Teacher Appreciation Week....

One looks back with appreciation to the brilliant teachers, but with gratitude to those who touched our human feelings. The curriculum is so much necessary raw material, but warmth is the vital element for the growing plant and for the soul of the child. -Carl Jung

It really should go without saying that I sincerely appreciate the HECK out of my kids' teachers... to the point where they probably get tired of hearing me say, "Thank you so much! You're awesome!"(I know that doesn't seem like something someone would get tired of hearing, but trust me, I can be super annoying) .

I've always held them in the highest regard,a lesson learned from watching my own mom with my teachers over the years; but when you have a child (or children) who needs extra help, you develop a whole new kind of admiration for all teachers do to make sure your kids don't fall through the cracks.

For my kids, it really is a total team effort between home and school and without teachers who care,  all three of them would be most definitely not be doing as well as they are. I can't possibly say thank you enough times or in enough ways to make teachers understand just *how much* I appreciate all they do for my kids and how much it means to me.

Every new school year,  I brace myself for the change and the learning curve. HATE the learning curve. HATE the change. I'd be a mom who was quite happy to have one fabulous teacher follow my child all the way through school. B was fortunate enough to have had a teacher loop with him this year and it was just SO nice. Brand new school year and he started it with one teacher who already knew him, already knew me, already knew what he needed help with,  and whose classroom was a safe place for him to land all year long. It has been, in a word, WONDERFUL.

I've already started working on trying to line up good fit for S for next year. I used to feel bad about speaking up about that sort of thing; but then one year, I learned a hard lesson about squeaky wheels and all that. So now I am the most annoying, squeaky wheel ever... though I'd like to think I'm a nice kind of squeaky. Probably still annoying though.  But I don't care... it matters too much.

I absolutely depend on good communication and being able to build a good relationship with my boys' teachers. If that's not possible, I feel like I'm flying blind. On one hand, I wish my kids could go through school like most others, without teachers needing to intervene quite so much (varying degrees with each boy, but they all get extra help and accommodations here and there) and without 504s, IEPs and team meetings. But on the other hand, these present kind of a great opportunity for you to really help a teacher understand your child.... beyond the 15-minute once-a-year conference.

4th grade, 1st grade, and Infants and Toddlers are on the verge of ending for us, which is so sad to me because they have ALL been so great. Come August, there will be all new everything. I worry about the unknown. But, every year, we have been greeted by new, equally enthusiastic and wonderful teachers and I decide two months in that I don't know how we ever lived without them.

So to all the teachers my boys have, have had, and will have. Thank you! This mom couldn't do it without you! (And uh....I'm sorry for all the emails....)  ;)