Last Day of School

For many children the end of school is fast approaching. Even if you have several more weeks of school left, it is not too early to begin discussing the changes which will be happening. Children have a difficulty understanding the concept of time which makes these changes even harder. Many children don't understand that they don't go straight from preschool to kindergarten. Here are a few tips to help children adjust to the change:

• Create a calendar or some other way to count down the days of school. You might make a chain with 30 links, and remove a link each day.
• Take time to help children review what they have done over the year and how they have grown. Help them see that they are ready to move on. Get out the photos from the first day and help children see how they have grown. If possible help them make a scrap book/photo album of the year.
• Ask parents to help by discussing with their children what will happen when school is over.
• Provide an opportunity for parents to exchange phone numbers or plan a summer play date or get together for the children.
• Teachers and other adults should let the children know what they will be doing when the children are not in school.
  
• Let the children help prepare the room for the end of the year. They can help take down artwork, gather belongings, and wipe off shelves.
  
• Have the children make a book for the next group of children.
  
• Visit the kindergarten where your children will be attending, if possible or ask someone from the school to visit. If neither of these is possible, take photos of the school, so children have some sort of idea of what to expect.
• Take time to talk about the changes and ask the children what they want to know about kindergarten or the coming changes. Do this more than once as the first discussion may spark more concerns.
• Try to maintain normalcy in the classroom routine right up to the last day. Do not pack up too much too early. Some children will be upset to see things in the room disappear.
• Make sure the last days are positive, so that the children leave school with a good feeling. That feeling may be the one thing they remember most about school.
• Give the children things to do in the days after school is over. Our children have sign in books. I will give these to the children and encourage them to continue signing in each day at home. Giving them a book will encourage reading. Having the local librarian get children excited about the library's summer reading program will give children something for which to look forward. This is especially true, if your class has developed a good relationship with the local children's librarian.
• Read books about the last day of school or saying goodbye. I have read Goodnight Moon to the children and had the children say goodbye to the things in the room. Here are a few other books to try:

Last Day Blues by Julie Danneberg
When It's the Last Day of School by Maribeth Boelts
No More Pencils, No More Books, No More Teacher's Dirty Looks! by Diane Degroat
Barker Twins: Last Day of School by Tomie de Paola, Ann Marie Harris
Miss Malarkey Doesn't Live in Room 10 by Judy Finchler
Kindergarten Rocks! by Katie Davis