especially with school trips and camps where they usually provide the transport and supervision. Many times letters will be sent out with pupils asking whether a parent can or cannot assist in a school event. I've become such a regular at the school some of the kids have started calling me "miss".

;D

[selchie]

I think it's great if parents can volunteer, but for some it's just not possible, even for 5 hours/year.

...Actually, this year I've been volunteering in a fifth grade class at the school down the street, and love it. If I had less to do at home, I'd be over there even more than an hour or two per week. For me, I get my auntie/grandma urges out on the kids.

[Glenda]

I'd be over there even more than an hour or two per week. For me, I get my auntie/grandma urges out on the kids.

You are quite welcome, selchie, to get your auntie/grandma urges out on my kids -they are lovable ... really! ;)

:)

[MotherBear]

Deborah Coddington: Success at school is up to the parents
5:00AM Sunday February 18, 2007

What will it take for the Government to pull its head out of the sand and stop denying this country's rising tide of social problems? First it was the underclass, now Education Minister Steve Maharey denies there's a problem over Maori male students - more than half of whom are leaving school without level one of NCEA.

We can imagine what Professor Russell Bishop of Waikato University is hinting at when he says these results will come back to haunt us.

And three cheers for Hato Paora principal Tihirau Shepherd who said parents must play a greater role in their children's education. Shepherd's school of 230 students in Feilding apparently has a strong success rate, and Shepherd emphasised that although poverty was a hindrance for many of his students, it didn't automatically prevent them from achieving. However, he stressed the importance of parents in helping their children do better at school.

But how can parents do this when choice of schools is limited to the wealthy? When the Education Ministry won't name schools that cheat and lie over students' NCEA results?

More here .

[selchie]

You are quite welcome, selchie, to get your auntie/grandma urges out on my kids -they are lovable ... really! ;)

I'd love to! You should be warned that I am my nephews' "crazy aunt" because I don't often act like other adults they know. Odd things can come out of my mouth, though thankfully it's not Tourette's (or frogs).

Right now we're getting a little mothering experience while our "adopted" daughter stays with us for a couple of months. She's 24, so she's mostly house-trained. It's actually going better than I feared, considering how jealous I can be of my personal space.