Hellooo!! Today is one of my favorite days at UCP – Graduation Day! Everyone is buzzing with excitment. It is a day for real celebration as we look back on the children’s accomplishments and how much they have grown.

Last month I shared a video of our Graduation Song from last year, “It’s Always More Fun”. For this year’s Graduation performance, we did a spin on “Put a Little Love in Your Heart.” I asked the children- “What do you love about going to school here?” We made a bubble map with all of their ideas, I reworked the lyrics to the song, and here is what we came up with…

We love to come to school,
We love to play with friends,
Put a little love in your heart!

Outside we run and play,
Inside we learn all day,
Put a little love in your heart!

And this year…we learned to count and add,
And this year..we learned the traffic light,
And this year…we learned about the plan,
And this year…we learned the alphabet,

Here at school!
Put a little love in your heart!
Put a little love in your heart!
Put a little love in your heart!

They sang it loud and proud and I could not be more pleased with how the ceremony turned out. As sad as I am to see these children leave, I know they are moving on to do great things in this world!

Image courtesy of [digitalart] / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

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I say this every time a new month starts, but it really does feel like it was just yesterday that we were starting the new school year.

As I’ve mentioned in previous posts, I work full-time in United Cerebral Palsy’s preschool and charter school, Early Beginnings Academy. I work with children birth – age 7 with special needs. Now graduation is approaching, and it really is a cause for celebration. Many of our children have made noticeable gains and we even have a handful of children that will be mainstreamed into regular education classes!

Today I want to share with you some ideas I have for graduation performances.

Our parents always LOVE to see their children perform. Last year, I thought it would be meaningful to have the children write a song about how to make new friends when they start at their new schools. I asked the children two questions:

“How do you make a friend?”

And, “How can you be a good friend?”

I took their answers and reworked the lyrics of one of my favorite Jack Johnson songs, “The Sharing Song.” Thus, “It’s Always More Fun” was created (the children even came up with that title!)

Listen as one of our star graduates sings “It’s Always More Fun” with all the enthusiasm in the world…

What types of Graduation performances have YOU put together? I’d love to hear in the comments below!

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