My kids are in First Grade. They have a homeroom teacher and then switch teachers for both Math and Language Arts. So I have 4 teachers to buy for. That doesn't include the music, spanish & PE teachers...do I buy for them too?? Something small or maybe just a card signed by the kids? What do I get for these teachers?


Terri~
12/21/01 at 33 weeks

I usually just give to their main teacher and then send in a gift for the staff to share. Something along the line of a box of candy. We decided earlier this year to limit gifts during the holiday and have given genrously to each of their teachers earlier in the year so that they could get necessities for their classes. I will probably be sending out cards to the teachers and that's about it.

Kim
Nate, Nick & Noel(36w4d)and Nia.

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We too only by for the homeroom teacher.

At our school the kids swich rooms all afternoon ~ that would make a total of 7 teachers (21 gifts? I don't think I would do that) I don't think those teachers expect a gift.


~Chris
Bradley, Erica and Adam (9-2-01)

I try to give gift cert as I know the teachers get so many "trinkets" and they get overloaded. We just give main teacher and when they had speech or OT we would send a little something. I have been getting Barnes and Noble cards - that way they can buy for themselves or for their classroom if they want. This year Seamus' teacher requested no gifts or something for the classroom if we feel we must give something.
Suzanne
Proud mommy to Seamus, Brendan and Casey 4/17/00

We give Barnes and Noble or coffee-shop gift cards so the teachers don't feel that they must use it on classroom stuff (give a Target or Office Max gift card card for that).

Nancy

mom to beautiful BBG triplets, born February 2002 at 33 wks, 4 days

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I only give to the main homeroom teacher. I have ask the teachers what they wish they had as for as Art supplies or "classroom" supplies and I bought in the beginning of the year. The K teacher wanted Magic Model and the 5 grade teacher needed markers for the eraser board.

Diane
mom to
g 8/98
bbg 3/03

My kids are in second grade, and I will give 1 VISA gift card to each teacher who interacts with them - total of about 6 teachers. I will also get the primary teacher something extra.. I probably over-compensate, however - I am in awe of teachers (also my older daughter is a teacher - and I see how she puts her heart and soul into her class kids) .


Lisa mom to Melanie(28)
Guillermo,Jonathan,William(10.9.01 @34 weeks)
grandma to Brianna(5)

Wow, that is a lot of teachers to think of! We'll be facing that same thing next year when we split our kiddos in the first grade. For now, they're all together in Kindergarten

I would think the homeroom teacher would get the main gift (maybe a gift card they could use for themselves or the classroom). And then if you wanted to do something for the other teachers just a nice heartfelt note thanking them for their work would be nice. Also, sometimes it's fun to make the jar mix recipes as teacher gifts. You can make those pretty inexpensively.

Good luck and let us know what you decide!

http://lilypie.com>

As a former teacher, I can tell you our favorite gifts were the giftcards. I don't think it is necessary to buy anything though and if you do, a simple $5 to Tim Horton's is a great idea!

Mommy to Eli, Cara, and Brady 4/24/07 born at 34 weeks and Allison Elizabeth (surprise!) born 11/6/08

Read about my son's battle with Neuroblastoma at stepsforbrady.blogspot.com

As a former teacher, I also loved getting gift cards. Book stores and coffee shops were my personal favorites. $5 is perfect. At my school more than $10 made me uncomfortable (plus some schools have rules against more). If you aren't a gift card person, Christmas ornaments were another favorite of mine. One side of my tree is filled with ornaments from former students and it always makes me smile when I unpack each one. Just make sure you put your child's name and the year on it somewhere.

Also a heartfelt card is the absolute best gift. Just a few sentences letting the teacher know how much your children are enjoying school and how much you appreciate her effort means so much more than a gift! I saved all those cards in one of my desk drawers and on tough days it was so nice to look in that drawer!

We switched classes at my school too for certain subjects. Some of those students that weren't in my homeroom would bring me a card and a candy cane which was so nice because it showed me they enjoyed coming to my classroom too (or that their parents made them give it to me LOL). Very very rarely did a student not in my homeroom give me something more than that. Definitely don't break the bank.

Jennifer
GBG 2/20/2007
@29 weeks

I am organizing a gift card gift in our class. I sent a letter home asking parents to contribute absolutely anything they wish into the pot. I then decorated a box with a hole cut on the top and put it in her classroom to collect money. Every child's name is put on the card regardless of what they gave and I am going to take all the money and buy a nice gift card to a store for the main teacher and a smaller one for her assistant.

For music, PE, dance, art, media and whatever else they do all week I am doing a hand-made note with a photo of the kids and a small bag of homemade chocolate pretzels.

Tara

Mom to BBG born at 33wks on 4/3/03

I have a little vent about teacher gifts, class parties, class gift exchanges - the list goes on and on.

Maybe it's different because I am a single mom and my ex is 3 months behind on support. Or maybe it's harder because my kids are in 3 different classrooms. But I am sick of the nickle and diming every time I open a back-up.

They want books for the gift exchange ($5 per book value), they want $5 per KID for pizza parties, plus 1 bag of candy per kid, supplies for making ginger-bread houses, plus class decorations, now the "class moms" are requesting $20 PER KID for teachers gifts. Are you kidding me??? We talking probably $200 if I go along with all of this.

I am so jaded at this point, everyone might just get a card a "Merry Christmas" wish. I love the teachers and I always donate when I can - but enough is enough. I feel rotten, but right now I have feed my family and pay the mortgage. Keeping our house is my Christmas wish.

Sorry for the vent, thanks for listening.


~Dionne
Mommy to Jessica, Alexa & William 02/20/02 31w6d

That is asking a lot from you! A gift exchange is not appropriate for school, imo. We have celebrations that the parents volunteer to provide a special snack and drink for so $5 per kid for pizza would annoy me too. And $20 per kid for the teacher's gift is asking a lot.

I actually usually opt out of the "classroom" gift. I feel like the meaning of gift giving is lost (for the child) when it is done as a mass gift. I prefer my children to personally hand the teacher a card/gift, no matter how small, to show their appreciation for what they do. This year we are giving gift cards to a bookstore...I cashed in some points on my credit card to get them so I didn't have to shell out extra money out of pocket.

Don't feel rotten. They are asking too much and you can only do what you can afford to do. Anyone would understand that in this tough economy.

I am only giving to my kids main teachers. I have a friend who was an art teacher before being a SAHM. She said she rarely got a gift from the parents. At our school, they only see the art teacher, music teacher, Spanish teacher, gym teacher and librarian once a week for 30 minutes. While I appreciate them, with 5 kids, it feels like overkill.

I hope the teachers like my gift. I put together a little basket with some Bath and Body Works foot cream and cute socks that they had on a great sale, added some nice hot chocolate to it and a Barnes and Noble gift card.

Cindy
Paul and Andrew
Kristen, Rachel and Michael

RIGHT NOW I am pulling out the 10.00 I was sending in for my dd's 1st grade teacher.
After reading the post I am thinking the mass gift is not for us either.
I REALLY REALLY like my dd's teacher. She is great and treats my dd so well and my dd has adhd and her teacher is SO great about it.
With my trio I have 2 of them in 1 class, so I think I will just buy som gift cards.
Both my dh and I are not working right now so money is SO tight but I think I will manage 10.00 each on a card
I have trying so hard to figure out what to do!

Maybe I will take a picture of them as well and put a thank you note on the back.

Thanks for the ideas!

I try to do one of the art/music/PE teachers each time at least so they know they're appreciated. By the time we're out of the school, I'd have gotten to everyone. Otherwise, we do the main teachers (my kids are in separate classes, so that's plenty.) I've been doing "charity gift cards" for the past couple of years along with a nice note. The teachers do seem to appreciate it. Check out this website, www.tisbest.org for this.

Paula
b/g/b 11/00