I had to terminate a family last week and at breakfast the first day he was gone I talked to my little ones to tell them that their old friend won't be coming back and he's gone to a new daycare. I have a very young group, ages 1 & 2 so it wasn't a problem. They never asked about him at all this week. But one of the reasons I terminated was because he wasn't a big part of the group and my concerns for his lack of socializaton skills. In our case we had a very happy first week without the frustrating behaviour that we have endured for a year and a half.

If you have to terminate a child who is a part of the group and plays well with the others and they like the child a lot then a longer conversation would be necessary and probably a week or two of letting them adjust to the change. It's a lot like having a new child join the daycare, it's just an adjustment period for all.

I have had children go off to JK who were a big part of the group and the children asked about them for months but thankfully they all come back to visit so I can always tell the children that we will see their old friend again soon.

Good luck with your situation OtherMummy.