Teacher can't tell my twins apart

[twinsufficient]

My twin daughters have just gone into year1. From the start of the year the teacher has found it impossible to tell them apart. She came up with the idea of one of them wearing a pink hair grip but inevitably the same dt doesn't always want to wear it! Anyway, they came home yesterday and told me that the teacher was going to put name stickers on them. I'm not happy with this as I feel that she will just look at the name label and not try and learn the differences in their faces. Also, it is making them different from everyone else in the class.

Furthermore I am also annoyed that the teacher has only put one twin in dance club even though both wanted to do it as I feel it's to make her life easier. This would have been fair enough if it was down to a ballot but it seems like positive discrimination - we've already got one twin we don't need anymore! Twin mums out there how have you dealt with these issues?

If the op is worried that name labels will make them look different to then perhaps she can ask the teacher to label everyone!

OP I think you are being a tad awkward here.

Thanks for the messages. I can see that different shoes won't help and yes I do think I'm over thinking this and should help the teacher out (I am a teacher myself although not practising). One of my dts has a name that you never find on those hair bands. Does anyone know if you can get bespoke ones from anywhere?

As for the dance club I don't expect them to do the same clubs but the teacher told me she had deliberately excluded dt1 as she wanted them to be separate.

Have you tried eBay for hair bands? Am sure somebody custom makes them for a fair price.

Re the dance club - I think it's worth going and discussing that as the teacher shouldn't be making a unilateral decision.

Yes - the deliberately excluding one is annoying. I don't think it is right to have your choices deliberately limited for being a twin. Research on the separate or together thing has shown that twins do better in school when the parents are happy with the arrangement I think that was some TAMBA info c1997?

Do as my DDs friends' Mum does and put a fine plait in each twins' hair...left for one twin and right for the other. Theirs sits in the ponytail anyway...you can see it though...on top.

My twins are Identical. Unless you knew what to look for they are somewhat impossible to tell a part. They're close in height and weight; less than a lb/inch between them. They're even the same shoe size and body build.

Both started toddler school (2yo) and their teacher admittedly told me she was having trouble telling them a part, so I gave her some hints/tips because it wasn't her fault she was having difficulty.

Personality:
T1 prefers to talk in German rather than English and rarely talks, T2 is very talkative and switches between both English and German when excited, T1 will follow his brother everywhere and will scream if you split them up whereas T2 will throw things and kick things until he has his brother back. T2 is more independant, and T1 looks for reassurance. T1 also rubs the tip of his nose for comfort.

Looks:
T1 has slightly shorter hair (both have faux hawks), T2 has a slight scar on his head near his hairline, T1 wears slip ons, T2 prefers laces because he fiercely wants to learn to tie them, T1 has fuller lashes and T2 has slightly smaller ears. None of these are identifiable unless you know what to look for.

Their teacher has told me that my hints helped and that she's finding it easier to identify them. When the finally start KG/G1 I'll pass on hints to their new teacher :)

As for dance class, I'd ask why one was accepted and the other wasn't. And then help the teachers to not discriminate them.

My DTSs are non-identical but I've had to accept that people find it difficult to tell them apart. They have different hair cuts which helps, but when they were younger I dressed them differently (at first different clothes, then, when in uniform, as different as I could). I also taught them to say "I'm x. I'm wearing red trousers today," etc.

Still didn't stop the teachers confusing them though, which was a bit frustrating.

The thing about the dance club sounds unfair, but I would probably check whether it rotates.

You know what could help if you tied a simple piece of different coloured ribbon to their bobble or trouser belt loop and just inform the teacher of who was wearing what.

It can be frustrating but I've known them day in and day out since the day they were born. Teachers haven't. Even some family members get them mixed up but the boys are very good at saying, "no, I'm X, but I'm happy you know my brother's name."

The different hair styles is a good idea. Probably also useful for non-school settings, e.g. friends being better at telling them apart on playdates.
How about everyone in the class wears a name badge? You can hire badge making kits from playschemes, children's centres etc. very reasonably. Every child gets to make their own name badge and it's more durable than a sticker?

Party artist the thread is six months old