Parent Winter Gift Addendum . . .

One thing that I meant to mention when I posted about the Winter gifts we made for the parents is this:
as teachers we see a lot.  We see a lot of good parenting and poor parenting, and we focus on the effect is has on the kids.  I think sometimes we forget that we are also in a position where we can help not just our students but their parents as well.  There's so much more behind the scenes that we don't realize and sometimes we need to remember to try to minister to the parent as well . . . be it in small ways or large.

When I explained to my kids that with this Winter gift we would be essentially complimenting our parents in telling them what makes them so special and unique one of my very intuitive and bright students raised her hands and said, "Mrs. Wilcox - I think this is a very good idea because mommy thinks she is just terrible."  If you know this child, you know that she is raised very well.  I literally had to quickly make a statement to agree with her on the importance of what they write to mom and dad in this activity and move on because I was tearing up.  To imagine . . . mommy thinks she is just terrible.  These gifts may be just a small gesture, but I pray that the words my kids wrote to mom and dad truly touch their hearts and put a smile on their faces because no mom or dad who loves their child should think they are "just terrible."

(Click here to go to the actual Winter Gift for Parents post.)

Winter Gift to Warm the Parent Heart

Every year I try to work with the kids to make a gift for their parents. This year I intended to take this last week of school before vacation to have the kids work on them. Unfortunately my daughter got sick and I missed a couple of days with them so that combined with other programs scheduled during writing meant I had to rush to finish the gifts last minute on the last day!!! Regardless-I love the results!

We started by reading Stand Tall Molly Lou Melon. Then we watched the Brainpop video about snowflakes. I asked them to think hard and find something these 2 things had in common. How were Molly Lou Melon and snowflakes alike? Of course what I was getting at is that Molly Lou Melon wasn't like anyone else. She was different and unique. It's what made her special. So we, like Molly Lou Melon and snowflakes are (in the kids' words) different, special and unique.

This was their gift to their parents. They would write and tell their parents what they loved about them that made them so special...like no one else. It took some coaching but once they understood that this was essentially "complimenting" their parents, the students wrote done truly heart-warming and touching things.

Here are the results along with some of my favorites!