AboutMarsha Cunningham Expertise My expertise is in 1st-3rd grade, I specialize in beginning
reading and writing, but I teach drawing and painting first to help students gain confidence.
I also use jigsaw puzzle strategy to teach concentration as a subject and enlist parents to keep their children away from scary movies,among other things,which cause nightmares, sleep deprivation and low test scores!
Experience I have taught K-3 for 24 years, given in-service to parents and teachers and presented at reading conferences. To see my children's art work and examples of improved test scores go to www.artsimprovingacademics.org
Expert: Marsha Cunningham Date: 5/14/2008 Subject: Parents on Field Trips
Question My question doesn't neatly fit your expertise, but with that many years of teaching maybe you've run into something like this.
One of the parents of our children (I work at a small private school in California) demanded today that they be allowed to go on field trips with the class. Ordinarily parent involvement is a great thing (their child is in the 5th grade), but this parent just gives me a bad feeling - their interactions with some of the other children are just a bit disconcerting (odd comments, sitting staring into space for long periods, etc.).
They said today that public and private schools are required to allow parents to attend field trips whenever they want to.
Are we required to let them go on the field trip?
Thanks for your help!
Answer Hi Steven.,
In public schools, if this situation came up we announced that there was only room on the bus for X amount of people. This usually did the trick. If they persisted we told them that they could drive and meet us there, but they never did.
For little kids, I once had to do a rigged straw draw type of thing and they accepted it; but it might not work with older ones.
My grandson, 4th grade, attends a private school and my daughter is an officer on the PTA. She told me that the policy is the same there. Many parents want to go on some of the more popular trips, such as train ride to San Diego, but there are only limited chaperon assignments. This might be to cut down on confusion. She had to sign up 1 1/2 years ahead of time to get in on the San Diego trip!One trip she wanted to go on, but couldn't because there were already too many adults.
This is the best I can offer but you might check with your closest public school to get a better answer. The office manager should be happy to speak with you if you call after the kids have gone home and she's not working on payroll or in a meeting. lol
