mandatory gift to preschool for child's birthday?

amother

Fri, Apr 04 2014, 9:49 am

I'm just curious if it's common practice to have it be mandatory that you give x amount of money for a present to the school for your child's birthday in addition to paying for a cake etc... Last year all the morah at her playgroup asked for was mini cupcakes for a birthday party and the kids were thrilled!
Don't plan to make a stink or anything, just curious.

Ruchel

Fri, Apr 04 2014, 9:53 am

I think it is crazy.
But again, I think many school practices that many accept, like "tips" and "gifts", are crazy.

lfab

Fri, Apr 04 2014, 9:53 am

Never heard of this before. Why would you have to give money you're paying to send her there? Usually we send a few treats for the class (chips, cupcakes...) and maybe a small tchotchke for each child in the class.

saw50st8

Fri, Apr 04 2014, 9:56 am

Its not mandatory here, but encouraged. Its nice for a child to say "Its my birthday, I want to share with the class." Its something a bit more concrete that stays.

At my kids school, there is an amazon wishlist for the class. You can spend as much, as little or nothing if you choose.

mom92

Fri, Apr 04 2014, 10:07 am

Here, it is instead of giving a "pekela" or something to each child. I don't think it's mandatory, and the kids love even something small.

amother

Fri, Apr 04 2014, 10:39 am

In bobov 45 st and another popular playgroup I know the teacher demanded a gift to the class. When I asked the playgrp teacher for an example she said like a box of clics! What r they off mars?? R the mothers supposed to supply the toys? I was fuming. I combined with another mom and bought a used slide for abt 30 bucks. Boy was the teacher upset that we combined Exploding anger

Rutabaga

Fri, Apr 04 2014, 10:44 am

DD's school does this, and I actually like it. I prefer to buy a toy or CD for the classroom that will be used for a long time rather than cheap giveaways to the kids that will break or get lost within a week.

All we provide for an in-class birthday party are the cupcakes and the class gift. The school provides everything else, which includes paper goods and drinks.

amother

Fri, Apr 04 2014, 10:45 am

op here- the teacher is israeli, chassidish, I had a feeling it might have something to do with one of those but wasn't sure Smile

We are neither, but my daughter absolutely adores her and loves going to school so if this is the only shtick I'll deal just curious.

seeker

Fri, Apr 04 2014, 11:22 am

It's typical from what I've seen. The box of clics request is obscene though, IMO. Generally gift = nice book or CD the class can enjoy. Sometimes the morahs have a wish list and if there's something reasonable on there I would go with that. E.g. If hey need more dolls for the play area, you can buy one doll for $15 or so at target and that would be nice and not terribly expensive.

MiracleMama

Fri, Apr 04 2014, 11:26 am

We are asked to donate a book to the classroom for the child's birthday. I think it's a nice idea. It's not enforced so anyone who doesn't want to or can't do it isn't made to feel bad.

Simple1

Fri, Apr 04 2014, 11:29 am

Only one playgroup morah has asked for a gift for the classroom, no one else did and I've sent to quite a few.

I don't think you should spend a lot if you don't want to (unless the morah specified an amount). There are toys you can find for under $5.

greenfire

Fri, Apr 04 2014, 12:42 pm

I think it's a ridiculous notion ...

if the classroom cannot run on it's own - it shouldn't be up & running ...

kids like parties - cake & peckalach make sense

flowerpower

Fri, Apr 04 2014, 1:10 pm

amother wrote:

op here- the teacher is israeli, chassidish, I had a feeling it might have something to do with one of those but wasn't sure Smile

We are neither, but my daughter absolutely adores her and loves going to school so if this is the only shtick I'll deal just curious.

What does it have to do with the teacher being isreali or chasidis exactly? Its usually the school minhag. By us parties are a small thing which I am happy about. Its usually on a friday and the kids usually bring a cupcake and small prize or nosh or a pekela. Thats all. Kid is thrilled and there is no overindulgance of nosh.

the world's best mom

Fri, Apr 04 2014, 1:32 pm

My kids have had teachers who request a gift for the class. Ds's class this year does that, and he wants to bring a keyboard with a microphone and 2 speakers and 2 plugs. We'll have to do some talking about what might be an appropriate gift, because his choice just isn't gonna work.

MiracleMama

Fri, Apr 04 2014, 2:11 pm

the world's best mom wrote:

amother

Fri, Apr 04 2014, 2:27 pm

op here-. A mother told me she was told $25- that's not exactly a little book. I was told by the morah cake, peckalach, gift and that I should discuss the gift with her before getting it, it's not until after pesach but just seems like a lot. the mother I spoke to ended up spending over $50.
I was just curious what other places do.

flowerpower

Fri, Apr 04 2014, 3:43 pm

I'm sorry but spending $25 for a classroom present isn't so normal. I think it should be optional if you want to send and how much to spend. The cake and pekelach also costs money.

paprika

Fri, Apr 04 2014, 4:10 pm

I spent about $30 on a class gift and the teacher was very surprised that I bought such an expensive toy. She said that the kids love sharing the toy or book that they bring and feel great that all the kids are using their toy. $5 is sufficient and does the job just fine.