Parent work: Your commitment to the school

Parent work on parents’ evenings

The work with parents begins with the parents’ evening at the beginning of the school year. Here you can exchange ideas with other parents and your child’s teachers, address problems and make suggestions for improving the lessons or the school. The class parent representatives or the parents’ council , who are elected at the parents’ meetings, carry a larger part of the work with the parents . They represent the interests of the parents and have a special say in the school. So take the opportunity to take part in the parents’ evening and the election of the parents’ council and to become active.

Parent work at school events

In addition to participating in parents’ evenings and serving as a parents’ council, there are certainly other opportunities at your child’s school to get actively involved. Finally, there are sporting events, demonstrations and school festivals that can hardly do without parental involvement. Cake donations, volunteers for sales stands or helping hands with the construction are welcome. Through your commitment you are very close to the action and learn a lot from your child’s everyday school life.

Parent work on school trips

Your commitment may also be desired at some schools on class trips or school trips. You can help with the organization by making suggestions for travel planning and obtaining various offers, for example for youth hostels, museums or swimming pools. If you enjoy looking after students, you can also accompany school classes on their trips. Especially when your child is still small, it is happy about your presence. Older students find a class trip with mom more embarrassing. It is therefore better to ask your child whether they agree to this type of parental work.

How much parenting should there be?

Of course, you don’t always have the time or desire to get involved in your child’s school. It is also not compulsory to take part in and participate in all parents’ evenings and school events. If you occasionally have different priorities, that’s okay. But you should plan a certain amount of parental work into your schedule. Otherwise, constant refusals could give your child the impression that you are not interested in their everyday life and school activities.

Parent work in Montessori and Waldorf schools

Schools with a special pedagogical concept, such as Montessori or Waldorf schools , often have to finance and organize themselves. Therefore, they depend on the help of their parents. As a rule, a certain number of hours of work with parents is even compulsory in Montessori and Waldorf schools. So you have to assume that you have to invest part of your free time in parenting work.

Some of the work with parents at Montessori and Waldorf schools takes place in working groups, so that you can get involved in an area that particularly interests you. Parental work includes, for example, the maintenance and design of the classrooms, renovation work, gardening, the creation of work materials, the management of working groups, the organization of events and public relations.