Before It All Begins

Do you know what went on before your child went to school on the first day?  Do you know how many hours went into getting ready for that day?  Do you really understand the preparation that occurred? 

Your child's teacher probably spent 8 hours a day IN the classroom and about 12 hours of their OWN time at home planning, cutting, gluing, making, and creating the many things that will entice your child to learn each day.  Your child's teacher tirelessly organized and plotted the various nooks and corners of your child's home-away-from-home.  

Getting a classroom ready is more than setting up desks and putting up a bulletin board.  It's buying bins, labels, markers, Ziplocs, colored paper, borders, pocket charts, and sentence strips.  It's making the classroom cheerful and bright.  It's designing the set up in a functional, yet fun way.  It's organizing books, materials and children's spaces in such a way that works...and if it doesn't work, reworking it all again.

Teachers spend a hundreds of dollars of their own money in order to provide all of this for your children.  Did you know that?  Not many do.  All teachers....public school teachers, private school teachers, preschool to high school.  They all do it.  

So when your child goes into their classroom for the first time or the one hundred and first time, think of all that your teacher does behind the scenes.  And thank them!

Alexis