Does the gift amount changes when class size changes?

[Anonymous]

Last christmas, my child was 3. She was in a class of 12 kids with 2 daycare teachers. And, I gave $50 giftcard plus gifts to each teachers because they are attentive & caring. They really appreciate it, and I feel like they are more attentive to my kid afterwards. And, I gave them each another $50 giftcard plus gifts at teacher appreciation week.
This christmas, my child is in a class of 24 kids with 2 different daycare teachers. It is a lot of kids for 2 teachers to manage, and it makes sense that my kid does not get as much attention & care as used to be & teachers does not keep track of details of such. She is more independent as well as she grows up. I totally understand because my child is not a baby any more. I have been wondering if I should gift the same amount as last year or should I lower the amount a bit to $40 or something because of less attention my child has received & bigger class of 24 kids (I assume that teacher would receive 24 gifts from parents). It is a private daycare. What is the norm here? Does the gift amount changes when class size changes?

[Anonymous]

I would gift the same amount. Its cheap to give a lesser gift.

Nothing to do with your question but 24 kids and 2 teachers is a very high ratio for 4 year olds.

[Anonymous]

We do the same amount, regardless of class size. We also carry it over for Elementary School.

[Anonymous]

Do not assume that every parent gives a gift. Different people, different finances, different cultures, different ideas about who to give monetary gifts to. There are people who have their kids in day care because they have to and scrapping together the money for the center is hard. There are probably people who are receiving financial aid. There are people who come from cultures where you don't give gifts to care providers. It is nice that you do but it really isn't mandatory and there are people who do not.

So give what your are comfortable with but I would not change the amount unless someone is doing an amazing job or someone is not doing their job and you have complained, politely, to management and nothing has changed.

DS is in ES now. I assume that some of the gift that I give to the teacher, through the room parent or PTA, who ever collects the group gift, is used for their pleasure and a good amount ends up being used in the classroom. I know Teachers are supplementing in their classrooms with some personal funds. I know that my DS Preschool teachers were paid a fair wage but it is not a ton of money and figured that they used the money to help with providing a more full holiday celebration for their family or a nice vacation that they needed after dealing with 20 4 year olds a day.

[Anonymous]

There is no norm. Each family does what they can do that particular year. I wouldn't consider the gift some sort of payment for extra attention. If you like the teacher and think she's doing a great job, then reward her with a nice gift. But don't expect extra perks in exchange.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I would gift the same amount. Its cheap to give a lesser gift.

Nothing to do with your question but 24 kids and 2 teachers is a very high ratio for 4 year olds.

I thought 1 to 10 was the ratio limit for 4 year olds in DC.

[Anonymous]

Give what you feel is right. When my kids were in daycare/preschool, I split a week's tuition among the teachers.