Quick Tips: Choosing When to Volunteer

Today speaker, author, licensed parent-family educator Lori Wildenberg shares tips about choosing when to say yes and when to say no to volunteer opportunities.

Quick Tips:

Leaves are falling and the calendar is filling. Volunteer opportunities invade an already crazy schedule. Be proactive to prevent over committing.

Know these things before saying yes.

1. Know yourself.

What do you enjoy doing? If you like to bake but don’t like working with kids then send cookies for a class party rather than volunteer to help in the classroom.

2. Know your schedule.

Have everything included on your calendar you are able to see what each day looks like.

3. Know your margin.

 Understand how you are wired. If you are an introvert, you will need to create some space in your day to regroup. If you are an extrovert you need margin to prevent burnout.

4. Know how to delegate.

 Kids can pitch in at home. Assign children specific chores.

5. Know how to redirect.

 “I helped out at the fall festival so I will skip volunteering for the Christmas pageant.” It is perfectly fine not be involved in every event.

Finally, realize it is OK not to give an answer right away. It is reasonable to say “Let me think about this and get back to you.”

I will give you a wise and discerning heart. 

1 Kings 3: 12b

About Lori:

Lori is passionate about helping families build connections that last a lifetime. She meets moms and dads where they are with her warmth, transparency, humor, and straight-forward, faith-filled approach. Lori is a licensed parent-family educator, co-founder of 1 Corinthians 13 Parenting, national speaker, author,and parent consultant.

She’s the lead Mentor Mom over at the Moms Together Facebook Community Page and a mentor mom with The MOM Initiative. Messy Journey: How Grace and Truth Offer the Prodigal a Way Home is her 4th most recently published book. She writes for a number of on-line magazines including: Crosswalk.com, ChristianParenting.org, Life Letter Cafe, and Her View from Home. Her Family Matters column is seen monthly in Reds Rocks Views magazine.

She has spoken in Kansas, Wyoming, Florida, California, Texas, Minnesota, and Colorado and is a member of AWSA (Advanced Writers and Speakers Association). The Wildenberg home is nestled in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains. A perfect day in Lori’s world is a hike with her Tom (her hubby), five kids (four plus a daughter-in-love), and Murphy– the family labradoodle! 

You can connect with her on Facebook or on her website.

Other quick tips you might enjoy:
Handling Grief

Sister Day
Make a Difference in the Life of a Child

Budget-Friendly Summer Ideas

Preparing a Child's Heart for Easter
Showing Kindness Every Day
Fresh Starts

Embrace the Season

Keeping Your Mind Strong

Getting Your Preteen to Read

Help for Clutterbugs
Keeping Christmas Simple But Meaningful
Healthy Heart Tips for Football Couch Potatoes
Having a Personal Quiet Time with God
Beating the Winter Blues
Friendships That Cross Boundaries
Five Fresh Starts for Living
Positive Parent Teacher Relationships
How to Make Your Words Matter
Gluten Free Eating
Picture Book Month
The Healing Power of Forgiveness

Be Involved at Your Child's School

What's the biggest factor in your child's school success?

You are!

     It's important to be involved in your child's school. Whether you have an hour a week or just an hour a month to spare, the time you give will not only help the school or teacher, but it tells your child that his or her education is important to you.

     Children whose parents take the time to be involved usually do better at school. They work harder because they sense it's important to their parents. Also Mom or Dad has a  better idea how to help with studying and homework because they're familiar with the classroom, the teacher, and what's being taught. Being in the school also allows parents to have an influence on students other than their own children, instill values, and speak to school personnel about troubling issues.

     Whether you are at home or work outside the home, there are ways you can help. Here are some ideas to get you started:

     1.  Xerox tests and worksheets. This frees the teachers and office staff for more important jobs.

     2.  Staple together papers that go home with the students. Stapling 25 sets of papers per class can take up a lot of valuable time.

     3.  Stock the teacher's boxes with memos, flyers to go home with their students, and other papers they need.

     4.  Offer to decorate the front hallway. You can put up seasonal displays, and information about school events, Red Ribbon Week, D.A.R.E., and sports events. You could also ask teachers for student work to display.

     5.  Take photos of school events, field trips, and life around the school. Put together a bulletin board displaying those. Students will enjoy seeing themselves.

     6. Take charge of the soup labels and box tops for education. Cutting and counting those is an overwhelming job for an overly busy teacher or office staff member. If your school doesn't take part in these programs, get the information and present it at a PTO meeting.

     7.  Take part in fundraisers. Help count money, tally orders, and figure out prizes.

     8. Organize a school clean up day to pick up trash, repair or paint playground equipment, fix up the grounds, weed and mulch outside garden beds, and make minor repairs to the classrooms.

     9.  Take your talents into the classroom. If you can draw, offer to teach a weekly or monthly lesson to your child's class. If you're a writer, hold an in-class seminar or talk about your work. If you're a computer whiz, take your computer into your child's classroom and teach them or offer to teach computer lab once a month. You could also design a school or class webpage. If you're a carpenter, build a small stage or treehouse for your child's classroom.

    10.  At the middle school or high school level, offer to hold an enrichment class in your area of expertise before school, during lunch hour, or after school.

    11.   Host a teacher luncheon once a grading period. Send home notices with students asking them to send in food on a certain day. If that's too much, have a donut or muffin day for the teachers and staff.

     12.   Help with lunchroom or playground duty. This is a good way to get to know the students, meet your children's friends, and have an impact on many children at one time. A smiling face and friendly attitude will draw them to you.

    13.  Organize a pen pal program. Do you have nieces or nephews in another town or state? Pair off students in that classroom with students in your child's classroom. Letters could be written once a month and sent to the school to be distributed to each student.

    14.  Grade tests or check homework assignments for a teacher so they can spend their time with the students.

    15.  Tutor a student who is struggling. This will help the student improve and free the teacher from trying to work with a child who can't stay up with the class.

    16.  Read to the students. Dress up like a character in the book, give background information on the author, and make the book come alive for the students. It'll encourage them to read it again later on their own. Consider doing hands-on activities such as reading "Stone Soup" and having the each child in the classroom bring in vegetable to add to your own stone soup. Cook it in crockpots during the day to be shared at the end of the day as a follow-up activity.

    17.  Cut out and paste together projects for a teacher. Getting projects ready for the younger grades can be very time consuming.

    18. Find out what special supplies teachers will need during the year such as baby food jars, plastic butter tubs, strawberry cartons and so on. Make up a notice and send it home with students asking parents to save and send in those supplies. Organize them until they're needed.

    19.  Call the local paper about special events taking place so that they can send a photographer and represent your school in the newspaper.

    20. Support the teachers and send them notes of encouragement. Everyone needs a boost once in a while!

What ways have you been involved at your child's school?