I need 3 teacher's gifts (3 different teachers). Do you have any great ideas? I haven't been very lavish with the teachers this year, so I'd like to end the year on a high note.
Well - I don't think the teachers "expect" it, but in my experience more than 90% of the other kids bring the teacher a gift, so if yours doesn't, they are probably going to feel bad. That happened to us the first Christmas my ds was in Kinder. I didn't really think people did that anymore, and we lived in a VERY low income area, so I kind of thought people wouldn't bring gifts. Well, my ds was the ONLY child in the class who didn't bring his teacher a gift. She opened the gifts with the kids, thanking each one, etc. He came home crying because he loved his teacher and felt SO bad that he didn't bring her a gift. We had to get one over Christmas break and he gave it to her when they got back in Jan. I learned my lesson on that one - we send a gift at Christmas, a rose on Valentines Day (again, learned the hard way and had a crying kid), and a gift at the end of the year.
Yes, it's common practice and it's more common the younger the children are. I know that my friend who is a preschool teacher gets gift certificates to swanky salons in Manhattan, etc. While in the high school level, I receive coffee cards and candy. Those fundraisers were for your children's school supplies or supplenmental instructors, etc. That money goes directly to your child's education, not the teacher's home. Teachers spend A LOT of their own money on school supplies. At my school, we the teachers are asked to contribute to these fundraisers, too! We're asked to contribute our time, give free lessons, cook meals, etc. as prizes. The fundraiser is not about your teacher, it's about your child's benefit. A personally written thank you note is very nice; a gift is not necessary.
You'll find it very different in public school. The average teacher spends about 1000 per year out of her pocket. They provide books for their classroom library, rugs/curtains for their classroom, supplemental tables (like for centers and such, other than desks), manipulatives for centers, bookshelves, storage bins, racks for backpacks, pocket charts, easels, bulletin board supplies, etc. Here in Katy ISD, the district does not even provide CLOCKS for the classrooms, the teacher's have to buy their own or live without.
Then a lot end up bringing supplies for the kids who don't/can't provide their own. I know my dd's teacher last year was constantly having to restock pencils, glue and construction paper because the parents didn't send it and this isn't stuff the district supplies here (in CA the district supplied paper, pencils, glue, etc.) I made sure to let her know when they were running low so I could chip in.
I'm working on getting my teaching credential and have been told by many teachers that I should start stocking up now so that I don't have to invest 1000's my first year. I've already been hitting garage sales and such for bookshelves, rocking chair, storage bins, etc.
I'm pretty involved in PTA, so I see a lot of the fundraisers from the other side. If you really want to know where that money goes - getting involved and going to PTA meetings is important. At our school NONE of the fundraiser money goes to teachers. At our school it buys the big ticket "extras" for the school as a whole, like all the PE equipment, the marque in front of the school, a shade cover for the playground, science lab equipment, extra computers or extra books for the library, walkie talkies for the staff to use in fire drills. It also pays for events like the Fall Carnival, Fun Run, etc. and we have a program where the PTA provides 4 books for each student per year to take home and keep (we live in lower income area, so for some of these kids, those may be the ONLY books in their homes). I know that doesn't sound like a lot, but we have 1200 students, so that is 5000 books per year we provide. Oh - and we often give teachers "scholarships" for professional development trainings, last year we sent a group of teacher's to a science training.
Pages
belizesig1
<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1">
Those fundraisers were for your children's school supplies or supplenmental instructors, etc. That money goes directly to your child's education, not the teacher's home. Teachers spend A LOT of their own money on school supplies. At my school, we the teachers are asked to contribute to these fundraisers, too! We're asked to contribute our time, give free lessons, cook meals, etc. as prizes. The fundraiser is not about your teacher, it's about your child's benefit.
A personally written thank you note is very nice; a gift is not necessary.
Good to know.
This past year my kids were at a private small preschool and I know the teachers spent not a penny of their own money. I worked there the year before.
Abi and Dek each made a card for their teacher at Christmas.
You'll find it very different in public school. The average teacher spends about 1000 per year out of her pocket. They provide books for their classroom library, rugs/curtains for their classroom, supplemental tables (like for centers and such, other than desks), manipulatives for centers, bookshelves, storage bins, racks for backpacks, pocket charts, easels, bulletin board supplies, etc. Here in Katy ISD, the district does not even provide CLOCKS for the classrooms, the teacher's have to buy their own or live without.
Then a lot end up bringing supplies for the kids who don't/can't provide their own. I know my dd's teacher last year was constantly having to restock pencils, glue and construction paper because the parents didn't send it and this isn't stuff the district supplies here (in CA the district supplied paper, pencils, glue, etc.) I made sure to let her know when they were running low so I could chip in.
I'm working on getting my teaching credential and have been told by many teachers that I should start stocking up now so that I don't have to invest 1000's my first year. I've already been hitting garage sales and such for bookshelves, rocking chair, storage bins, etc.
I'm pretty involved in PTA, so I see a lot of the fundraisers from the other side. If you really want to know where that money goes - getting involved and going to PTA meetings is important. At our school NONE of the fundraiser money goes to teachers. At our school it buys the big ticket "extras" for the school as a whole, like all the PE equipment, the marque in front of the school, a shade cover for the playground, science lab equipment, extra computers or extra books for the library, walkie talkies for the staff to use in fire drills. It also pays for events like the Fall Carnival, Fun Run, etc. and we have a program where the PTA provides 4 books for each student per year to take home and keep (we live in lower income area, so for some of these kids, those may be the ONLY books in their homes). I know that doesn't sound like a lot, but we have 1200 students, so that is 5000 books per year we provide. Oh - and we often give teachers "scholarships" for professional development trainings, last year we sent a group of teacher's to a science training.
belizesig1
<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1">
Pages