Sending & Receiving (MAIL)

  Hand-made Gestures of Appreciation.

As those of us with children are nearing the end of the school year, why not show a little appreciation for the teachers who have held their hands when we haven’t been there?  I encouraged my son to do something for his teachers (he is 5, in a Montessori class and has three teachers) and since he loves drawing/making we thought cards would be a great idea. 

Writing letters / cards is a great way for kids to show appreciation and put effort into something simple for someone else AND they get to practice writing and spelling – which in our case is something my son DOES NOT enjoy in the slightest…however when I put it across to him like this ~ ‘how about writing a special message for each teacher to read?!’ suddenly it didn’t seem like ‘practice’ or a ‘chore’ anymore!

I asked Ismail to think about just one thing he could say about each teacher then we ended with thank you and love from. He tried to write everything himself and asked me for spelling help when he was stuck.

I had this pack of blank white cards and pink envelopes which I bought one valentine season from the dollar store. Hence the Pepto-Bismol pink envelopes! (Hey, you use what you have!) . His regular markers and stash of stickers were used in decorating them. Since we already had the supplies it took under an hour to complete everything. Don’t worry about being ‘pinterest perfect’, we certainly didn’t!

Although we actually did this a few weeks ago for ‘teacher appreciation week, receiving a hand-made card from a student will make any teacher’s day at any time of the year.

A handwritten letter is such a refreshing and heart lifting thing to receive… Sending and writing one is a skill in itself ~ why not try to revive this beautiful gesture of giving and receiving with your little one?

Here are some more ways you can encourage letter writing in a young child …

 

• If you have neighbors with kids write a note/ make a drawing and slide under their door … It’s exciting when you get one back in return!
• Make a mini post box or buy one and keep one for each child AND one for yourself so you can write letters to each other … It’s exciting to see that flag pinned up!
• Ask relatives to send a post card or letter addressed to your child. Kids get a huge kick out of seeing and reading their name on an envelope especially addressed to them. I am sure many devoted aunties and uncles do that for your children anyway – encourage your child to write them back!
• Find a pen pal for your child.
•  If you are visiting somewhere encourage your child to choose a postcard and send it to her school, class or even a friend. Back in 2014 when we still lived in NYC, Ismail’s class was super stoked to receive a ‘Robin Hood’ postcard from (the real) ‘Sherwood Forest’ as that is the part of England where the kids get to stay when visiting my parents (Hi Mama!)  who live there.