Blog #7: How to Engage Parent Support In and Out of the Classroom

This blog is for Kindergarten-Grade 8 class teachers.

Create a Viable System to Effectively Encourage and Engage Parents' Help In and Out of the Classroom

Being a Waldorf teacher has its joys and its challenges. Certainly, one of the challenges is the amount of time it takes to prepare our lessons, stay on top of our classroom organization, attend meetings, etc. We found that there were numerous things we could do to mitigate the stress of these demands and wanted to offer these ideas that are so apropos for the beginning of the school year.

A very wise, experienced teacher gave us this insight years ago...Think through how parent volunteers can help you. For example, when you need baked goods for a bake sale, asking all the parents in your class who like to bake works great, but for organizing a three-day camping trip, you need to find someone with a specific set of skills including the time to call possible venues, attention to detail, etc.

This excellent guidance led us to create the following approach to getting parents involved in supporting the teacher and the class:

1.Make a list of the different tasks that could be done by someone other than you. These can include tasks that are weekly, monthly, or by event. Some tasks will require that the parent be able to be on campus at a particular time while others can be executed at home or work at their convenience.

2. Create a Class Parent Support Survey that lists these items along with a brief description of each one - this is crucial so that each parent can think through if she/he has the time and skills to do a task! For example:

a)___Parent Guild Representative: attend monthly steering committee meetings, report on guild activities at class meetings, etc.

b)___Gardening class assistant: assists in weekly gardening class each Wednesday (10:30-11:20)

c)___Weekly classroom cleaning coordinator: reminds (calls and/or emails) each family when it is their turn for weekend cleaning. 

 3. Email the Class Parent Support Survey to each parent in August prior to your first parent meeting along with a request date for return. At the top of the survey have a place for the parent to type in her/his name and use the following key: Please indicate your willingness to assist in the following areas by utilizing the following rating system (1,2,3): 1 (would like to help with this); 2 (would be willing to do this); 3 (cannot or do not want to do this).

4. Review the turned in surveys and assign tasks using this criteria:

a) If possible, assign all tasks to parents that gave that task a 1 (would like to help with this).

b) If you know the parents in the class, be judicious: assign each task to someone who has the skill set and time available to do it well. If you don't know the parent, start out by assigning her/him something not very demanding in the skill area.

5.  Create a Volunteer Schedule with the name/s of those responsible for each task next to the task.

6. Once all tasks are filled, send your Volunteer Schedule to each parent. This way all can see that many hands make light work and know who will be doing what.

7. Before the assigned parent is to fulfill a task make sure she/he is given sufficient notice and guidance re: how you want something to be done so that the task is done well.

For a complete Class Parent Support Survey template (3^rdgrade example), go to our How To section and then to the Communication subsection.

What about weekly classroom cleaning?

It is our experience that daily janitorial service mainly focuses on keeping the classroom floors clean. Deep cleaning is left to the teacher. By spreading out the weekend cleaning equally among the class families, this task is taken care of and not overly burdensome for anyone. We found this system worked really well:

1. Create a Weekly Weekend Cleaning sign up sheet before your first parent meeting. List every weekend of the school year (except the weekends when school had not been in session the previous week). Divide the number of weekends by the number of families in your class to get how many weekends each family needs to sign up for.

2. At the same time, create your Weekend Classroom Cleaning List with every task that might possibly be needed. A few ideas for your cleaning list can be found on our website. Go to the How To section, then to the Communication subsection. You will find the Weekend Classroom Cleaning List in the Parent Work pdf.

3. Be sure you have a Weekly Classroom Cleaning Coordinator who reminds families when it is their weekend. This role is crucial! You would have this position on your on the Volunteer Survey above. (See #2c)

4. At your first parent meeting send around the sign-up sheet. Let them know that you will have the Classroom Cleaning List ready for them when they arrive to clean so they know what needs to be done that weekend. Encourage parents to bring their student along. This is a great opportunity for the student to share his/her work as well as experience pride in helping to make the classroom shine. Here are two more important details:

a.) From the beginning let parents know that if they cannot clean on their assigned weekend it is their responsibility to find a replacement.

b.) Check and see if the weekday janitorial crew would be willing to clean your room on the weekend for a cost. We made this option available and there were a few parents that took advantage of this alternative.

5. On Friday before you leave campus, check off each task on the Classroom Cleaning List that you would like done that weekend and put in an agreed location. Arrange for a way for the family to get into the classroom.

Let us know how these ideas work if you decide to implement them. Did they give you more time to prepare and plan for your daily lessons? And did they allow you a bit more personal time? Most importantly, did they help your each of your students' parents a way to be a part of your classroom community? We hope so!