I spent 2½ hours tonight at the parent meeting for Tage’s first-grade class. You read that right: TWO-and-a-HALF hours. We were addressed by so many teachers, etc., that I lost count. They really need to work on streamlining that thing.
There was pretty much only one item of interest, as far as I was concerned, and that was the selection of class parents. After the topic was introduced and we all spent a couple of awkward minutes shuffling in our chairs and avoiding eye contact, one of the teachers suggested going in order from the class list, starting at the bottom. The end of the alphabet being poorly represented in Tage’s class, apparently, we were first up.
To be fair, I could have declined, but I figured it’s probably best to get it out of the way early on, before the whole affair starts to get complicated with dances and fundraisers and class trips and so on. We were class parents when Lydia was in first grade (that year, when she still had her original, A-starting last name, they started at the top of the class list; go figure) and it went smoothly enough. If nothing else, they’re easy to please at that age.
What are ‘class parents’? It’s not a term I’m familiar with.
It’s basically what we call a “room mother” in the States (or at least that’s what we call it in Idaho!) … you know, they take treats for the kids now and then and buy flowers for the teachers at the end of the year.
Oh… We don’t have that in the UK. It’s seen as something all parents & kids should do, so teachers get a little present from each kid, but I can see how having one person/parent group to do it might work better.