Not every child likes to be known as the new person in class! Some children like to ease into the setting. The teacher needs to express the child's welcome, but maybe ease him/her into the new setting with other students depending on the child's situation. That person may be shy, & not like attention from a classroom of kids.

We've created a piggyback song using "She'll Be Coming Round the Mountain" but changing words to "We Will Have a New Friend in our Family". There are cards for the children to hold while they sing song welcoming their new friend. Then the cards go into a book that the new child brings home on that first day. It completes the tie-in to the family as well. Available to anyone for free by e-mailing me.

It's a great idea to learn about the new child before starting class. To be able to make any changes needed for the child. Every morning
the children sing this song with their names in it,example( Heather will you stand up and let us see your smile, we glad you are here today won't you stay awhile). You could see all the smiles in the children when their name is sang.

Nurturing a sense of community is so important. That's why every Kindermusik class at every age level, infant through age 8, starts with a "hello" song mentioning each child by name, and ends with a group dance and "goodbye" song.

I love these suggestions for welcoming a new child into the class. But how would this work in a day care or preschool with drop-ins? Would honouring a new "permanent" classmate make the casual attenders feel left out?

Great ideas in this article! And there's a small but critical detail that should be part of this planning: it is so important to learn the correct pronunciation of the new child's name! As we are welcoming an increasing number of children from immigrant families, this effort can go a long way toward truly making a child (and his family) feel welcome and respected despite language differences.