Oh the Places You'll Go | Kindergarten Graduation

Avinash had a great milestone this past week.

He will always be my baby but it is so fun to watch him grow.  He loves school.  He is getting to be a pretty good reader and writer, he is obsessed with animals and did his research project on raptors (hawks, owls, etc).  Don't call them birds please, they are dinosaurs!

We couldn't be prouder of him finishing kindergarten.  A lot of schools around here have a yearly tradition of a kindergarten graduation but Avinash's school is kind of progressive and they tend to shy away from that sort of conventional fan fare.

Lucky for us one of the other moms in the class wasn't afraid to ask and went to the administration and all the parents for approval to hold a scaled back graduation ceremony.  Caps and gowns were forbidden.  Even though I never would have thought of it myself or have had a single clue about getting it all organized, I was totally on board and signed up to help.

We made yearbooks and diplomas together.  I just googled diploma images from UT and we made our version on photoshop.  We got gold foil rimmed paper to print them out on and gold seals from the university shop.  One of the benefits of having our kids at the on campus preschool.

We asked their teacher to write a letter to go in the yearbook and she used a Dr. Seuss theme.  I loved it so much and decided to run with it for the rest of my crafting.

I put all of the diplomas in document covers and they were looking really professional and awesome but not at all childish and fun.  So I pulled out the silhouette and made little cards with their names and different patterned papers to add some color and whimsy to the project.  I found a great Dr. Suess font for free on dafont. I cut out the phrase "Oh the Places You'll Go!" and personalized it for each child.

I tied each card to the the document cover with twine.  We decided that the parents would get the diplomas directly since the kids might be prone to crumpling or otherwise messing with them.

For the actual graduation part we did tie up little scrolls with some red ribbon so the teacher and principal could have something to hand to the kids.

Of course I couldn't resist an opportunity to decorate and brought a few things along with me.  I turned to trusty pinterest for some inspiration.    

I really loved this quote.  I decided to make some chalkboard art with it, just to up the Seuss factor.  

I was so lucky to have my mother in law around that day to watch the baby while I worked on this stuff. 

For the auditorium, I pulled a big book of Maps and a globe from our house to use as well.  That with the basket of red ribbon wrapped diplomas was all it really needed.  Instead of Seuss-themed pom poms, I just hung up a pre made chalkboard banner from Target.  The red and white twine was perfect. 

We had to have food too of course.  People brought cookies and cupcakes and these really good rice krispie treats with pink icing.    

   I have the most talented friends.  I am obsessed with this photo she took of Avinash.  She took photos of all the kids.  We also had a little slideshow of the kids over the years.  I don't know how I didn't start crying right then.  

   The thing that made me tear up the most though was his teacher's speech.  Her last bit of advice really hit me "Behave, as if this is the day [you] will be remembered."   He has learned so much about being a good listener (at school at least), sitting still during circle time and playing well with his friends in class.  

   Of course as soon the formalities ended he and his friends spent the rest of the time grinding cupcake icing into the carpet and running up and down the stairs.  It's their last day of school, and I think they felt like they needed to let loose.  At least he helps me keep things in perspective, after all they are only six. Ha!

I love the sneakers with the suit vest.  Kindgarten fashion at it's finest.   I don't know why I didn't put a tie on him.

The children all did a little questionnaire about school.  The answers to that were read out as they walked to the front of the room to accept their "diplomas".

Here are Avinash's answers:

My favorite memory of lab school is: playing hide and seek outside.

I learned about: a boy that saved all of the eagles and they were endangered.

What I will miss most about school is: learning. There is so much learning you can learn in every classroom.


First grade, here we come! Avinash is excited about his new school having a chess club, a library and getting graded next year.