Occasions arise throughout the year where you have the opportunity to give gifts to teachers. While a coffee mug or a potted plant might check the box for your child’s teacher gifts this year, consider something that truly nourishes their professional growth: books!
At Gryphon House, I've had the privilege of working with incredible authors who create resources specifically designed to support early childhood educators. This year, I was excited to select some titles that I believe will resonate with my child's teachers and school administrators. Here’s what I’m wrapping up for my child’s teachers this year.
My child hasn’t been in kindergarten for a while, but I’ve remained friends with her kindergarten teacher. She is an exceptional teacher and I’m so grateful my daughter was in her class.
For Ms. B., my child’s (former) kindergarten teacher:
Body Safety for Young Children: Empowering Caring Adults by Kimberly King is a crucial resource for empowering adults and children to prevent sexual abuse. This is really one of my top picks for so many teachers and parents this year; I think it should be required reading. This book approaches a difficult topic in a shame-free, panic-free way that empowers adults AND kids.- Calm and in Control: Simple and Effective Strategies to Support Young Children's Self-Regulation by Julie Tourigny addresses a number of challenges that early childhood educators face today, especially as more “covid babies” start school, and teachers are dealing with kids who are spending more and more time on screens.
- Math and Science Explorations: Using Children’s Books to Make Big Discoveries by Sally Anderson shares simple and actionable ideas that teachers can do to incorporate math and science explorations in their everyday activities in the classroom and outside, using children’s literature as a framework. There are creative and interesting activities in this book that I haven’t seen anywhere else.
I have also remained friends with my child’s preschool teacher. For Ms. M, who teaches a 3-6 year old primary class at a Montessori preschool:
- Body Safety for Young Children Again, the younger children learn these skills—and the earlier we normalize talking about body safety—the safer our kids will be. I hope Ms. M. will share this with other teachers in the school.
Guidance for Supporting Gender Diversity in Early Childhood Education, by Jenny Fererro and Rebecca Bishop helps teachers understand the growing population of gender-diverse and gender nonconforming students and family members they encounter in their classrooms. This is uncharted territory--unfamiliar, and even uncomfortable for many educators, and this book helps them understand the terminology, the science, and offers practical advice for how to be inclusive in their classrooms.- Loose Parts Alive, by Laura Wilhelm and Carla Gull: Even though Montessori teachers are well-versed in using loose parts in their classrooms, this book offers an additional approach—seeing plants, animals and even our bodies as “loose parts.”. It’s a really fun and beautiful book. Best for preschool and early elementary.
For my child's current teacher, Ms. G.:
Wired Differently by Keriann Wilmot: Even though it seems geared toward teachers of slightly younger children, much of the information in this book is totally relevant to older elementary-aged children as well. I think it benefits every teacher to be reminded from time to time that not all kids learn in the same way, and that’s not a bad thing.- Push Past It: A Positive Approach to Challenging Classroom Behaviors by Angela Searcy. All teachers deal with challenging classroom behaviors, and Angela’s book is warm and conversational and much like a letter of warm advice from a Ph.D. with experience in early childhood education and children’s behavior.
- Guidance for Supporting Gender Diversity in Early Childhood Education by Jenny Fererro and Rebecca Bishop. As our understanding of gender and identity continues to evolve, it’s important for educators to be equipped with the tools to create inclusive and supportive learning environments for all students. This book offers practical guidance on how to navigate the complexities of gender diversity in the classroom, fostering a sense of belonging and respect for every child.
For my friend, the kindergarten teaching assistant, Ms. M.:
Fine Motor Foundations: Tools & Techniques for Tiny Hands will be useful as she works so closely with five and six-year-olds every single day, building their fine motor skills. She has a fun and playful personality as well, and I think there will be many things she can take away from this book that she can do and incorporate into her daily work with these children that will enrich the whole experience for her and them. It’s packed with specific how-tos and visual instruction that will help her a lot.
For my child's art teacher, Ms. E.:
Art with Anything by MaryAnn Faubion Kohl: Most of MaryAnn’s art books are for infants, toddlers, and preschoolers, but many of the lessons can be used with any age children. I like this book because it talks a lot about making art with recycled or discarded materials, and that is a big theme at my child’s environmentally conscious school. I love MaryAnn's whole concept of process art, meaning that the process of creating and making the art is more important than any finished product, and I believe my child’s art teacher is in alignment with this philosophy. Although she’s been teaching art for many years, I think this book will have some new and fresh ideas that she can use with her students in pre-K through fifth grade.
I’m also giving books to our school headmaster (Mr. B.) and the lower school principal (Ms. D.). For our headmaster, I am going to give Body Safety, Wired Differently, and Guidance for Supporting Gender Diversity, as well as these additional titles.
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Don't Look Away by Tonia Durden, Kerry-Ann Escayg, Stephanie Curenton, and Iheoma Iruka: This insightful book explores the impact of unconscious bias on our educational system. By acknowledging the historical and systemic barriers faced by children and families of color, it offers practical strategies to create more inclusive and equitable learning environments. This book encourages all educators to examine their own biases and work towards creating a more just and equitable future for all students.
- Organized and Engaged by Julie Tourigny: Strategies for creating a positive and productive classroom environment. Executive function is a hot topic in education these days, and so many children (and adults!) struggle with it. This book offers many practical solutions to behavioral problems linked to lagging skills in executive function.
Build Your Dream Team by Thomasa Bond: We are facing some staffing turnover in our school right now, and although this book is written for early childhood administrators, it’s also applicable to elementary school leaders. I think she will get a lot out of this. Its focus is not only on recruiting the best talent, but engaging them and retaining them. We want educators who are invested in and committed to our school and our kids, and they develop that over the years as their career progresses and they stay at our school.
A Personal Recommendation
While not a Gryphon House title, The Anxious Generation by Jonathan Haight is a must-read for anyone concerned about the impact of technology on children's mental health and well-being. This book presents exhaustive, up to the moment research on screens and technology use among children, and how it is affecting every single aspect of their lives. Individuals born around the year 2000 are in their early 20s now, and they are the first generation of people who started using smart phones specifically around ages 9-11. Now that they are young adults, we have the first round of data regarding how their childhood and adolescence were impacted by this technology, and the results are nothing short of terrifying.
I hope you enjoyed reading my holiday gift list for these Very Important People whom I trust with my child’s education. I wish I could give them another gift--the time to read and reflect on these books--but, alas, that is not within my power.
I’d love to hear what books you have given the educators in your life over the years!
p.s. I might throw a fiction title or two in there as well. After all, teachers like to read for fun too!
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