Teacher Appreciation Week

Today we are talking about Teacher Appreciation Week. This year it happens to fall on the week just before Mother’s Day. That can make it doubly stressful from a parent volunteer perspective because while you might be helping out on some Mother’s Day activities for the lower grades, you also are likely helping out on a school wide level for teacher luncheons, on a classroom level to navigating special things for your teacher, or perhaps just personally one on one making your gesture.

Here are a few ideas to help that last minute gift idea come together in a snap!

1. Make it Personal: Not something you have to pay to have personalized but something you can do all on your own. One of my all time favorites? A teacher clipboard ~ supplies are simply a clear clipboard, gross grain ribbon to tie a bow at the top, colored legal pad, and add a decal with your teacher’s initials. Perfectly personalized just like that!

2. Give Something Useful: Each year for my sons we have chosen to purchase gift cards from Target that have the Bullseye front and center and simply add the note “Thanks for keeping me on Target!” Its perfect for Teacher Appreciation Week because you want to show your thanks for interacting with your child. But it also gives them the latitude to use that gift card towards supplies for the classroom if they choose something purely personal.

3. Team It Up: With the end of the year so soon to follow, I totally support the current trend towards not requiring families to contribute to a class gift for Teacher Appreciation ~ its truly an occasion that is individual for each child. But if you have a fellow Mom or two in the class who might want to go in on something together. Often there’s one Mom with a great idea, she’s happy to execute getting the item together, and all you might have to do is chip in some money and that’s the bomb!

Keep in mind some schools may have restrictions about how much you can give a teacher in terms of monetary value for gift cards so be sure to check that out. If you follow these three tips to personalize, choose useful, and team it up, you’ll find that even if you are the last parent through the door this Friday, the last day of Teacher Appreciation Week, it will all be well in the end. I hope these tips help you this week and I’d love to know…

How do you handle Teacher Appreciation Week at your child’s school?

See you next time!

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