Dear Teachers,
Our hearts are with you. Literally. Our hearts reside in your classrooms in the shapes of clingy preschoolers, wiggly kindergartners, boisterous 5th graders, curious 7th graders, independent 11th graders, and so much more. They represent the best of us, all of our hopes, all of our dreams, and all of our shortcomings too. We are sending them to you with hearts full of gratitude, of trust, and of support.
We are so grateful for the sacrifices you make for our children. We know that many of you leave your own children in order to teach ours. We know that it is our children who cause you to lose sleep at night just as much as your own do. We know that you get there early, and we know that you stay late. We know you are constantly thinking about what would be best for that kid, our kid, and we are grateful for the backdoor approaches you so often take just to reach that one child, our child. We know you spend so much of your own money and resources on our children. We are so grateful for the time and energy that you put in to making things just right so that our children can learn, so that they can grow, so that they can soar. We are so very grateful.
We come to you this year with hearts full of trust. We wholeheartedly trust and acknowledge that you are doing your best. So are we. We know we might not agree with every decision, every lesson, or every interaction and that’s okay. It’s not our place. We will trust, however, that you have the best interests of our children in the front pocket of your heart. We do too. We might seem like we don’t have things together or that we are disconnected from the class. We might be, but we are doing our best to be the best parents to our children for they are our greatest joys regardless of what things may “seem” like. We trust that you will keep them safe. This is never something we intended to expect of you at the level that we do, but nevertheless, we do. We trust you. Trust us too.
To you we pledge our support. We will uphold your classroom rules and procedures and will stress their importance to our children. When you tell us to stretch them, we will. When you tell us to back off, we will. When you tell us they need more, we will give it to them. When you tell us they are struggling or things don’t seem quite right, we will believe you even if it feels hard and scary for us. We will support you. We will be involved as much as you want us to be. We will say thank you. A lot. We will listen to your words and we will maintain consistency between your classroom and our home. We know we need to be in partnership with you, and we will. We know it is what is best for our children. We are here for you. We see you.
We send you off into this school year with all the gratitude, trust, and support that we have. Love our kids. Grow our kids. Send them back to us a little bit better every day. We promise to do the same. Together we will change the world as we unite behind our children. There is no nobler a profession as yours. Thank you.
Have the BEST year.
Find the joy~
Jessica
Jessica McCauley, M.Ed. is a parenting coach/consultant. She draws on her background as a Montessori educator and Child Life Specialist to help families navigate the challenges of the early childhood years. Contact Jessica at http://smallhandsbigsteps.com/contact/ for more information or to schedule a consultation.