holiday gifts for daycare

[Anonymous]

My 2 year old DD started daycare in September. I am thinking to get $50 gift card for the main teacher plus a small gift, and a $20 gift card (comes in November) for the assistant teacher plus a small gift.

And, I am thinking to get a small basket (maybe 5-6 items) of cookie or chocolate for helpers in the classroom who I don't know how many of them are there or who they are since they come & go & help out at the whole school, and also maybe leave a box of donuts/cookie for the front administration.

Does that sound good? Or should I give more money in terms of the giftcard to the main teacher & assistant teacher?

Monthly tuition is about $2k if it matters, thanks.

[Anonymous]

I think that sounds good since you just started in September. We do a week's tuition, but yours is really high!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think that sounds good since you just started in September. We do a week's tuition, but yours is really high!

Our tuition is $335 per week. It’s not a particularly expensive daycare. I can’t imagine spending that much on the gift! That is how much I spend on my entire family! I was planning to give each of the teachers $25. Ha ha. Is that pathetic?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think that sounds good since you just started in September. We do a week's tuition, but yours is really high!

Do you give a week's tuition to every worker?

We do $50 Target gift cards to the three workers in my in home daycare.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think that sounds good since you just started in September. We do a week's tuition, but yours is really high!

Do you give a week's tuition to every worker?

We do $50 Target gift cards to the three workers in my in home daycare.

No I divide it up between caregivers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think that sounds good since you just started in September. We do a week's tuition, but yours is really high!

Our tuition is $335 per week. It’s not a particularly expensive daycare. I can’t imagine spending that much on the gift! That is how much I spend on my entire family! I was planning to give each of the teachers $25. Ha ha. Is that pathetic?

Daycare gift is by far the largest gift I give. 3x what I give to my parents.

[Anonymous]

Our daycare center (because this seems to make a difference in these things) has an optional money collection done by the parent board that gets divided up so that everyone gets a holiday bonus, so we donate to that. The parent board suggested a pretty low amount, but I did $150 last year. I also gave a small chocolate to the lead teachers in dd's room last year and a card with a note.

[Anonymous]

A home-based daycare provider makes 100% (minus expenses) of what you pay them. A week's fee is customary for someone like that
We're now in a center, and I roughly take a week's tuition and divide it among the main people who are in the room, then drop off pastries or something for the staff room. Daycare workers generally don't earn high wages, especially if there's a top-heavy structure at your center. The teachers/aides get something small to open w giftcards.

In theory -- it's the company's responsibility to give a bonus worth a week's wages -- but that's probably not happening. So, I try to be as generous as I possibly can. I also ask the teachers if I can make a gift to the classroom for something they've been wanting - my kid is there all day 5 days a week so that's easy for me to justify.

[Anonymous]

OP here. My DD's center weekly tuition is around $500, so it is standard in DMV that I split $500 & spend on one main teacher, one assistant teacher, floaters/helpers (who I don't know how many or who they are), and front office?

It sounds like a lot of money especially our center's tuition is on the high end. This is the first holiday gift season our only child is in daycare center, and I have no clue what the average standard is. I don't want to raise up the bar too high because I am told that I should give gifts on teacher appreciation week & also leave classroom (transition). She moves to another classroom once a year.

[Anonymous]

If you give to each teacher 25, and there are 8 babies in a room, the teachers get $200 total. While that is not a week's worth of wages, (no preschool or center can afford a bonus to each staff person like that, trust me) its still a nice gift. But.... best not to give a coffee mug and hot cocoa mix. Or hand lotion or a nice scarf. Give a Target gift card. It can be used for nearly everything. Or just give cash as long as you can HAND THE CARD WITH CASH directly to the teacher. Cards with cash and gift cards can be stolen

[Anonymous]

Hi OP, our daycare tuition is $2K a month for infants and decreases as the child ages to $1700 for the 4/5 year olds. The center does a collection during the holidays and during teacher appreciation week, asking each family to contribute $100/per child. The money is then collected and divided up among all the teachers and staff. We don't know how much each teacher gets so each year I question what to do. Do I give $100 to the fund, knowing that it's going to other teachers my son interacts with, like the STEAM teacher, and other staff that keep the center running? Or give just to the teachers assigned to his classroom?

[Anonymous]

I do 300 for his main provider, and 100 for the assistants.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think that sounds good since you just started in September. We do a week's tuition, but yours is really high!

Our tuition is $335 per week. It’s not a particularly expensive daycare. I can’t imagine spending that much on the gift! That is how much I spend on my entire family! I was planning to give each of the teachers $25. Ha ha. Is that pathetic?

Daycare gift is by far the largest gift I give. 3x what I give to my parents.

I agree. Daycare is NOT the place to be cheap on Christmas gifts. I spend more BY FAR on daycare gifts than I do on anyone else, including my husband, kid, and parents.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think that sounds good since you just started in September. We do a week's tuition, but yours is really high!

Our tuition is $335 per week. It’s not a particularly expensive daycare. I can’t imagine spending that much on the gift! That is how much I spend on my entire family! I was planning to give each of the teachers $25. Ha ha. Is that pathetic?

Yes, it is pathetic.

[Anonymous]

When I get my annual bonus, I immediately take out 500 in cash for annual daycare tips and gifts. The rest goes to savings and 529s.