I love volunteering at the children’s school, and I’ve always done so, but I’ve never been a room mother. I’ve always avoided being room mother because I work full-time, and so I thought I wouldn’t have the time to do it. Now that our youngest has started school, I thought it might be time to try it.
I’m lucky that I’m not the only one who signed up to be room mother. I have lots of help. I don’t have to go it alone, and there are plenty of parents who wish to be involved. They just need someone to organize the effort. Well I’m all for that.
So if you’re new to room mothering or hesitant to volunteer because you have no idea what it would take, I’ll gladly help. Since I’m new to this, I’ll post about my experiences so you can learn from them. And if you’re an experienced room mother or know someone who is (or was when you were in school), feel free to share ideas and tips. I need all the help I can get!
Thus far, I’ve learned that the first thing to do as a room mother is get contact information for the parents in the class. All you really need is an email address or cell phone number for each family and know their preference for being contacted. Then you construct your contact lists to distribute information your teacher wants to convey to the parents.
If your teacher hasn’t collected parent contact information yet, feel free to use this Contact Information Form. It’s a Word document and completely customizable. Good luck and know you’re appreciated!
Thanks, that’s great advice!
I was RM for 5 years straight. I loved it! The best advice I have for you is….delegate!! I felt too “bossy” assigning tasks to other parents but quickly learned they loved it. I would take the list of volunteers and just assign a task to each one for each party/activity. It worked out great. The parents repeatedly told me how great it was to just have someone tell them what to bring and when because they didn’t have to think about it. That way you know you have everything covered too! Good luck! I know you will be great. Have fun and enjoy these special times, they go too quickly