Kids’ Correspondence
Posted by Hope Spencer on 06 Aug 2009 | Posted in: Teachers and Teaching
My young nieces love to go to summer camp. At first, I was afraid they would be homesick and beg to come home early. As it turned out, they were not ready to leave when my sister and brother-in-law arrived to pick them up! Kids always surprise me.
My dad is a faithful card writer, and I know how much those letters meant to me when I was far from home. So, when I found out that the girls would be away, I made plans to get mail to them as often as possible. My husband and I had a great time writing cards and sending silly jokes and notes that would comfort them and make them smile. In return, we received a postcard from each girl. My nine-year-old niece wrote in great detail about the horse she was riding during the week. She also described her best friend and told of the plans they had already made to meet during the school year. The card from my six-year-old niece was slightly less detailed:
Dear Aunt Hope and Uncle Brent, I like camp. I have lots of friends. I saw a deer and a stinky goat. Love, SarahI still have those cards and read them whenever I need a lift. With all the email and texting we do today, it’s so sweet to read them and know that the girls took the time to write them to us. Whether it’s a craft, a homemade treat, or a piece of snail mail, there’s nothing quite like something from a child’s hand, is there?
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16 Responses to “Kids’ Correspondence”
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More Comments Pages: [1] 2 » Show All Comments
In my 4’s classroom we have a Message Helper. Their job is to choose a card from a designated basket and then I or my co-teacher write a note home to their families about their child. It expresses something positive about the child or and an anecdote from their school day. We then read it to the child before we put they put it in their bookbag to take home.
In my 3’s classroom each month every child gets a “Just Thought You Should Know” card sent home to their families about something special the child has done or a character trait or an accomplishment. These have been wonderful for the teachers, students and families. It’s a small window into their child’s class time and it reinforces reading and writing to communicate. Often when I am writing the cards or the message the students will get their own writing tools and write their own notes for their families or other students.
This year, one of my preschoolers loved to write. Over the summer I have enjoyed receiving her drawings and her notes. I encouraged her to continue by sending postcards and little notes back to her.
On another note I spend some time this summer just going through things. I found my adult son’s journal from first grade. What a memento of his childhood.
Tammy, I love your idea of writing your boys letters on their birthday! What a wonderful keepsake for them and obviously had an impact with them considering they look forward to it every year.
I could see you bringing that idea into your classroom.. perhaps leaving letters to students randomly making sure over the course of the year everyone got one.
Thanks for the idea!
I always loved hiding notes in my kids luggage when they went on trips. As they got older they would even ask if I had had a chance to hid some notes.
I was always excited as a child to recieve an envelope with my grandma’s perfect handwriting. No matter what was going on, I stopped to read whatever little note she put an stamp on, and it always made my day so happy. I do wish that we would spend more time handwriting letters.
It is so precious to see how kids express themselves. My kids have done journals at school every year, and they are such a sweet snapshot into their minds and lives.
OH! I was so touched by Tammy’s (#7) reply! I have two sons also and I wish I’d done what she’s doing! My “boys” are 32 and 37 now…I wonder if it’s too late to start writing birthday letters?
Our Wal-Mart has a wonderful photo background now that looks like a scene children painted: a tree w/apples, a yellow sun with rays, a white fence, etc. I went this week and had my picture made in front of the background and ordered enough billfold sizes to be able to send one on a “Welcome” card to each of the children I’ll have in my Head Start class this year. I look forward to all the little notes our writing center will produce this year!
I store each year’s collection in a acid-free photo box that Hobby Lobby sells for under $5. I get all white boxes and just write the year on the end. They stack nicely and don’t take up much room in my storage closet.
As a parent I love to go back and read my children’s writing as well. As a first year educator I have kept all the little notes and artwork as well. Any suggestions on a creative way to show or keep them?
To keep the kids in my class writing during the summer, I place a self-addressed stamped postcard inside their final report cards telling them to write me about their summer and that for each post card I get, I will write back. I do write back each time and often receive several letters, pictures and postcards from students during the course of the summer. I always use the correspondences for a bulletin board outside my classroom that says “…and what did YOU do over your summer vacation?” for the first day of school. I think it says a lot about my expectations and the results that can be expected in our community. New children to my class and their parents and precious children and their parents always crowd around the board!
I decided to do something different for my two boys. Every year I write a letter to each boy on their Birthday. I keep little notes of different things they did throughout the year. I write about all those special things and then give them their letter on their Birthday. I realized they didn’t seem excited about a card. So I decided to do this when they were three. They look forward to their letter and what I remembered throughout the year. I keep those letters in a box and many times we go back and read them. They are 9 & 12 now.
I kept many of the cards and stories my children wrote while growing up. I put them and other items into a scrapbook and gave them it for their 21st birthdays. They and others had a great time looking back on what they had done as children.
I have one more scrap book to make for my last child who will be 21 next year.
I often save the cards and pictures that my students have made for me. I put them in a photo box and look through them every so often. I also save the encouraging notes that the parents of my students have given me. Whenever I’ve had a “bad day,” I take out these notes and read them again. Their words of encouragement lift my spirits and remind me of the lives that I’ve touched and that what I do is important!