My son is graduating from Kindergaten in 2wks and i am wondering if my husband and i should get him a gift? Should we also have a small get-together for the family at our house afterwards? cake and ice cream? He is my only child so i'm not sure how these things work?
IMO there is no such thing as graduating from Kindergarten. He is going to first grade. The last day of school we went out for dinner. We did this every year. It was just a "yay school is out".
No. Please don't buy into this Kindergarten graduation hype. The first person who did this thought their kid walked on water, and other moms who think that if they don't do it too, that their child will be missing out, jumped on the bandwagon.
Poor kids - what do they think when first grade is over and there's no graduation? How about 2nd, 3rd?
Graduation is supposed to be special. Kinders graduating is just silly (not trying to offend, but I really feel this way.)
There are lots of Kindergarten graduation ceremonies around here. Both my kids had them, and I thought it was a little bit ridiculous, but it was a ceremony and celebration none-the-less. So we did invite the grandparents to come, and we went out to eat afterwards. No gifts though. Just a fun event for everybody.
The dictionary defines Graduation as ": the award or acceptance of an academic degree or diploma". He is not graduating. He is being promoted to the next grade, which is great, but it isn't graduating - it's just being called that.
The only graduations that deserves a fuss in my mind are High School and beyond. To me, all these other "graduations" are a way for some photographer to make money. Somebody had a brilliant marketing idea to cap and gown every progression to the next level of school and parents, because they love their kiddos, feel pressure to do this stuff. But honestly, I don't think the kids care.
A "good job" and maybe go out to his favorite restaurant for dinner is plenty to recognize his hard work for the year.
No gifts, no party, no guests, no announcements. Maybe take him out to eat at a place he likes.
A.:
I'm sorry - WWWWAAAAYYYYY over thinking this. WWWWAAAAAYYYY over doing it. It's KINDERGARTEN - not high school or college.
Take him out for Sweet Frog yogurt or an ice cream cone.
To be honest - I think this is TOTALLY ridiculous to "graduate" from Kindergarten. Thank God our school did not do this. I would have laughed. Sorry - not trying to make light of this but really?! It's KINDERGARTEN!!
I got one of my dearest friends mad at me when I laughed when she told me what they did for her daughter's Kindergarten graduation - the school ordered (yes, parents paid) cap and gowns for the kids...I said - "OH MY GOD!!! THIS IS REALLY RIDICULOUS!!!!!" she was mad as that was her only daughter....
Please. Do NOT do anything more than an ice cream cone or yogurt. It's KINDERGARTEN!!!
congrats to him for passing!!! but really...save the big stuff for high school and college!
It's just one of those things where you're setting yourself up to top it next time they have any sort of event happen in their life.
SO, if you really want to do something each and every time they do something then go all out....lol. If you don't want to start a habit of this type of activity then just get some cute pictures at the ceremony and scrapbook them with him.
Nah. Just participate in what the school does, take pictures and scrapbook them. People tend to go overboard, celebrating everything. It is not really a precedent you want to set.
My daughter's school didn't do anything. My son, last year, had a small thing in the classroom. No cap and gown etc. It was low key and we had a ball.
Save the grad party for larger celebrations.
We took our daughter to have dessert at BJ's. She thought it was great that we walked into a restaurant just for dessert.
The only grad parties/gifts I have ever done for my kids are for high school.
Our schools don't have graduation ceremonies until then.
On the last day of elementary school they have a big party at the local pool, and the ceremony at the end of 8th grade is called a "promotion" not a graduation.
Having a class party on the last day of school in all grades is common, though gifts are usually given from students to teachers, not parents to children.
Have you asked your son's teacher what the plan is? Are they actually having a "graduation?"
Personally I wouldn't give a gift for that, but that's just me. Maybe we'd go out for lunch or ice cream or something.
I see kindergarten as a beginning, not an ending. A child who is often rewarded for things that they SHOULD be doing anyway (like completing kindergarten) grow to expect rewards for everything they do, and that leads to the dreaded sense of entitlement.
Just my two cents!
Is there an actual ceremony?
If so, I think that's enough.
Gamma G has it right. Pull back! Take him for a cone.
Since Kindergarten graduation is not the norm (I saw last night on here that a bunch of parents' kids didn't have one).....I would say not to have a big celebration. If you and your husband want to take him to like Chuck E Cheese or something, just with you, that's fine. But I personally don't think it's a call for a large gathering or a big deal. I remember having a kindergarten graduation and my parents didn't do anything special. Just took lots of pictures to commemorate it.
We just celebrated the end of school with the four of us making ice cream sundaes. Some families did gifts and flowers and the like. We chose not to. It's cute and all, but really, he's just moving on the first grade. We enjoyed the evening, but didn't go overboard.
I remember watching Oprah when I was younger and she was shocked when parents brought up "well we needed to do X for his graduation from Kinder." She was not impressed they celebrated it. I think mainly because the people were having financial trouble, but also it is not a true accomplishment. I feel like I have done more for Kinder than my son. Driving to school on time everyday with a toddler, making lunch and breakfast every morning, having him clean and teeth brushed, making sure laundry was done so he could be dress appropriately, helping with homework, read to him, with him, and listening to him read. I also volunteer in his class, make sure I show up to put sunscreen on him throughout the day if he needed it. He sat in the car and was chauffeured around and did all the super fun activities at Kinder and made tons of friends. Yes, he has way better handwriting and can read a lot better than when he started along with other important skills.
Do what ever works for your family. Most will assume the party would mean they should bring a gift. If this is okay with you (some grandparents and uncles/aunt loves reasons to celebrate, so go for it).
He's not really graduating, technically just being promoted to first grade. If the school has a ceremony they will also have refreshments, I'm sure, so you don't need to do anything else.
What I did see on Pinterest is something I think I'll be doing for my guy, getting a t-shirt with the year he'll graduate from high school, and taking his picture in it each year to show how much he grows. Then the pictures will be displayed at his high school graduation party.
Our son will advance to first grade soon. We are keeping it simple; likely a "yeay! School's out!" outing to celebrate the hard work and good year-- just our immediate family (Kiddo, husband and self). If there's any present to be given, it will likely be something he can play with outside during the summer... he likes to draw, so maybe a clipboard and a folder to take his art on the go. (In short, keep it simple.)
No, no. no. I'm sorry but I really think this is silly. He isn't graduating. He is moving up to 1st grade. Graduation is the completion of something. He hasn't completed his schooling yet. He's just starting! Take him out for a dessert or a fun dinner.
My father in law is a retired principal of a middle school. He was adamant about not having an 8th grade graduation and received big flack from the parents. The parents were mainly Hispanic and felt that their kids may not graduate high school so they needed to celebrate this victory NOW. They did not listen to him on how it was setting a low bar. They wanted to come to a graduation!
So, do you think that this will be your son's only chance at a graduation?
I have three kids, all 2 years apart in school, and the youngest will finish up kindergarten this year. in early June, they have a Moving Up ceremony. I think it is important to celebrate because every grade from here on out is SO different, but also because they make everything in kindergarten a big deal. It's a lot of firsts for kids and they are still at an age where they want (need) recognition for the little things.
We do NOT do gifts though. We take the kid who "graduates" out to a lunch of their choice to celebrate. The teachers will typically give the children a book for a gift and we all move on from there. I would not have a big party either. Normally my siblings and parents will join in the lunch and ceremony if they can, but no big party comes from finshing kindergarten.
Dear mama,
There is no a Kindergarten graduation, actually. Leave that for a real graduation; for now praise him and reward him for his hard work during his school year by taking him to DQ, or a kid-friendly museum, or the zoo!
We are taking my daughter out for ice cream (and grandparents are invited to attend and come along too) as a celebration for her graduating Kindergarten. No gifts or party though.
go to a really fancy dinner that your son would like.. when we suggest lets go out to dinner my kids pick mcdonalds.. so maybe you could go there..
My daughter's preschool had a graduation ceremony but because of how her birthday fell, she wasn't moving on to K...instead she went to a private Pre-K because she would be too board to repeat the program. What we did was attending the ceremony and gave her a "preschool graduation" card and the cookie monster graduate stuffed animal. Something small but age appropriate.
We are not doing anything big to commemorate my son's upcoming kindergarten graduation. The school doesn't do anything big either. We might do a pool party with his friends immediately after school. Maybe we'll go to Yogurtland or something. We certainly are not inviting family over for a party though. Only high school and college graduation deserve a big to-do.
