My son is in Kindergarten & we absolutely love his teacher. We want to get her a gift that shows that, yet we are on a limited budget. My thought was to get her a basket of school supplies & a gift card for herself. I don't know for a fact that our teachers are using their own money to buy school supplies and I haven't decided yet where to get a gift card. Just wanted other thoughts on this. If you like the idea, what kind of supplies would you put in the basket?
Thanks for any input.
As a teacher myself any kind of gift is nice. Personally I liked the small lotions or boxes of chocolate that I got. I know that school oriented items are nice but when a parent gave me a gift that was not school oriented I felt as though they were appreciating me as a whole person not JUST as a teacher. But that's just my personal opinion.
My mom taught kindergarten for YEARS. She has always said that the best thing you can do is write a letter of commendation (not recommendation) to the School Board and the principal. Then write a nice card and include a copy of the letter for the teacher teller her that you sent it to the board and the principal. It will go in her file and be used for future promotions and tenure consideration.
Every teacher all of my children have ever had say they treasure the hand-written/hand-made Thank You cards from/by the children the most. I also have friends who are teachers and they still have cards from 10-15 years ago! They say when times get tough they read through them to cheer them up and help them remember how much they love their job.
I like it, i am thinking about doing this at the beginning of next year too.
tissues, either travel packs or full size soft ones since the school kind is probably scratchy.
paper clips,
stickers
rubber stamps and stamp pads,
MEMO PADS, POST IT's you could go to kinkos and they will make up a pad for you that has your kids artwork or your kid's printing of the teachers name on it.
maybe a room deodorizor/spray freshener
Colorful sharpies sharpie permanet markers
Sharp teacher scissors
masking tape, scotch tape, highlighter tape
a Cute Ruler or pointer
Nice Chalk
Change for the vending machine
energy bars or candy bars, gum, mints, snacks, bottled water or the single serve mixes of lemonade
Instant coffee??? or a coffee gift card
Childrens books-- picture books or chapter books, or big colorful photographic coffee table books about what ever they studied with her Like an ocean book or a book about ancient egypt
Of course you wouldn't need to do everything just pick and choose, BUT I'm wondering if it wouldn't be cheaper to do something else. sometimes gift baskets end up being a whole lot more than if you had just picked out one thing.
My guess is that even if she doesn't have to buy her own supplies she would love to have more books in the classroom, and multiple copies are ok. Why not have your son pick out one of his favorite books ( did she read chapter books like Magic Tree House, or Charlie and the chocolate Factory?) and make a book plate and he can write a little thank you and the date and stick it in the front cover. You could even add a little handmade book mark and a gift cert to a book store or a teacher supply store.
If she is as great as you say, she won't really be expecting anything anyway, but how wonderful to thank her specifially for the ways that she has helped your son to grow. HAve Fun!
What a GREAT idea. I'm a fourth grade teacher, and I can tell you it would be greatly appreciated. Put supplies in the basket like sticky notes, paper clips, dry erase markers, or magnets for a whiteboard/chalkboard.
As for the gift card, Target, Starbucks, or anything of the sort would be so appreciated!
What about just a gift card to a school supply store and a gift basket for herself?
Depending on the school, teachers are allowed to buy so much with school money anything outside of that limit and it comes out of their pocket. So a gift card or a basket of school supplies like you said would be a good gift for her. Even the basics in there, you can never have enough pens, markers/dry erase markers, stickers (everyone loves stickers), glue, scissors, stencils, wipes. You could even maybe get her a game that she could use in her future classes. Anything like that would work.
When I was in school my mom used to use canning jars and fill it with various types of candy and then decorate it so it was pretty. Sometimes we'd just mugs (depending on the price) and it worked just as well.
