Presents for Teachers ???

[lucyem]

My son and the rest of his classmates were given Christmas gifts from their teacher. My son received a book. Should we reciprocate? I will point out I am in the process of closing a store and have more then one gifty item like mugs and colorful socks that need homes. So from the financial side I am set. But I am not sure if it is appropriate or not. This is preschool.

[OTMomma]

On another board I am on, I have seen tons of posts about teacher gifts- preschool, dance, public school, private school, you name it. I think its parent's choice- but I do know a lot of teachers in the group posted "Please, nothing else with an apple on it!" LOL

[mama2mygirl]

In our town, parents actually buy the teacher's really nice gifts. IMO, of course. (Like a $40 gift certificate to a Kindermusik teacher. Nice but, man, I could never swing that.)
I think your presents sound perfect--plus, if cost isn't an issue, even better.

[Flor]

You don't have to feel obligated. I bought books for all my students (by the way, I get them for 95 cents from Scholastic, so it wasn't a big money thing) and I truly don't expect anything. If you do have something she'd like sitting around, then sure, go for it.

[wifty]

I bought my dd preschool teacher a craft book that she loved with a card that told her how much what she does means to us.

I was told by a friend that they often give the equivalent of one weeks fees as a bonus! I can't afford that! I wish I could cuz i know that they are underpaid and the time she spends with my daughter is important.

Just my tuppence.

[Evan&Anna's_Mom]

I tend to do gift cards to either the book store or Starbucks. But I do always do something for the teachers. Generally about $20-25 or so at someplace that has lots of choices.

[The Lucky One]

The homeroom mother chairwomen took up a collection to buy my ds1's two teachers a present. I gave some money towards that and I also knitted each of them a Christmas colored dishcloth and wrote a nice card.

[Flor]

Originally Posted by Evan&Anna's_Mom

I tend to do gift cards to either the book store or Starbucks. But I do always do something for the teachers. Generally about $20-25 or so at someplace that has lots of choices.

Dang! That's nice! I guess that's the downside of middle school teaching. I got two boxes of chocolate from the dollar store. . . one from the whole class . I just thought it was sweet that they wrapped something up for me.

[teachma]

Originally Posted by Evan&Anna's_Mom

I tend to do gift cards to either the book store or Starbucks. But I do always do something for the teachers. Generally about $20-25 or so at someplace that has lots of choices.

I teach fourth graders, and these are my favorite gifts.

At my dd's preschool, the room parent collected $30 per family and allocated it to the three teachers, then purchased gift cards to a local spa and signed the card from the whole class.

Personally, I feel that my children's teachers spend so much of their day with my children and contribute enormously to their learning and growth-- who better to honor with nice gifts?

[Learnintolaugh]

We did a $10 gift certificate to a teacher's supply store for our son's preschool teacher. I was kind of at a loss of what to get and don't have a big budget for gifts but didn't want to give just another candle (I envision teachers having entire rooms filled with candles). I know sometimes in public schools they have to spend their own money on stuff for the classroom so I thought maybe she'd be able to pick out something she'd really been wanting to get.

[3boysmom]

We always give gifts to our teachers for the holidays. I look at it as an opportunity to thank them for all they do for our kids. We gift the classroom teachers as well as the PE, art and music teachers. I got them all nice scented soy candles this year. Now that my older two are in middle and high school, we don't get gifts for their teachers - they each have 7 teachers and they don't seem to form that same bond with any of them that they did when they were with the same teacher all day in elementary school. Besides, they would be absolutely mortified if I were to suggest that they actually be seen carrying teahcer gifts onto the bus and into the school !

[GruppieGirl]

A little late, but I try to organize group gifts for the children's classroom teachers and dance teachers.

Usually we do $10, or whatever the family wants to contribute, per child.

That way the teachers get a really nice gift, we don't spend a ton of money and we don't have to spend lots of time shopping.

For dd's dance teacher (love them) they each got $60 gift certificates to the mall. Ds' preschool teacher got a $100 gift certificate to Barnes and Noble. Dd's teacher gift was organized by the room mom. She found some catalog where the teacher could pick out her own gift from the dollar amount the the class contributed.



When I taught my FAVORITE gift was a $150 gift certificate to the local teacher supply store.



Best of luck with everyone's teacher gifts!

[JBaxter]

We gave copies of the book Clean House Clean Planet to Nathans preschool teachers this year. I hope that was an OK gift.

[boobear]

Our K class mom collected $5 for each teacher (18 kids) and bought a gift card to a local merchant. I then sent my dd in with a box of chocolate for her two teachers. I also gave a tin of choc covered nuts to the bus drivers, nice guys, probably not paid well. I think it's good for my dd to "give" to those around her that help her through her days.

I agree with teachma post about how much the teachers spend with our kids every day. And, if you have a good teacher, they're worth their weight in gold! :

[MamaPam]

When I taught preschool many of the children and parents brought gifts. It was always a nice touch. Don't feel like you have to do anything big. I have some neat chirstmas ornaments that children helped decorate or make.

Pam

[OakBerry]

The moms in my ds's preschool class all chipped in and got the teachers a gift card to Kohl's. There are 4 teachers so I think that was a good way to do it, that way we could give them each a decent amount to spend.
Plus, I'm sure they have enough coffee mugs, ornaments and little knick knacks to last them a lifetime! This way they can get what they want.