What to do for kids who are leaving?

[Inspired by Reggio]

Depending on how long they have been with me I do one or all of the following:

Child gets to be King or Queen for the Day ... they choose the snacks and lunch, a field trip within reason cost wise and the afternoon 'graduation' activities again within reason cost wise ... popular request seems to be pinatas. If I have several kids leaving at once I will do a little more bang for them cause I can combine their choices into one day or over two days.

We make a Canvas painting with the kids hand prints that says 'growing friendships' and it has the names of the kids who've been part of the program while that child was enrolled .... here's a sample



We make a good bye card and each child draws a picture and I write a 'what we will miss about X' on their page. I also write a poem about the child's time here with us on the last page of the card.

I upload all of the photo documentation onto a flash drive for the child and family to have as a keepsake ... sample of a simple photo documentation of kids who I have permission to share image for 'educational sharing purposes'. In between the two images would be a more detailed 'observation' specific for each child's experience that day, week or month we were exploring something in relation to what they were mastering developmentally as per the domains of learning ~ aka new language they used, concepts they discovered while color mixing, cognitive skills mastered, social skills with sharing or turn taking or problem solving via their explorations and so forth.





If you've been here from infancy to graduation than I also give the child a 'digital photo' frame for home to play the documentation photos on so they do not have to rely on using their parents computer all the time and so they can 'see' their childhood from infancy to graduation from daycare in one moving story...these are expensive aka why you have to have been here there duration of your journey to school and shown that your the kind of client who would 'appreciate' the gesture and ensure your child respects it

I also have a digital frame with everyone's documentation on it in the playroom so the kids can watch themselves and reflect on how much they've grown or interests gone by.

[DanielW]

Depending on how long they have been with me I do one or all of the following:




If you've been here from infancy to graduation than I also give the child a 'digital photo frame' for home to play the documentation photos on so they do not have to rely on using their parents computer all the time and so they can 'see' their childhood from infancy to graduation from daycare in one moving story...these are expensive aka why you have to have been here there duration of your journey to school and shown that your the kind of client who would 'appreciate' the gesture and ensure your child respects it

I also have a digital frame with everyone's documentation on it in the playroom so the kids can watch themselves and reflect on how much they've grown or interests gone by.

You're so attentive, kids must love you best.