The Grandparents Guide for Back To School
The Grandparents Guide for Back To School
We love being involved in our grandchildren’s lives and having the opportunity to offer support and positive influence. We are very involved with the back to school process and look forward to it each year.
I once saw a bumper sticker which read “If I had known grandchildren were so great, I would have had them first!”
How can you be involved in your grandchildren’s education?
Attend open house and meet the teachers. Allow the teachers to put a name with a face and insure child safety.
Download or Print a copy of the yearly events calendar and academic calendar.
Be Sure Your Name Is On The Pick Up List Remind your busy son or daughter to put your name on the pick up list. If you are not on the list, you will not be allowed to pick the grandchildren up from school in the event you are called in unexpectedly.
Gain your own set of Pick Up Papers/Windshield Name Signs Most schools assign each child a number and a sign to display in the windshield of your car for car riders. If you are called on at the last minute to pick up your grandchildren, not having that sign can create a delay. You’ll have to park and go into the office with your photo ID.
Tour the Middle or High School with transitioning grandchildren. Transitioning from a smaller school into a much larger one can be just a bit traumatizing for young preteens and teens. Our school system always hosts an open house to allow students, parents and grandparents to ‘walk their schedule’ and meet the teachers. Be sure to attend this event! It will help you to understand what they are experiencing. Our grandchildren attend a very large high school where it is a one mile walk from the front door to the back. If I had not visited, I would never have believed it for myself.
Get your name on the Volunteer Rooster. There is a plethora of volunteer jobs and tasks which must be completed. Some require going to the school but there are also tasks you can do from home.
Be sure to let your grandchild know each time you volunteer, so they get the joy of feeling special. A few possible volunteer tasks include:
- Classroom (grading papers, reading stories)
- Tutoring
- Office
- Media Center (shelving books, reading..)
- Field trips chaperone
- Science lab
- Musical assistance
- Lunchroom supervision
- Booster Club activities
- Art
- PTA (fundraising, labels for education..)
Write this down. Keep a record of:
- The teacher’s names for each of your grandchildren.
- What time the school day begins officially
- What time the school day ends
- What time the student is considered tardy in the morning
- Lunch time and duration and lunchroom location in the building
- Which days are PE (sadly, PE does not occur every day) If your grandchild is spending the night with you on a school night and the next day is PE, they may require special clothing or shoes.
- The bus number and driver’s name if your student rides the bus
- Request the windshield number for child pick-up at the beginning of the school year. This is a really big deal and of utmost importance. Thankfully, just anyone cannot get those windshield signs! There will undoubtedly be times when you may need to pick the grandchildren up from school. School officials will not be able to release your grandchildren to you without proper identification and the required documents (those windshield number signs).
Go to lunch with your grandchild. Parents and grandparents are regulars in the lunchroom. The staff has accommodations in place already. Many schools have special seating areas to make the student feel special when they have a guest. Some schools will allow you to bring lunch for yourself and the student, others do not allow outside food. Check with the office for the rules at your school.
How Grandparents Can Prepare for Back To School
- Attend open house and meet the teachers
- Get yourself a copy of the yearly events calendar and academic calendar
- Get your name on the Volunteer Rooster
- Write down and keep a record of all the pertinent information pertaining to people, places, times and things
- Go to lunch with your grandchild
- Share your area of expertise
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This would seem to b a sweet idea for grandparents, even if the kid doesn’t appreciate the deeds they do when they’re young they’ll eventually realize how awesome these grandparents are later on.
I don’t know, both from my Granny from my dad’s and mom’s side just gives me money randomly for food from time to time. When I got bullied my Grand Dad told me if the bully comes again, do anything to fight back to spit, and to kick his groin (he was a good boxer too back then, won competitions and stuff) well I guess the main role of the Grand parents is to help deal with the small things you can’t deal with when you were young.
Great tips! Thanks for sharing at the Merry Monday Link Party!
This post is so useful and reminds us that grandparents can be so involved with their grandchildren if they choose to be. Thank you for sharing this with us at #AnythngGoes link up
I love this post and it is timely as my little grandson is starting kindergarten this week although that is not big school it is a big event in our lives. I like the idea of sharing your expertise and also having lunch with your grandchild. Such an important relationship – grandparent and grandchild. Thanks for sharing these ideas with us at #WednesdaysWisdom and see you next week!
I am a new grandparent, and love that you are sharing tips for us, so many are in “new” territory, or returning to parenting again and it can feel lonely!
I’d love for you to share a few of your posts with us over at Country Fair Blog Party, a once a month link up! We’d love to have you join us!
Jan @ Tip Garden
http://www.thetipgarden.com/2015/08/country-fair-blog-hop-august-15.html
Thanks for linking this post with #wednesdayswisdom. I found this most useful and certainly do have some of your tips in motion .
What a helpful post. Grandparents can be just so important in kids lives. They often don’t have the stresses that the kids parents do. I do like your bumper sticker quote “If I had known grandchildren were so great, I would have had them first!”
Shirley we do love you partying with us on Fridays Blog Booster Party #17
Kathleen
Thanks for linking up at the Weekend Blog Hop at My Flagstaff Home!
Jennifer
This is great info for Grandparents and parents alike. There are so many areas in which they could participate in their children’s education and make them feel special. And at the same time, help out their teachers. As a school teacher, I don’t remember having grandparents come by but I sure had parents who volunteered at lunch, field trips, and other areas which helped a whole lot.
These are great tips. My kids’ grandparents weren’t involved much because two live in Hawaii. Anyway, I know my kids would’ve loved to spend more time with their grandparents and even asked when they were younger if they could come to their school events. It does make a child feel important and loved, so I think it’s important for even grandparents to show up at school events.
These are all great ways to get and stay involved in kid’s school activities. As a former principal, I was always thrilled when grandparents played an active role in their grandchildren’s school activities.
My husband and I help out with transporting our grandson to his piano lessons and attend all school and sports functions. We try not to miss a thing! And I use that quote about having grandkids first all the time. It’s so true. 🙂
We do the same thing Alli. Some of our most fond memories are created together watching the Grand’s play ball every year. My daughter reminded me today that Back to School Open House is this week! We always go meet the teachers, we’ll be seeing them again. 🙂
Definitely grandparents should take an active role!
Amen Melinda! We are always very active with our grandchildren and love every minute of it!