Grace-Full Intentions: Ways to Bless a Teacher

I hope this "Back 2 School Boot Camp for Moms" mini-series has made you feel a little more prepared to tackle the school year. In case you're just now joining us, here's what we've covered so far: In this post {which isn't officially a part of the series, but still super helpful} I give some general tips for both homeschooling and public/private school families on how to prepare for the upcoming school year. Then, in this post, I talk specifically about how to set up a "study station": a place for your child to focus on their school work. Finally, in this post, I give you "the scoop" on meal planning for the academic year. Which brings us to today's post on how to bless a teacher:

When I was a little girl, I wanted to be an Elementary School Teacher, but that dream was never realized, as God had other things planned. Plus, my son is not school-age yet {and even if he were, we're planning on homeschooling}. So, why the post on ways to bless the teacher{s} in your life? Well, I know several teachers personally and I think they deserve to be blessed by their student's parents. Not to mention the fact that, as Christians, we're supposed to be looking for ways to serve others. Why not start with your child's teacher?

Volunteer

If you're able to become involved on a regular basis, then offer to help out once a week or once a month. Even if you don't want to be the "room mom", you can still help the teacher out in many ways: help sort through school supplies, organize classroom, etc. Remember, anything that you can take off the teacher's plate will be helpful!

REAL TEACHER RECOMMENDATION: Offer to become their "secretary" for a day and take care of any filing, cleaning, or organizing needed. Also, for the preschool set, the teacher could probably use an extra set of hands to help pass out food, drinks during snack time.

Purchase Extra Supplies

If your budget and the school system allows, ask your child's teacher what he or she needs for their classroom and buy it for them, especially right before the beginning of the second semester. Most people don't realize how much teachers come out of pocket to pay for things, thus reducing an already less-than-deserved paycheck. I realize most of us won't be able to afford to purchase anything on the expensive side, but buying several extra packs of paper, markers, and books would go a long way towards filling in the financial gap.

REAL TEACHER RECOMMENDATION: Depending on what your teacher requests, you may be able to help out without ruining your budget by shopping at thrift stores/yard sales. These are great places to find things like furniture {think: bookshelves or filing cabinets} or reading books.

Give Gifts

Many students choose to give their teachers a gift on the first day of school and at Christmas, as well as other holidays in between. I know that teachers love to receive anything their students give them, but please keep in mind what he or she actually likes. I would imagine that gift cards are always welcome {as long as the school system allows them}.

REAL TEACHER RECOMMENDATION: Create a teacher questionnaire {asking about their favorite food, candy bar, author, store, restaurant, candle scent, etc}.

Gift Resource: For some super cute gift ideas, check out the blog Eighteen 25: HERE and HERE.

Get Involved

Support the teacher's decisions as much as possible. I know they're not perfect and you may not like every decision that they make, but unless those decisions are unbiblical, your child' teacher needs your support just as much as your child does. And, yes, of course you may need to intervene on your child's behalf from time to time, but I've seen so many parents looking to pick a fight with a teacher any chance they can get.

Here's the main point I want to make when it comes to getting involved: When it comes to doing what God would have us to do in His word, parents are responsible for teaching and training their children to love and serve the Lord. Their is a difference between spiritual instruction and academic instruction. The Bible does not say that the parents are necessarily responsible for the academic instruction. This is why I believe, as long as the children are receiving a biblical foundation and worldview at home, it is not wrong to choose to allow someone else to teach them academics. However, because our child is always {24 hours a day/7 days a week; no matter where they are} our responsibility, it would be in our best interest to partner with the child's teacher and become a "team" that is FOR your child.

REAL TEACHER RECOMMENDATION: Ask about your child's day, what they learned, and about their homework; because the most frustrating thing to a teacher is a parent who acts as if they don't care.

CAN YOU THINK OF ANY MORE

WAYS TO BLESS A TEACHER?

Blessings,