Forever Young

The end of a school year is always a little bittersweet. It's sweet because you can know you worked really hard. The kids have made so much progress and have grown so much. AND because you have two and a half months to play. The hard part is that you love those kids and even though you may still see most of them in the hallway or at school, it just won't ever be the same. They may still give you hugs and tell you how much they miss you, but they'll never be "your kids" again.

I've watched many of my past students move on from year to year. Every summer they grow a few inches and gain a few pounds. However, no matter how much time passes, when I see them, it will never cease to amaze me how much they've grown and changed. Although growing up is inevitable--we, as teachers, especially early childhood teachers, have the unique privilege of seeing children as they were in our care--forever young.  No matter how tall they get, or grown up they look, we will always remember them as that sweet little seven or eight year old. 
 

I am not a huge fan of Glee (for MANY reasons) but I saw this clip the other night. The Glee Club teacher sang his Seniors a song to say good-bye--and how can you not love this?  I had to share the song with y'all.  It is my little good-bye to my little munchkins this year too.  They will always be forever young in my eyes.