Dear Teacher,
Just like that, summer is over. As we are preparing to get our kids back on a schedule, reinstating a 
bedtime, counting and organizing uniforms, packing backpacks, gathering school supplies, switching from summer chaos to school year routine, we know that you are pouring countless hours into making sure our kids have an amazing school year. And if you’re a mom, too, we know that you are doing double duty.
I know the pressure that will be put on you for high test scores and making sure students are benchmarked and mastering standards. And we mamas get that those are important and making sure our kids all grow up to be rocket scientists and CEOs of Fortune 500 companies; however, that’s not what is most important to us.
As we begin this new year, this is our list of the things that we pray for and that we truly want from you:
We want you to love our kids.
We all want our kids to be loved and feel loved. Now that they are in school, you get to spend more daylight hours with them, experience new milestones with them, and get to see them in a completely different environment than we do. You are their new caretaker, and that’s not a privilege that we give to many. So, we want you to love them like your own.
We want you to see something special in our kids.
We want you to see the things that make us the most proud: their kindness, gentleness, humor, joyfulness, oh we could go on and on about how awesome our kids are. I know we are biased, but each of our kids has a uniqueness and goodness about them that we truly hope you see as well. And secretly? We each want our child to be your favorite. So go ahead and make our day; you can tell us each that and we promise we won’t tell the other mamas.
We want you to nurture the things our kids are good at.
Our kids may be good at something and not even realize it. And sometimes, if they don’t know they are good at something, they won’t reach their full potential. We want you to tell them and give them opportunities to explore their gifts and talents. Help them to fall in love with something they truly excel in whether it is academic, artistic or athletic.
We want you to give our kids confidence in things that they are not good at.
Our kids will struggle, and you will be the one by their side to pick them up during the day. We want you to celebrate their successes, hold their hands in their failures, and let them know that they are capable of doing better.
We want you to challenge our kids.
Challenging our kids won’t just benefit them this school year, but it will set them up for success as they grow up. As they enter high school, college and ultimately their careers, knowing how to set goals and work hard toward achieving them will help them to thrive when presented a challenge. It will also set them up to go above and beyond to be that stand out student / employee / world changer.
We want you to see the best in our kids.
Our kids are not always going to be on top of their A game. We’ve seen it and know that you will, too. We 
want you to look beyond that, to see what lies at the core of their hearts. Let them know if they mess up, that they made a poor decision, but that isn’t who they are. Remind them that you love them and note when they make improvements.
We want you to fight for our kids.
Whether it’s the bully who is picking on our kids, or the administrators and strangers assessing our child in an IEP meeting, we want you to stand up for our kids, be their voice and fight for them. We want you to share all the things I listed above to let others (as well as our kids) know that they are not a letter grade or percentile or high-water pants or a disability or braces or unruly hair.
We also want you to know that we see how hard you work and we value the time, energy and love that you pour into your students year after year. Honestly, we don’t know how you do all of these things with 25 students, but we hope our kids make it easy for you this year! We are cheering you on and are praying for you. We hope this school year to be your best yet!
Sincerely,
Classroom Moms
