A Letter

lindsayham82
Nov 30, 2015
3 min read

**I wrote this letter last year, but I mean it just as sincerely in 2015! :)

November 25, 2014

Dear Parents,

I had tiny arms wrapped around my shoulders at my desk chair as I checked email real quickly before starting the day as I always do (as long as those tiny arms aren’t absent that day), and I was having a pretty routine conversation with the owner of those tiny arms about breakfast, when I had a not so subtle reminder-

“Good morning Ms. Ham!”

“Good morning _______! Did you have breakfast yet this morning?”

“I had breakfast at home today! I had a healthy breakfast… like you!”

“Like me?!”

“Yeah ‘cuz you eat healthy foods and I’m trying to be like you. I’m always trying to be like you.”

Woah.

Now, keep an open mind as I write the following words: I know I’m a celebrity in your household. I don’t say that to sound self-centered; I say it because I have the privilege of teaching five year olds who learn best by watching and mimicking… and I see it. I see me in your child, when he/she is at centers and “playing” teacher and school. I know you see it too. And I sincerely hope you like what you see and hear as your child mimics me. I hope you see it as your child reads books with you at night and calls on you to identify the title page, the front cover, and the back cover. I hope you see it as she hears a sentence and points out that the picture matches the words. I hope you see it when your child wants you to play the dry erase board games we play to practice our letter sounds. I hope you see it as she stops a story and asks her little brother to find details or predict what happens next. But most importantly, I hope what you see and hear is kindness, because although it is always a nice reinforcement that your child is learning what I am teaching, I also hear my phrases that have nothing to do with any standards while your child interacts with his peers. I hear it when they tell each other, “No way Jose!” or “Uh, no thank you!” and I see it as they talk dramatically with their hands (I am so sorry, it’s a Ham family trait!). This is both cute and scary, and I know as parents you can relate! I know that a tiny bit of my personality comes home with your child each day for better and for worse.

I can honestly tell you that the standard LAFS.K.RI.3.7 is matching illustrations to text without looking it up, and I can also honestly tell you that it kind of bothers me that I have the standards memorized. Don’t get me wrong, I am passionate about creating a strong foundation for your child’s school career and I think what I’m teaching is incredibly important. But, in the spirit of the holidays just around the corner and that very important reminder from tiny arms- I’d like to focus a little extra on something that isn’t covered in scope and sequence: kindness. Some joke that you learn everything you need to know for life in kindergarten: how to share, how to be a nice friend, take turns, etc. and I want to make sure that your child leaves my classroom not only smarter, but kinder too.

So we have some new additions to our classroom: kindness elves. They will simply be new friends who help us to do nice things for our school and community. Together we can raise compassionate, smart, incredible kids!