Search Results for: blog school Christmas gift exchange

Comfy Critters for a Comfy Christmas

Every year you search for gifts that delight yet have staying power. No one wants to spend a large amount of money on a gift a child will forget he has in a few months or worse by New Year’s Day. My children get so many things during Christmas that it is easy to forget all they received. Even they have a hard time remembering all their gifts. The trick is finding a gift that has staying power. The gift they will love for years to come. Even better is finding a gift with staying power that does not bust … Continue reading →

Gift Exchange in a Home-Based Business

One of my favorite times of the year is Christmas and one of my favorite activities when I worked outside the home was a gift exchange. A year ago I was working outside the home as a preschool teacher. The staff at my preschool had a Christmas party at one of my co-worker’s homes and we had this really fun night where we exchanged gifts. If you enjoy gift exchanges and are working from home, you don’t have to give that up. Depending on the field you are working in, you may be able to incorporate this fun tradition. In … Continue reading →

The Best Gifts of All

Wow! Time has never seemed to go by so quickly! Our school year is half over and we are being a new calendar year! Merry Christmas from the education section of Families.com! During our Christmas parties last week, many gifts were given. Some students gave gifts to other students. Some teachers gave gifts to their students. Some students gave gifts to their teachers. Teachers were opening cards, Christmas tree ornaments, candles, baked goodies, boxes of candies, and gift cards in classrooms all across the nation. However, when I think of school and education and Christmas gift giving, I cannot think … Continue reading →

Families and Christmas: An Explosive Combination

Christmas is the season of good cheer, right? Well, for the most part it is. But for some people the holiday season is a time of verbal, physical and emotional abuse as families meet and “gifts” are exchanged. Often when we meet up with our parents and siblings at this time of year, there is more that the Christmas spirit bubbling away within us. In fact, the holiday season is a busy time for hospital staff and mental health workers alike. There is something about the expectations surrounding Christmas that elicits powerful emotions in us when those expectations are not … Continue reading →

Options for School Christmas Gift Exchange

In my article yesterday I discussed having Christmas parties at school. I also talked about the complications that can come with exchanging Christmas gifts among the students in your classroom. There are other options for teachers who wish to continue to carry out the tradition of student gifts but feel that a variation is needed from drawing names or bringing boy or girl gifts for exchange. One such variation is asking parents to send a small item for each child in the class. For example if your classroom has 18 students, each child will bring 18 of the same items. … Continue reading →

School Christmas Gift Exchange

Most teachers and schools have some type of Christmas party for their students. Due to a recent urge to encourage students to eat healthier, many parties throughout the year are not planned. However, Christmas is a special occasion and almost every celebrates the last day before Christmas vacation. In younger grades, Christmas parties are thought to be equipped with a gift exchange set up by the teacher. Older students usually bring gifts for friends and create their own gift exchange among groups of students. Some students may receive several gifts. This can be bad for students who do not receive … Continue reading →

Celebrating Christmas at School

Schools have different ways of doing different things. While all schools in my county have a different point of view on many topics, teachers also carry out things differently within a school. There are some issues that schools have to make decisions about based upon the ideas and beliefs of the parents and students as a whole. There are some things that possibly cannot please or meet the values and beliefs of all of the families in the school. Holiday celebration is one of those things. Most families in one area have the same basic ideas about holiday celebrations. However, … Continue reading →

Teaching Your Children to Manage Money with Christmas Shopping

One easy way to begin to teach your children about budgeting is to sit down and help them plan out a Christmas budget. This can work for older elementary children, as well as teenagers. If you are helping your children to buy Christmas presents for their friends and family members this is a great way to help limit the spending, while still giving your child freedom to make their own choices regarding gifts. You may want to start by deciding with your child who she will be giving gifts to. You should take into consideration Secret Santa exchanges that may … Continue reading →

Turn Your Gift Faux Pas into a Gift Well Received!

Are you getting your child’s teacher a Christmas gift this year? If so you must read this blog! While some parents and kids seem to have the gift giving know how, teachers across America have desks full of useless mugs, tacky ornaments and other items that are better suited for a white elephant party. Gift Faux Pas #1: Little somethings from Victoria’s Secret I wasn’t going to share this story and then as I was reading, I saw three other stories of teachers who got similarly inappropriate items. Mine was a see through nightie with tassles. In case you’re thinking … Continue reading →

Balancing Workload during the Busy Holiday Season

Balancing your workload during the busy holiday season can be a real challenge. I don’t know about you but I have had a long list of things to do: shopping, baking, and decorating. Well, the list was longer but I will stop there. Just before December hit I made arrangements to take time off from my main source of income, writing web content. I have it set to be off the entire week my children are off from school. I still didn’t know how I was going to squeeze in everything else until then. But then my workload was reduced … Continue reading →