Grandparents' Day at School

Oh, I mean "Special Friends" Day that seems to be geared to "special friends" who are over 50 and happen to be related to the child by way of the parent.

Our school has "Special Friend" day every year where students get to bring a special friend to class for a while, do an activity together, and then the k-2 or 3-5 students puts on a music performance for the audience of "special friends". This has been called grandparents day but they are transitioning "special friend" after some genius finally realized that not every kid has a grandparent to bring.

You can probably tell how I feel about this "special" day.

Ours was last week and for us, not so special. Also not so special for at least 10% of the kids who don't have anyone show up and not so special for the other 10-15% or so who don't have a grandparent.

Does anyone else have this at their school? Do you like it? Does it work out for kids who don't have a grandparent? The PTA president asked me if I thought it was fair to cancel it for everyone in light of the 10-15 kids (more like 75-100) who don't have a grandparent come. I said yes. I'm going to discuss the merits of the day with the principal next week. I realized that I have 10 more years of this and might as well say something about it.

Re: Grandparents' Day at School

Or that the one grandparent in town is too disabled to attend.

I'm not sure how far I'll get on Monday but I would love to see this go away. I thought it was a PTA even but it is actually a district day. WTH are they thinking? Our school probably has better special friend attendance than average.

Re: Grandparents' Day at School

The in-class activity for us was a list of questions like "How did you get to school?", "What was your favorite radio or TV show?" Very much of a how did you do things "back in the old days" sort of slant. Evelyn was Bryn's guest so answering the questions ended up being funny.

I think "special friend" is cheesy.

I want to have some suggestions of better ways to do this. Thanks for the ideas. Maybe something like "Take your Parent to School Day"? A grandparent could fill in for a parent? We already have an evening music performance for each grade that grandparents are welcome to attend
as well as a strings and band concert (3rd grade and up). Grandparents could come to back to school night, the welcome back picnic, carnival, etc, etc...Or even just have lunch one day with their grandkid. Or does this have something to do with the mill levies and such that are on the ballot, oh, 10 days from now? I know the private schools do it to solicit donations from grandparents.


Of course, I suck and was late ( ) for Bryn that day. It was one of those days where we were 5 minutes late getting up and never caught up. Right before we left the cat got in the car and I had to chase him out and I crashed in to the doorjamb of the car. I have a hunormous awful bruise. Then I was putting Evie's shoes and and noticed that I HAD to change her diaper. Bryn was already so-so on this day so me being late didn't help. I felt awful.

[GrayMatterWife]

Re: Grandparents' Day at School

I think "special friend" is cheesy.

A kinder sentiment than mine. I would have used the word "creepy." Has a kind of "pedophile" undertone.

Re: Grandparents' Day at School

Does anyone else have this at their school? Do you like it? Does it work out for kids who don't have a grandparent? The PTA president asked me if I thought it was fair to cancel it for everyone in light of the 10-15 kids (more like 75-100) who don't have a grandparent come. I said yes. I'm going to discuss the merits of the day with the principal next week. I realized that I have 10 more years of this and might as well say something about it.

Yes - we have it & I don't like it. Last year SueC actually went as Jacob's "special person". This year she couldn't go, dh was out of town, and I couldn't do it b/c I would have Quinn with me for 2/3 of the allotted time, and that's against the rules. I ended up pulling him out of school and taking them both to a McDonald's playland over the planned time, and then dropping him back at school.

[PrincessFiona]

Re: Grandparents' Day at School

I ended up pulling him out of school and taking them both to a McDonald's playland over the planned time, and then dropping him back at school.

Awesome!

Special friend day? Good grief.

Our school district has phased out a lot of these things. They also used to have regular events during the day for the kids that the parents were "invited" to....of course, no one wanted their child to be the only one who didn't have a parent attend the hoedown or whatever...but many working moms and dads couldn't make it. There were a lot of sad kiddos....the sahm's tried to pick up the slack, but it was hard because many of us had little ones that we had to bring with us too.

Our district loves to encourage volunteers, but you aren't allowed to bring sibs and have to pay for a background check first.

I'm just not going to pay to volunteer. :huh:

Kris

[DCJenn]

Re: Grandparents' Day at School

Nope- anyone can come at any time to Crunchy school and we have lots of branches of lots of family trees so it all kind of gets lost in the "There is Peace before us, there is Peace behind us, there is Peace beneath us, there is Peace above us, there is Peace around us and within us" Morning Circle song.

Which we miss every morning because we are Peaceful but we are not Morning People.

Special People day sounds like horse pucky.

J.

[MDPhDWife]

Re: Grandparents' Day at School

We don't have a grandparent's day, but this year the school tried something new. We had a take your parent to school day in lieu of open house. I went even though I had to find a sitter for Gracie since siblings weren't allowed. I really enjoyed and appreciated the experience since it allowed me to really see what DD does all day at school. The downside is only about 1/3 of Isabella's classmates had parents come. I imagine it's probably because they work or couldn't find child care for the siblings. I think it's a shame to substitute that for open house which is always in the evening, because now there's a ton of parents left completely out of the loop.

BTW, we also have to have a background check to volunteer or attend field trips. I got one when Isabella was in Kindergarten and was pissed about paying the $40 for it. I think they've changed it now so parents don't have to pay and it doesn't need to be renewed every year as long as you volunteer once a year.

[HouseofWool]

Re: Grandparents' Day at School

Special Friend Day just sounds creepy! Very Lester the Molester.

I don't think we have one at our school - at least if we do, I missed it on the calendar. None of C's grandparents would be able to attend, but we do have a neighbor who would sub in for us if we needed her to.

[madeintaiwan]

Re: Grandparents' Day at School

They do grandparent's day here as well. Last year, J's teacher suggested that I pull him out for lunch and bring him back. It worked out well. We ate at Mimi's cafe. He had earned a certificate for a free meal there from the school. This year my friend will be in town and will be his "special" person. I agree. Lame for kids who don't have family around!

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Our district loves to encourage volunteers, but you aren't allowed to bring sibs and have to pay for a background check first.

I'm just not going to pay to volunteer. :huh:

Kris

Our school has the same rule about sibs - which is both understandable and crazy at the same time. When Sue had her kids in the KCMO district, it was interesting to compare and contrast the rules and requirements. KCMO was just so grateful to have ANY parent who would participate, they'd let you bring your dog if you needed to! We don't have the background check requirements though ...

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I *think* that our PTA covers the cost of background checks? I think the background check is a reasonable effort on the part of the district though I wonder how often they actually do it. I've filled out the paperwork a few times.

I'm also in the "don't pay to volunteer" camp largely when it comes to childcare. The one exception I've made is for volunteering in the classroom. I didn't do it last year (stupid auction!) and I regret it. Evie is too distracting for the kids in the class because she is so darn cute. I have someone watch her for that hour.

[ladymoreta]

Re: Grandparents' Day at School

We didn't have Grandparents' Day when I was in school, but we did several things at the local nursing homes. We'd learn a little song or write poems, then go there and perform. After the "performance" they had some questions we'd ask the nursing home residents. I thought it was a neat way for us to get to know older people, and it introduced us to the idea of volunteering.

Re: Grandparents' Day at School

We have a large assisted living center and nursing home nearby. I think that would be a perfect place to go. I'm going to suggest that too. Thanks!

[alison]

Re: Grandparents' Day at School

We didn't have Grandparents' Day when I was in school, but we did several things at the local nursing homes. We'd learn a little song or write poems, then go there and perform. After the "performance" they had some questions we'd ask the nursing home residents. I thought it was a neat way for us to get to know older people, and it introduced us to the idea of volunteering.

This is an awesome idea!!! I know of a few places that actually have preschools integrated into assisted living homes.