Some weeks ago I posted an update on my personal Facebook profile sharing how much I love volunteering at my daughter’s kindergarten Spanish immersion classroom. Not even five minutes later I get a text from a very good friend whom I spend a lot of time with teasing me about using the word “love” in the same sentence as “volunteering.” She kept on going that there was no way I could love that and I had to be exaggerating.
I told her she was totally off. She’s actually right in assuming I’m not the school-volunteering type, in the sense that I did try attending PTA meetings and all that jazz, but soon realized that where I really was more valuable and could make some direct impact was in the classroom.
One peculiar thing about dual immersion programs is that parents must not only be incredibly committed, but also very involved. The only drawback, is that for parents to be allowed to volunteer in the actual classroom, they must be fluent in the target language — in our case, Spanish. You can imagine how difficult this makes it for the teachers to have a steady flow of parents assisting in the classroom; and, yes, parents volunteering are an extremely valuable asset to the teacher. Most parents either work or don’t speak the language fluently enough, but I do.
So, I spend 90 minutes of my morning once per week doing flashcards of words and numbers in Spanish with my girl’s kindergarten classroom and I truly do love it. It’s created a very special bond between my daughter, her teacher and even with her classmates that I can’t put a value to.
I actually wrote a story that I’m sharing on Babble called “Flashcards With My Daughter” that describes exactly why I volunteer and the impact it has on my daughter and my involvement in her bilingual education. Please click here to read it. I think you will love it 
.
I do love volunteering in my daughters dual immersion kinder class too! Using both love and volunteering have to go together:) or else there is no purpose;)!
I’m glad you agree with me and that we both LOVE it!
I also LOVE volunteering in my daughters (2nd grade) immersion classroom! I am not a fluent Spanish speaker, I’m probably only on the low end of intermediate. But since I spend so much time telling my daughter what a wonderful gift bilingualism is, I feel I should lead by example. It gives me an opportunity to practice and learn. Even better, it lets me see my daughter speaking Spanish! She tends to be shy most of the time when I encourage her to practice with Spanish speaking friends. When I am in her classroom, seeing 20+ kids who spoke no Spanish only two years ago, speaking Spanish freely, it also reenforces to me what a wonderful thing I am doing for her.
Isn’t it wonderful to be able to peek into their lives this way, without interfering, but actually being of service?
My husband and I haven’t been able to regularly volunteer, but the 1-2 times each semester we get into our son’s dual immersion montessori classroom for events like Hispanic Heritage Month and International Day have been great! For my husband especially, having taught the class a little about his home country and then having heard our son proudly proclaim (without any prompting) that he and his papi are Colombian was really heartwarming.
Oh, I can only imagine how proud he must have felt..and what an endearing moment for you!
There are so many ways to help your kids’ school but volunteering in their classroom is the best!! It is so much fun to be around kids and see how they are learning two languages without a fuzz or questioning it, I love it.
You can learn much more from the kids that what you “think” you are there to help them learn. I have learned how they are being taught math, which is totally different from how we learn math as kids.
also, since I have a shy boy I noticed he feels more comfortable telling me stories about school because I know his friends and teachers, it is a priceless bonding experience!
You’re so right that they are more comfortable sharing the stories because we are also more comfortable being able to relate to them.
I feel like I have a good grasp on the kids’ personalities in the classroom now and that totally helps me understand where she’s coming from with each chisme!!
What a blessing to have a Spanish speaking volunteer in your daughter’s classroom! After teaching dual for more than 5 years, I find the same struggle of finding Spanish speaking volunteers every year. I am sure your daughter’s teacher and peers value your time spent in the classroom. Keep up the great work of being a great example to your daughter!!
Thank you so much for saying this, Evelyn.
I really didn’t realize what an asset I would be and what a great bonding experience it would be until after I dragged myself there the first time.
Our school is very parent-led, but yet it’s hard due to schedules and language issues. I’m so happy to be able to help a little bit, and others help in so many ways as well.
You’re really onto something, Ana. I had a very irregular work schedule when my daughter was young but the up side was being able to be in the classroom. You really get so much more connection with the teachers and the school. It totally carries over into what you can do at home to reinforce the concepts. Not to mention never having a conversation with the teacher that hits you like a ton of bricks because you had no idea your child was getting a bit disruptive or behind on something. The first few times I think the kid is still “on best behavior” and but before long, you get to see them just the way their peers and teachers know them. Imagine, the child spends as much or more time with these people, and if you don’t insert yourself in the school environment, you’re almost cutting yourself out and putting yourself on the periphery, especially as they get older. Yes there are parent-teacher conferences and yes you can invite friends from school to your home, but it’s not quite the same. One of my chief “if I had it to do over” things about my daughter is when she got to be a teenager and was mortally embarrassed to have me chaperone a school dance or a church youth retreat. With my son I’m going to be there!
When I’m with the kids the teachers put me with the English-speaking teacher. There are a couple of other parents who speak English but most do not. So we’re in the odd position that I make a point of speaking Spanish to my son at home and then when we’re in school I’m the English-speaking parent (usually the only one). That’s bizarre but I’m just thrilled he’s in this good, good school and I figure the most important thing is to get myself in there!