Bright ideas from our readers: One-hour volunteer ideas

Thanks to the Greatschools readers who shared these suggestions for how busy parents can contribute at school or from home. Here’s how they help despite their hectic lives:

Talk to your child’s teacher to find out how you can make a difference in an hour, advised the busy mom of two girls. “I don’t have much spare time, but I volunteer every Friday morning from 8:30-9:30 a.m. helping organize homework folders and grading spelling tests. My child’s teacher appreciates my efforts and I feel more in touch with what is going at school.”

“I volunteer in my son’s classroom once a week during my lunch break. Although I am only there for 30 minutes during the math lab, it is rewarding for me to help the children and my son’s teacher expect me every Thursday,” said the mom of a Georgia first-grader. She noted that her son enjoys her visits and she believes her volunteering efforts give her son a positive attitude about school and education.

One elementary school mom found that the best use of her limited time is visiting her kids at school during their lunch time. “Besides the direct benefit to each of my children, the teachers appreciate the presence of another adult mingling with the kids and the kids all love it, too! Even though I’m not there as scheduled help with a specific thing to accomplish, my presence is a big deal to the kids and it becomes inadvertent help to the school staff.

Another parent recommended that parents volunteer to watch the school parking lot, escort kids from classrooms to the office, and supervise the playground. She noted that if a few parents would commit to a regular supervision schedule, “We would have a great impact the safety of our kids. The other benefit to this is that our children see mom or dad at school.”

An Idaho mom wrote: “I found that any time I had to make copies for a teacher was very much appreciated. I tried to set aside two or three hours one day a week and would do the photo copying for a whole grade. The teachers loved it and it made me appreciate them even more. You just don’t realize how much time it takes our teachers to photocopy all the lessons for one week.” She also noted that there were prep projects parents could do from home, like sorting letter or word cards into individual baggies for first-graders to take home and study.

The mom of two elementary school girls in Rhode Island said, “While the girls were in kindergarten and first grade, I took all the Scholastic book orders for the class and placed the orders online. I emailed the teacher about how many points she had to order books for the classroom to help build the class library. When the books came in, I spent less than an hour sorting and handing out the books in the classroom. This was welcome reflief for a teacher of over 25 years, and one less new thing for a first year teacher.

A New Jersey mom of two boys shared her tip for helping from home: “Last year I helped build a parent email network at home. The PTO President would ask me to send out e-notices about upcoming events as an extra reminder, and it helped keep everyone connected.” She noted that the other busy parents at her school appreciated the simple and convenient way to communicate.