they replied that they don't allow parent observations
And the reason for this prohibition is... what, exactly?
I don't know anything at all about somewhere's school, and fwiw, my kids have (with the exception of one year) gone to schools where the policy was open-door parents are always welcome to come in anytime anyplace and PLEASE help out while you are here lol. But - I also have quite a few friends who are teachers, and for the most part, they don't really welcome those open-door type policies because they see parents as an interruption. One close friend has really struggled with parents who come in, observe, and then try to second guess everything the teacher is doing. For all the teachers and classes and students where it could be helpful or a parent to observe and offer up suggestions, she's also had a lot of parents insert themselves where it just wasn't useful or necessary and it was disruptive.
I would also consider that every time I've been in one of my kids' early elementary classrooms not actively helping in a very participatory way, but for instance, listening in during circle at the end of the day or sitting while waiting to help kids glue something as part of what I'm assigned to do but I don't really have anyone ready to be helped yet - I'm a distraction. Even if I'm still as a statue and not making a noise - little kids love seeing other parents in the classroom. They look at you, come over and talk to you, lose focus etc. During a big wild everyone's all-over-the-place anyway craft or activity etc - that's ok. During a time when the class is doing quiet desk work or listening to the teacher explain something or introduce a science topic etc - it's a distraction.
polarbear
