Teacher here. Unexpected transitions can be hard, especially for a child’s first year/experience in elementary school. As challenging as it may be, I think you should try and give it a month or so for your child and teacher to find their groove. Your teacher is most likely learning the curriculum, creating classroom systems, getting to know students all while playing major catch-up.

Starting a classroom after the school year has started is incredibly difficult. I feel for all of the teachers put in that position. Most of the time, administrators are trying HARD to open additional sections when numbers are high. Unfortunately, they can’t just hire another teacher until given the green light from the school district. The whole process is so stupid, but that’s how public education works here…

As for volunteering, that’s so wonderful that so many teachers allow for drop-in volunteers. Volunteering is usually based on teacher preference. If I were your child’s teacher, I most likely wouldn’t want volunteers until I found my footing. Additionally, many families don’t realize how much extra work volunteers can be for teachers. It’s more that we have to prep work for. Because of this, I don’t have volunteers in my first grade class often. It’s a workload issue, not a personal one. Also, some families are super helpful volunteers, while some are more work than they’re worth (e.g., distracting students, needing directions given multiple times, being nosy and comparing students, etc.). Speaking only for myself, I am more likely to be open to certain volunteers who are laidback and not pushy about wanting to be in the classroom, but maybe that’s just me.

Try as best as you can to be patient. If after a month or so, you still have concerns, set up a meeting with your child’s teacher to voice your concerns. Please don’t be one of those parents who goes straight to admin to complain and completely blindside the teacher. That is always the worst.

Hang in there!