Send a letter to the parents with a weekly or monthly schedule of when you could use an aid in the classroom. Ask parents to contact you via email or by phone to sign up for the slots. Encourage parents to partake in their child's lives by donating a little time to help with class projects or by attending field trips. Field trip attendance is especially important for classes full of younger children, as there are more people to help watch over the class in an unfamiliar environment.
Allow parents to sponsor or create extracurricular activities, such as clubs. Leave sign-up sheets around the school in order to gain an idea of how much interest the potential activity has sparked. Most schools could use a wider variety of clubs because the more clubs that are available, the more likely students who aren't interested in traditional clubs will be to join.
Encourage parents to become volunteer tutors. Start an after-school program of parents and teachers. With the added help, the after-school program will be able to serve more students who are in need. Ask the parents when they sign up what their strengths are so that you can assign them to subjects or specific age groups.
Ask parents to become class speakers. Have parents come in for 30 minutes or so to discuss a variety of topics. On career day, ask parents with varying careers to discuss the career expectations and educational requirements that it takes to obtain the job. On separate days, have parents come in to discuss topics that affect some children or teens, such as drug abuse and violence.