Preschool Teacher Appreciation Day

I'm sure I'll be in the minority with you, but I get pretty fed-up with all the newly created "appreciation days" too. I find that we are now required to buy gifts for people that, only a few years ago, were simply doing their jobs.

I don't think this is being stingy. It's about the real meaning and intent of appreciation. "Requiring" you to appreciate your child's teacher is not really appreciation at all...it's begging for gifts, which is tacky. Appreciation is something given with sincerity and humility. I make a point of reaching out with appreciation (and gifts) to the people in my family's life who make a difference to us. But I would be a little put off if I was required to do so.

Since it's officially on the calendar, I would have my child draw a picture for the teacher. Have him use some crayons or colorful markers and stickers. Put it in an envelope with your own hand-written note thanking her for a great couple of weeks and how you are looking forward to working with her. Next year, when you've known the teacher for a full school year, you can give some home baked cookies.

This is one of the reason's that I can't send my youngest to PreK. On top of the money for the program they expect you to provide extra snack days, "appreciation" gifts, sell tickets for raffles, provide the prizes for those raffles, contribute to a Thanksgiving and Christmas AND birthday gift, and God knows what else. We could JUST afford to send him, but no way with an extra 50-80 dollars a month.
I'd just have your child draw a picture, use some stamps or something and include with it a card that says,"I'm looking forward to getting to know you!".

At my kids' elementary school they do Teacher Appreciation Week. Monday they each wear the teacher's favorite color, Tuesday they each bring a flower, Wednesday they each bring a "sweet treat" , Thursday parents are bringing dinner for the teacher to take home, Friday is a homemade card.

I would say a homemade card and a flower or a few cookies would be just fine for a preschool teacher.

Good luck,
K.

Considering the length of time your son has been at the school, I think that just making a card or drawing a picture is just fine.

I was a preschool teacher, and i get what you are trying to say, But I also don't feel you need to go crazy to show appreciation, Being nice and being involved in your child's education and being supportive of the teacher is really waht counts.
I think you could probably slide if he just started, Other wise be kind, and have your kid draw a picture, if you want to realy get crazy go to the dollar store and pick up a frame for the picture they draw adn stick it in, or maybe you have a frame at home that you can regift. It doesnt' have to be a big deal unless you want it to be.

I understand where you are coming from , all the different "days" soon add up to quite an expense. Why not have your son draw a picture and make a "thank you " card from it?

As a preschool teacher, in Olathe, for the last 8 years, I have been appreciated in a wide variety of ways. I work in a 9 month preschool, where students attend for very few hours a week. In my case, 5 hs a week is all I see students.

My favorite gift to recieve from parents is a group gift. The flower idea shared by others is always a favorite. I think that cost about 1.50 a student.

I also have a book from one group of students where they were each sent home a questionaire page about me/their experiences in my room. They attached a personal photo from home on each of them. This same group, also had me a birthstone braclet made which featured each kiddos birthstone. One of the mom's was a jewelry maker, so I am unsure of the overall cost of it.

There are times that everyone pitches in 5 dollars and gives on larger gift, which is nice. It can be handy to have a nice dinner after a day when the students are in rare form and you've used up your energy in being patient with them!

I would say on average, a parent spends 5 dollars on an appreciation gift. My favorite individual gift is a nice picture/card and a small gift card to a fast food or department store.

I think since you are feeling funds are tight and you havent been their long a card would definately suffice.

Please remember that our profession is, by rule, highly underpaid. While you may pay quite a high tution, you would be surprised at how little of it actually reaches the teacher. If it is more a daycare, and less a preschool, I would assume your teacher only makes around $10 an hour. She probably has a to do a lot of preptime unpaid so that the environment can be stimulating for you child. She probably goes home and worries about the children/situations in her classroom. She supplies endless patience and guidance, sometimes amid chaos. While she selected this as her job, it is a field with a high turnover. Burnout is very common. Spending a little extra cash to keep good people in the field is worth it in my opinion.

One poster said that they would have to pay an extra 50 to 80 a month and I just can't see how that could be. My son also now attends preschool and so I am paying out the other end and I would say that I have spent an extra 60 all year on snack and gifts.

I'm a high school teacher, but it's really not that different. Given that you've only been there two weeks, I think that, as others have suggested, a card made by him with a note saying you're looking forward to the rest of the year might be nice. And I don't think that you ever have to spend a lot of money, even if you're in an affluent town. Teachers always like to feel like their work is recognized, and a card always suffices. (Just as an FYI, I have two kids in daycare who have two teachers each - I spend about $50 total at Christmas and $50 at the end of the year on thank you gifts, so you really don't have to spend a lot over the course of the year to let the teachers know they're doing a good job).

We always gave a piece of art from our child and a small gift card to a casual food place or to the movies..

They are not paid very much and they are caring for the most precious person in your life..

Speaking as a teacher, I feel funny when I get elaborate gifts for teacher appreciation. Also, please realize, teachers DID NOT come up with this day. At least, not the ones at your child's school. Teachers at my school never even know it's come around until we get the gifts. I teach third grade, but I used to teach preschool. Have your son draw a picture and maybe ask him something he'd like it to say on the back - a little message. You could scribe for him and let her know they're his words. Honestly, that's all I'd ever do - even when he knows her very well. His words will just be more meaningful next year. :)

well, i read the responses which made me think about me. ii always go out of my way to make teachers feel special. we have our kindergarten teacher to my twins who is just awesome. she has gone far beyond her duty to help us out, with one of my daughters. i feel like i owe her soooo much. but she's one of those who don't come around often. i always get her personalized stuff, like a nice watch with engraving, or photo frame (engraving from my kids), and stuff like that. i volunteer as much as i am allowed to. and i participate in snack days, and parties and all that. we're not well off but were careful spenders so i can spend a litttle here and a little there.
i don't know though if my child had gone there a few weeks or months only and the teacher was not something extraordinary. maybe a box of chocolates, a scarf, or something like that. like i said, i can't relate because we owe out teacher soo much and whatever we do for her it never feels enough.

Hey there!

I'll tell ya - I'm a former pre-school teacher myself and anytime a holiday or something came around, I always got a few gifts and things from everyone's parents.

That being said - my favorites were always these things:

- Flowers (not necessarily from a florist... just something nice from WalMart or something - they're pretty and helped my desk look nice.) ($10 or so)

- A scented jar candle.... if you aren't sure what his teacher would like, pick something faint and clean smelling - like "Fresh Linen" or something similar - those usually don't have an overly-perfumed smell, and aren't nearly as potent as Vanilla. ($7-$10 or so)

- A cute planner, one that looks kinda like a journal, but is really a weekly planner. You can even buy a super cheap one, and then go to a fabric store, buy a bit of discounted "scrap" (they have whole entire bins of the stuff) ...and then just cover the planner with a cool fabric.... just use fabric glue.
($10-$15 or so)

The first two were always my favorites and then that last one was a gift I got for Christmas one year that I absolutely loved. It was from a mom with 4 kids, who I knew didn't have the money to be buying me some kind of fancy notebook, and when I commented on how much I loved the cover she explained how she'd made it..... and it made that planner even more special because it was thoughtful. Plus every teacher loves planners.

Best of luck!

(PS - those pricey presents always made me feel awkward, like some of the parents were just trying to show each other up, and it kind of aggravated me. Give her (or him?) something from the heart that says how much you appreciate the care that they give your child, and THAT will be a gift in and of itself. Seriously.)

Our preschool organizes it..each kid is supposed to bring a homemade card and one flower, then one parent brings a vase for the whole bouquet. This way no one has to spend much, and our teachers agree the homemade things mean so much more than any gift! Our class is graduating this year so we also put together a yearbook and are giving them that as a class as well. Is there a preschool board member you could bring this up with? It's our board that decided this, so not one teacher gets more than another. At the end of the year some people choose to give a bigger gift on their own for their teacher.

As one other momma said, the teacher takes care of your most precious thing in the world. How about you buy the "house brand" of ready-bake cookies (cost approx. $2.50) and give her those with a hand-made card from your child?

I give as much as I can, and I realize he's only been there a short time, but I feel that they are so under-paid and over-worked, anything I do is the least I can do.