teacher appreciation gifts

[leight]

Hi! My kids' elementary school has this week as their teacher appreciation week. They suggest the following gifts each day
Mon- balloons
Tues- luncheon
weds - flowers
thurs - candy/candles
fri-card/homemade gift

I have 2 girls 6 & 8. My 8 yr old isn't the problem- she's in 3rd and has one teacher. My 6yr old is in a kindergarten and has two teachers that coteach (32 kids!) and one volunteer grandparent and one aide.

How do they expect 30 kids to bring in balloons? Am I wrong (or cheap) in thinking that the luncheon would have been more than sufficient with class parents encouraging a homemade gift besides? (we are ending school in 3 weeks so they already collected for gift cards!)

What I did is this- made two dozen sugar cookies and had the kids ice and decorate them with balloon drawings. That was for today

Tomorrow- sending in the food item requested

Weds- made bags of potpourri (2 large bags $2 -put them in left over valentine goody bags that I got for $.25 and added one floating flower candle to each bag -$.69 each.) total less than $6

thurs- bought 6pack of hershey bars at Walmart ($2) and created our own wrappers with the kids pictures on them- had the kids decorate them to make them special.

Fri- have Calgon and a larger bath basket for each teacher/aide. (Large one going to the 3rd grade teacher) Bought these for $9 total after Christmas when walmart had them 70% off. Had the kids decorate a door knocker for each teacher/aide.


Any thoughts?

 

[ZuZugal]

Whoever made that list of what to bring in to the teachers is obviously not a teacher! I don't get it; are they expecting all of the kids to bring in balloons, candles, homemade treats? I understand the luncheon, and that will almost certainly be the most appreciated gift of the week.

Sounds like you have done way more than your share already. Teachers appreciate all gifts given to them, but most get enough of the "candles, sweets, flowers" stuff to share with their families and neighbors too.

Our school does a nice luncheon, and all of the teachers get a few nice "goodies" to boot (an insulated lunch bag w/the school logo and a large insulated coffee/water mug w/the school logo.

And, I don't think the teachers out there expect parents to bring a different gift each day. That's just crazy.

 

[ceecee]

The luncheon is a nice thought and gift cards are appreciated. Most teachers will tell you they have too many candles, bath sets, candy and ornaments!

 

[sk!mom]

Ok, Teacher here. You sound like you have done plenty. I personally love sugar cookies and think that alone would be enough.

The list is ridiculous. First of all it is VERY poor manners to request a gift of any kind. Just because a PTA sent it doesn't make it less rude. It should be enough to let it be known that this is Teacher Appreciation week. (Not sure who decided that.) People can then do whatever they choose or choose not to do with that information.

Secondly, I would not want 19 kids showing up with balloons or candles or any one thing.

At my school, the PTA hosts a luncheon later this week and anything else that occurs is up to each individual. I received one gift and a lovely note from a student today. More special since she wasn't asked to bring it.

MY DD took Bath and Body soap to her teachers and that's it for us.

 

[leight]

Thanks ladies- I agree. But I didn't make the gift selection and my daughters are under the impression that it is daily gifting- that's how it was last year-which is why I at least had bought the bath gifts in advance. So the kids feel good that they are doing something nice- I at least spent some quality time doing the crafty things with them and the teachers who have too much candles/bath sets (or their garbage pails) will just have to suck it up. At least they are only getting one reg hershey bar from my kids- no big boxes of candy. I feel that the teachers should talk to the PTA- the PTA is made of ladies who spend half their time volunteering at school (which is great-but I can't) so bringing in balloons/flowers for several classes may not be a problem, I have an hour commute and just can't do it. I don't want my kids to feel they are less because we need both parents working.

regards, leigh

 

[HERSEY]

My son also brought home a similar list. There are approx 30 kids in his class. While on the bottom of the letter small print I might add participation is voluntary. I wonder how many parents and kids will think they still must bring something. The idea of teacher appreciation is wonderful I just think 30 candy bars 30 desserts 30 gift certificates is a bit much. Sorry bad day.

 

[carole88]

Sounds a little crazy to me too. We sent my DD teacher an arrangement from Edible Arrangements. She loved it and shared it at lunch with other teachers. This company is a new favorite of mine. I like sending the fruit instead of flowers.

 

[CPM]

Wow, never heard of sending a list home like that.

I'm my son's school's PTA Vice President. We bake goodies and leave them in the Teacher's lounge and also give them each a $10.00 gift card.
We already do a welcome back breakfast in August and a holiday luncheon in December for them.

Most children do not bring in anything at our school for teacher appreciation week. It's also the end of the school year and the kids tend to bring in gifts for their teachers for the end of the year anyway.

 

[mnasf]

We have one day officially. The office staff provides either a breakfast or lunch. So on Wed. this week, we are celebrating as a class. We asked each child to make a little card (we provided the paper) and bring a piece of fruit. We'll be assembling a fruit basket. As a parent, I try to do something little all week. I had a teacher quote today about teachers taking a little seed ... helping it grow.... blossoming into a flower... you get the picture and I attached the quote to a packet of seeds. Nothing major. I did choose flowers that were "four o'clock' because I thought that was kind of funny. Who knows if the teacher likes it or not! I'm planning on bringing lunch on one day. I may do a $5 Starbucks card on another. Who knows. I do think it should be voluntary, but I'm hopeful all of our class participates in the fruit basket.

 

[dpratt68]

Another teacher here - I think that is a bit excessive as well. My own children will be bringing in a rose with baby's breath today to their teachers. I will be thrilled with a card acknowledging the day/week. Parents should do these things because they want to not because they are told to. They should also decide what they would like to send. Take it from me a homemade card from your child will mean soooo much to their teacher.

 

[ducklite]

I agree, that sounds excessive.

When my son was in elementary school, I recall the class mother taking up a collection towards the end of the year to buy a gift card for a place like Hammetts' (?) or even Staples where they could buy school supplies for the next year, or even a gift for themselves. With so many teachers taking money out of their own pocket to buy extras like stickers and such, this seemed like a great idea.

Having an enitre week for teacher appreciation really does seem excessive though.

Anne

 

[grlpwrd]

Well, like the OP stated it is a suggestion and we, in fact, have done it that way before at one of my dd's schools, but it proved too overwhelming for students and teachers so they did away with it.

For this week I have made some desserts and a fruit/dip platter for the high school teacher luncheon for my eldest dd's school and I am giving thank you cards with seed packets and sentiments for my younger 2 dd's teachers.

You do what you can and want to do, I guess ...

 

[IMISSDISNEY]

My son's school did teacher appreciation last week. They sent a letter home asking parent to send a flower on tuesday for the teacher and if you wanted any teacher's aids. The letter stated the flower could be from the store, a garden or a picture of a flower. They also requested that on thursday each student wear their teacher's favorite color along with a teacher/color chart.

I thought this was very nice for the teachers and a reasonable request.

 

[Bearvet]

I've been the president of our school's PTCA for 7 years! Here's what we do for Teacher Appreciation Day/Week:
- Leave small candy or other treat in teacher mailboxes every day this week
(example: 2-3 Nestle Treasure nuggets with a note saying "You are a
TREASURE" OR a single bag of microwave popcorn with a note saying
"We're BURSTING with appreciation for you", etc)
- Spruce up the adult bathrooms for the week by adding nice soaps and
hand lotions, a vase of flowers, a basket of nice soft toilet paper, a
basket of potpourri, etc. Just to make cinder block bathrooms seem
a bit nicer! This is the staff's favorite thing.
- On Wednesday we provide breakfast and lunch and send home a form for
parents to sign up to bring something. There's always a ton of food and
they enjoy it for the rest of the week. We also have someone in the
staff room during the day to keep up with dishes, refill plates, store
leftovers, etc. We also decorate the staff room with fresh flowers, a nice
tablecloth, etc.

We send notices home letting families know that this is the perfect opportunity to write a nice note to your child's teacher(s) or send a token gift. I usually send in a nice hanging plant or a Barnes and Noble gift card. It's also important to remember other teachers (gym, art, etc) or staff members (support services, librarian) who may be special to your child but don't get the recognition because they're not the classroom teacher.

I'm not crazy about the theme days you listed - there's a wonderful website www.ptotoday.com with many wonderful ideas - they have a great discussion board. Some schools do a car wash and wash all the teachers' cars - sounds like a lot of work, but I bet they love it!

Sorry this got so long - just wanted to share what works for us!

 

[java]

Well the last day of school there is a staff appreciation luncheon(stafff being everyone from bus drivers to principal) They were looking for cash donations...that worked for me. They suggested 5-10. I sent in 25.*just got my tax refund! So do I send a gift for the teacher now or at year end?

 

[Tamis3girls]

I run our student council at school and this is what we are doing:

Monday: Each teacher/aide/support staff got a marigold with a saying on "Teachers help small things grow"

Tuesday: Support staff is providing lunch to the teachers, student council is giving a homemade card and an apple.

Wednesday: Notepad/Pencil

Thursday: Donuts/Juice

Friday: Student council kids are providing a lunch to the teachers.

Tami

 

[flakypuff]

I think anything you give the teachers is nice. It can be a nice card with something special written by yur child.
Our school does a special lunch and breakfast everyday this week. Also, parents come in to the school to do lunch and recess duty so the teachers can have some extra time. Each classroom parent plans something for her class. Honestly, I am a class mom with another mom. We decided to let the children do whatever they wanted. We collect $$ for Christmas and some parents gave 2$ some gave 25.00 and we got gift cards and the gift was from everyone....but some parent got upset at that they felt if they gave 20.00 then why should some other child get a "thank you note" that didnt give anything? To me I didnt feel Anyone needed to know who gave what but...some parents thought different

My 4th grade ds has 2 teachers, 2 aides....and lots of other teachers, helpers... On Monday he brought in handheld fans..I got them at the dollarstore. We got 8 he gave them out with a little card that says "I think your pretty cool" it gets hot in the school so they loved them! Today he brought small bags filled with asst candy with a card that says "I think you are Sweet"..just little things...

 

[gottaluvdis]

Our teacher's appreciation week was also held last week for DD9 elementary school. It was handled by the PTO, with many parent contributions. They hold a breakfast and a lunch during the week (for which I always provide food), and they get donations from businesses and indivduals for raffles. DD's teacher won an $80 gift certificate to our local health club's spa in the raffle and was very excited. We don't provide individual teacher gifts per se, but will do so next month at the end of the school year. DD has already made her teacher a gift and will write a note - and we'll attach a Dunkin Donuts "charge" card with it.

 

[ENSOCK]

Our school does the same thing. The whole week. This year with everything going on I simply forgot. My DS asked me if it was still TA week this week also. I will just get them a little something for the end of the year.

 

[wendypooh]

Our school is doing this too this week. Fortunately, we weren't asked to bring something each day!!!! I think it's ridiculous for them to "expect" a gift each day of the week!!!! We were actually sent letters with a full page list of things the teacher likes, etc..... my DS is in K, and I got letter for his teacher, his gym teachers ( there are 4, they swap out during the year) the libriarian, and an aide............

I too thought it was rude!!!! Like they were asking for it!!! I'm very generous to my son's teacher......... we gave her a VERY nice gift for christmas, AND I sent her a VERY NICE CUSTOM gift basket for her new grandbaby. Not to mention, Easter a floral arrangement, and her birthday, a gift cert. to her fav. restaurant!!
I'll send HER something this week, but I'm sorry, I'm not sending for the other teachers or aide......... ( I've never even seen or heard of an aide in his class, so not sure who this aide is?? He says there is no aide in his class.) It seems like everytime I turn around there is something / someone else that I have to "purchase" something for at school ~ it is a little much!!!

To the OP ~~ You've done ENOUGH!!!! I'm not saying not to send the teacher something, but everyday!!!!!!!!!! GEEZ