Teacher holiday gift

bliss611 · November 2014

I know - it's early. But I'm a little crazy when it comes to planning

DS goes to an integrated pre-K classroom with 3 awesome teachers. 15 kids in the class. Half the kids also get at least 1 type of therapy during the week. DS sees 4 different therapists. So I have at least 7 teacher gifts to consider. Plus his school bus driver/matron.

I always liked just being able to pitch into a group gift but knowing the parents from the class, I don't see it happening - don't think anyone will coordinate it. I am considering coordinating the group gift myself and sending out a letter for it.

When is the right time to send out the letter? Right after Thanksgiving seem OK?

And how would you deal with the therapists gift - since only half the kids see therapists and they see various ones? Should I just skip that?

TIA!!

neverblushed · November 2014

If you want to coordinate a group gift for the teachers, I think that's fine. If you also want to give a gift to the therapists, just pick something small and do it individually, since the therapists see different kids and it's harder to coordinate.

As a parent, I am not a huge fan of the "whole class" gift. I know -- it allows you to give something really big and meaningful to the teacher. However, I dislike it because it removes the child from the equation. I like for my child to have the experience of thinking about what to get his or her teacher. That's harder to achieve if I'm just writing a check to another mom.

Also, as a teacher, I often receive holiday or end of year gifts from students and families. It's nice for an English teacher to get a gift card to a book store or even to a restaurant, but the "gift" I treasure most is a handwritten note, picture, or letter from the student. I post these in my department office with my own children's artwork. I never throw them away because I treasure each one. Kids will come to visit from college and see a thank-you card they made for me in 9th grade still taped to the wall above my desk! Another awesome gift is when a parent writes me an email specifying how I've made an impact on their child and cc's my supervisor or principal.