Volunteering lets you use your gifts to benefit your local school and keeps you involved in the education process.

Models of public education developed in the middle of the last century have slowly been changing over the past few years, and one important new trend is increased parental involvement in schools. Many experts believe that children whose parents are involved in their school life fair better than those whose parents do not. Given this very logical premise, what can you do to play a bigger part in how and what your child learns at school?

Nikkie Okuwa is an educator and the head of a Southern California Parent-Teacher Organization. Here she discusses some of the best ways for parents to play an active role in the education of their children:

• Drop-off. One of the easiest ways to get involved in your children’s education is to drive or walk them to school at least once or twice a week and take that time to go in and meet with the teachers before class starts. You or the teacher can bring up any specific issues, or you can just chat about how thing your child has been progressing at home and school.

• Other parents. Okuwa also believes that it’s important to connect with other parents, whether it’s through organized play dates, carpooling or other ways of gathering. By talking about the children, the teachers and the school, you will all gain a deeper understanding and get ideas about how you can make a difference.

• Volunteer. Volunteering for school programs and events, from story reading time and bake sales to chaperoning field trips, lets you get involved and share your unique skills in a way that helps the school do its job.

• Time-off work. Talk to your employer and find out if they can let you have some time off, or will work to keep your schedule flexible, so that you can spend some time helping out in your child’s classroom or get involved in other school activities.

• Communication. If you cannot find a way to volunteer at school, you should do what you can to keep the lines of communication to your child’s teachers open. One easy way is to create a communications sheet that both you and the teacher can fill out with important information about the home or classroom. The more information that you and a teacher share, the better your child’s education will be.

United States Department of Education
www.ed.gov

Parents for Public Schools
www.parents4publicschools.com

Parents and Schools
bcn.boulder.co.us/univ_school/psnews/psindex.htm

Connect For Kids: Parents and Schools
www.connectforkids.org/content1556/content_list.htm?attrib_id=340

National PTA
www.pta.org/parentinvolvement/index.asp