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Gifts for Teachers in U.S. Schools

Discussion in 'General Discussions - USA & Canada' started by Rihana, Dec 1, 2015.

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Dec 1, 2015 #1
Rihana Moderator Staff Member IL Hall of Fame

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Deciding what to gift the teachers in your child's school - is it a no-brainer or lots of head scratching as you try to decipher the teacher's personality and what he/she might like?

Do you evaluate how much you and child love/hate the teacher when deciding the amount?

Do you give a gift only in December, or also at school-year end?

How do you go about buying gifts for teachers? Could be elementary school, middle school, preschool, or even instructors such as karate, swim, piano and other desi staples in Umrica. Share your ideas, experiences, questions.

Intent is to discuss 'gift giving to teachers' as an art, skill, science, not just compiling gift item ideas.

Rihana, Dec 1, 2015

Rihana, Dec 1, 2015

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Dec 1, 2015 #2

vidhyalakshmid IL Hall of Fame

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In my DD`s class the room parent coordinates for the collection of money. But it is optional, we can join in the pool or do it individually. I felt it is stress free to contribute the money. Usually the room parent buys gift card.

vidhyalakshmid, Dec 1, 2015

vidhyalakshmid, Dec 1, 2015

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Dec 2, 2015 #3

KashmirFlower IL Hall of Fame

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I too would like to know, my son going to Montessori, he has class teacher and assistant class teacher. I was thinking Christmas gift, what to give, few rose flowers , or a gift card made by him, but he is only 2 and half, so I also need help, (I guess teacher like if made by kid) . Or any gift. Or gift card.
What is normally done, want to know from experienced moms.

KashmirFlower, Dec 2, 2015

KashmirFlower, Dec 2, 2015

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Dec 3, 2015 #4

vidhyalakshmid IL Hall of Fame

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When my DD was in Montessori we gifted jewel saving purses (which I got from India) to 2 teachers. One teacher was Hispanic and she was so happy that it was from India.
I feel that it depends upon the individual teacher, general suggestion won`t work.

vidhyalakshmid, Dec 3, 2015

vidhyalakshmid, Dec 3, 2015

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Dec 9, 2015 #5

Rihana Moderator Staff Member IL Hall of Fame

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KashmirFlower said: ↑

I too would like to know, my son going to Montessori, he has class teacher and assistant class teacher. I was thinking Christmas gift, what to give, [...]
What is normally done, want to know from experienced moms.
Click to expand...

Skip the card made by kid unless you like to do such art activities with him. Buy a ready-made card. For the gift, you could be safe and give a gift card like Target, Amazon, Starbucks. Either she'll use or pass it on.

When i had the enthu, used to engage in small talk with the teacher to get an idea what she'd like. Or would ask the next room teacher.

Now it is just amazon gift card. All last minute.

Rihana, Dec 9, 2015

Rihana, Dec 9, 2015

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Dec 9, 2015 #6

Rihana Moderator Staff Member IL Hall of Fame

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Some general thoughts on the topic of gifts for teachers:

1. Unless you know her really well, skip the little cute stuff like candle-holder, Christmas ornaments, decoration items, shawl/stole from India, wall-hanging.

2. Class Group Gift - the best thing. Except if you are the organizer. : ) But if there is no one already organizing it, taking up that task can get you into teacher's (very) good books. She'll even tell you how to go about it - sending the email, collecting the contributions. There is not much of surprise-her needed there.

3. Get together with few other people - 3-5 parents can get together and also do a group gift-card. Again - pain to be the organizer. Folks pledge but don't give the money on time.

4. Simplest - buy a gift card. Have kid make elaborate card for teacher. Or kid can decorate a cardboard box.

5. Timing - don't give it on the last day of school before winter break. Give it a day or two before. Not necessary for parent to go give.

6. Gift at end of school year - Quite a few do this. I used to but once we stopped getting the good teachers, used to bother me to give a so-so teacher a gift at end of school year. Now, I give one gift only - in Dec, so spend a bit more. At the end of school year, I have the kid write a heart-felt note to teacher recalling many things from the year. It actually gets kind of sentimental for me also to read all that. I myself write a detailed email thanking the teacher, and a separate bit briefer one to the principal about the teacher, cc'ing her. I highlight one or two times when the teacher went out of her way to help my child.

7. Class web page - some teachers are candid enough to list on classroom webpage what gifts they like, or which stores they shop at. This is the teacher's personal wish-list, not classroom supplies wish-list.

Rihana, Dec 9, 2015

Rihana, Dec 9, 2015

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Dec 9, 2015 #7

Rihana Moderator Staff Member IL Hall of Fame

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Looks like this thread does not show up in the Recent Posts.

Tagging some folks - @Srama @priya16 @justanothergirl @gauri03 @dimhere @viswamitra @justanothermom @1Sandhya @peartree @jskls

Rihana, Dec 9, 2015

Rihana, Dec 9, 2015

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Dec 9, 2015 #8

Gauri03 Moderator Staff Member IL Hall of Fame

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I've always taken the lazy way out - gift cards. My child's class has collections for teacher appreciation days, teacher birthdays, and holidays. So we end up gifting 2-3 times a year. One parent collects the money and buys gift cards and flowers. Since my child is still in elementary school, I do encourage him to make personalized cards and write some messages for his teachers. When we go for vacations we pick up something local on the trip, generally edibles like flavored butters and jellies, chocolates, mini liqueurs etc., for the teachers. Both hubby and I are very active in school events. We volunteer a lot, so we've always had a great relationship with all our kids' teachers. I think they appreciate that much more than any gifts we give them.

Gauri03, Dec 9, 2015

Gauri03, Dec 9, 2015

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Dec 9, 2015 #9

peartree Platinum IL'ite

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@Rihana, thanks so much for this thread and the tag! I will be of absolutely no help on this thread, but will be the receiver of gyaan!

I have a kindergartner and this has been on my mind since thanksgiving, whether it is appropriate to give a holiday gift to the teacher in a public school. It was much simpler at her pre-school where they had their winter program and teacher appreciation combined, and each teacher had kind of a wish-list displayed on a board. So parents just picked from the list.

All the parents collaborate within a whatsapp group and so far, no one has brought up anything about a gift for the teacher. So in case a group gift is not being done and I decide on a gift card, what would be an appropriate value?

peartree, Dec 9, 2015

peartree, Dec 9, 2015

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Dec 9, 2015 #10

JustAnotherMom Platinum IL'ite

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In my son's school " Class mom" used to collect money in the beginning of the year and gift the teacher throughout the year. They collect around 50 $'s in the beginning of the year for parties and gifts I'm ' that' mom who just pay does not give any opinion and ' I'm fine with anything '. Now he has moved to middleschool.

I have a friend who is a kinder teacher and she usually get very excited with starbucks or amazon gift cards. She says her house is filled with these small gifts and she is very proud about it. Having said that if I was that teacher, I'm sure those gifts will be in trash or give away in less than an year. So like you said, its better to know the teacher before you give the small gifts .

JustAnotherMom, Dec 9, 2015

JustAnotherMom, Dec 9, 2015

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