10 Things Preschool Teachers Wish You Knew at Christmas

For more than ten years now, my Sunday begins by teaching a group of adults at 8 a.m. with worship to follow. After worship, I make my way to the preschool hall to invest in some 3-year-olds during the second worship time. Teaching preschoolers has made me a better adult teacher, but that is a post for a different day. Anticipation grows throughout the week, knowing that God will do something every Sunday in all three hours. However, the holidays present a different set of challenges for me as a preschool teacher. Below are ten things I wish everyone knew about preschool teachers during the holiday season.

1. We love getting to teach your kids.

Being a preschool teacher on Sunday morning is a special calling. Much of what we do is foundational and foundations rarely get seen. The results of what we do will not be evident for some time, which is why love is a requirement. If the truth is known, we get just as much enjoyment out of making a manger scene out of toilet paper tubes as your kids do.

2. We want to spend time with our families as well.

Rare is the Sunday that I get to sit with my wife in worship because of our involvement in the preschool ministry at our church. Don’t misunderstand this as a complaint, we knew this would be the case when we agreed to serve. Those few times we attend worship together are treasured and some of those happen during the holiday season. We want to celebrate the coming of our Savior with you, and we would like to do so together. For some of us, the holiday season is also some of the rare time we get to spend with extended family. Thank you for understanding our desire to do so.

3. Volunteer for special events.

We are sometimes expected to be involved in special events on top of what we are already doing. If we decide to serve outside the Sunday morning time, that is our choice. But we expect to see you helping as well with the special events. Each holiday event gives you an opportunity to create an experience for your kids by showing them what service looks like. Your kids would love to see you portray a shepherd, one of the wise men, or an angel. My kids still remember that I was a wiseman a few times when they were children (I was typecast), making the experience more memorable to them.

4. Let us know your holiday plans.

Knowing your holiday plans helps us plan for the season. We want to be good stewards of our time and of the church’s resources. If we create art items and those go to waste, we are falling short when it comes to being stewards. We also want to plan well for the members of our team. If one of us is planning to be gone, we want to make sure that the number of people to secure to fill in for us is adequate. Recruiting three replacements may not be necessary if only two are really needed.

5. Let us know if family will be attending with you.

We understand that family from out of the area may be with you during the holiday season. If those family members are preschoolers, we want to be ready for them as well. You can help us by letting us know they may be attending and by making sure to tell them about the security check-in system.

6. Prepare your kids for different faces.

People you normally see will be away for some of the holidays (see the second point above). As a result, people your kids do not regularly see may be who greets them at the door. These people will be vetted like the rest of us and will be prepared to lead the class time. We know that familiarity is important and you can help the people who are subbing by making sure your child knows a different face may greet them during this season.

7. Be sugar aware.

During the holidays, we tend to enjoy more sugary treats than we might at other times of the year. Seeing a child walking down the hallway carrying a homemade cinnamon roll may be cute and garner a grin until the sugar starts to take over in the middle of the group time.

8. A “thank you” is always valued.

We don’t ask for much but a thank you is a wonderful holiday treat for most preschool teachers. We just want to know we are appreciated and that what we do does not go unnoticed. Ornaments, gift cards, and goodies are nice but a handwritten Christmas card that says thank you is just as appreciated. Bonus points are earned when the Christmas cards feature the penmanship of the child in our class; backwards “r”s and names that are finished on the back of the card due to spacing are the most prized.

9. Asking your child if they had fun deflates us as preschool leaders.

Instead, please ask your child about what they did or learned when you pick them up. We want your kid to enjoy their time with us but more importantly, we want them to learn something about God, Jesus, and the Bible. Asking about what they did or learned reinforces the purpose of what we are there to do. We don’t view what we do as childcare and hope you don’t either.

10. Be aware of schedule changes.

The schedule will change during the holidays, especially on the weekends on which the big holidays fall. Please check the church’s website and publications to stay up to date. We will do our best to make sure you know those changes well in advance, but it never hurts to double check.