Graduation!

Our preschool graduation ceremony is tomorrow, and I think we are finally ready (well, except for the decorating part, but that will happen in the morning).  I’m a little worried that this one will be emotional for me, I’ve had most of these kiddos since they were two years old, and I’ve known almost all of them since they were infants.  This group of parents is pretty special to me too, they believed in me and encouraged me throughout the process of opening my own school.

I wanted to make sure that the entire graduation was really special, so I created a few products to make things a little easier for me so that I would be organized enough to help my students prepare, and then enjoy the celebration with them.  Of course, I had to share all of these things with you in a big Graduation bundle!

My favorite thing is the End of the Year Memory Book.  My students were finally at a level where they were able to complete this kind of project, and it gave them some great practice for the kind of work that will be expected of them when they go to kindergarten.  Their answers were sweet, and funny, and I’m sure that these will be family keepsakes for many years to come.

In addition to a special keepsake, there are certain things that every graduation ceremony requires – invitations, diplomas, awards, and decorations! Having all of these designed and ready to print has made my life so much easier! There are some projects that we are going to work on as a class this week to add to our decorations – one thing that my kiddos will be doing is decorating a giant paper version of their favorite kind of cookie (because they’re smart cookies!).  I’m also putting up a lot of their artwork, that I’ve been holding onto, along with some of our class books.

Finally, I want to make sure that my kiddos are prepared for the ceremony, and that they understand what it means to graduate. We’ve talked about it a little, and I took some super cute photos of them in my old cap and gown so that they could really feel like graduates, but all week I’ll have them doing activities that will leave the door open for conversations about graduation.  We’ll have Graduation Vocabulary Cards, Dice Games, Patterning with Graduation shapes, and Letter Matching with Caps and Gowns.  I’m also going to put these out for families to do with the kiddos during the reception after our ceremony. It’ll give them all something to do, and let the kiddos show of their skills!

Hopefully all of these things will help you as much as they have helped me! Enjoy the end of the year with your little ones and don’t stress over the details!