Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums General Discussion Remind me to never be Homeroom Mom again

I am beyond happy knowing that I haven't had to deal with any of this stuff during my son's elementary school years. Maybe because it's a Title 1 school, and the parents are all pretty normal ?? We have never had to send in money for ANYTHING - if the teacher or school need nything, then the teacher or principal sends out an e-mail. I happily buy my son's teachers gifts at the appropriate times, without being told what I have to do. I guess the closest comparison I have is my son's soccer team manager, who has similar responsibilities - and, knowing how I feel when she tells me we have to do this, that, or the other - I'm even more thankful to be homeroom mom free !

LOL... I mentioned before that DW was going to the school to help DD8's gifted teacher with a baking project. All went well, and DW had a great time.

Then she left... and was intercepted by DD's homeroom mom, who surprised her with, "You're going to be there for the class party, right?! Oh, we need you there!" Etc.

DW relented, even though she had been on the go all day and hadn't even had breakfast by that point.

There were five other moms in the room. She barely contributed by picking up a little trash.

Ha ha... totally what happens in our school .. Your DW must be part of the clique

I think it is about giftedness. We always feel differently, think differently than the majority of the population. That's why we can totally relate here. We are in the same small percentage.

As a full-time working mom, I just say no a lot. I'll admit to using it as an excuse too. Because even if I could duck out of work for an hour for yet another class party, I didn't really want to. The one time I ended up on the hook to bring something for a class lunch I had pizza delivered (and became an instant hero to the kids). That said, I appreciate that some parents have the time to help out and they have my thanks... as long as they aren't trying to teach anything.

At her last school, DD ended up with PTSD about art of all things (and I ended up with a call from the principal about her behavior) because of the horrible controlling "volunteer art teacher." How can you do art wrong as a kid? Why would anyone even think that making a 4th grader cry because she wasn't following your lame controlling "creative process" well enough is OK? /rant

I was a "deputy homeroom mom". I went in once a week when I had time in my schedule and helped the teacher with the instruction. I am not interested in fund raising for the PTA and things like that. But, I could tolerate class parties and making crafts and decorations.
I helped with "activity centers" where math time was spent playing math games. I helped with computer lab instruction and I helped with reading groups. I also helped to make 1 million crafts (that is what it felt like to me, a non-crafty person ). But, what it provided me was a clear picture of what my son's school could provide for my son in the early elementary years even when "differentiation" and "acceleration" are involved. And I saw first hand how my underchallenged son was enduring instruction time - conflicted between his instinct to be compliant and bored out of his mind and trying to entertain himself.
Long story short, my son does not attend that school anymore. So, I am thankful for the chance to see what the school day for my son was like. I will do it again if I ever put my son back in the PS system.

We are in CA so parents are responsible for many things that used to just happen in public schools (because there is so little money coming from the state).

Being homeroom mom is hard at our school because it is dual language - so everything you send home has to be in two languages and many people may be bilingual but not biliterate. We also have to send notes home in both paper form and in email.

So parents are around all the time and are very needed - both because we need fundraising and because we need volunteers working in the art and literacy programs and to help in the computer lab, etc.

I avoid being room mom because I hate coordinating the teacher gifts and parties but at least at our schools the parties are great. We have a wealth of cultures represented and parents will send in amazing food for the parties. Our school likes to party! I think each class has two potlucks per year. The school culture is very warm and welcoming which helps.

There is a group that advises the school on curriculum and policies, and that is made up of a few parents (elected) and a few interested teachers and the principal. Good changes have come out of the group. I think sometimes it is called SIP or SSC, they can have different acronyms depending on your state.

Reading these posts makes me feel really good about my ds's school because socially there aren't parents being mean about art (we have art volunteer training) and no room parents are on a power trip. I wish we had more funding from the state so that the PTA didn't have to fund buses for field trips and the salaries of the art, music, computer teachers for the school to have those classes. Fundraising sucks.