I have the same problem. My DCB (almost 5 years old) turns into an animal at pick-up and Mom just stands there as I run after him reprimanding him. It's lovely - he hurts himself and the other kids and Mom tells him to tell them sorry - that's it
. Just recently I had a group meeting with the kids and we discussed what rules they thought should be followed during pick-up (of course they knew exactly what should be happening). I have a chart in my pick-up area with the rules they came up with listed. Each day we follow these rules, we get a star, no second chances or flexibility with the rules. Once we have 5 stars, they get to watch a movie. This is a big deal for these kids since we don't watch television at daycare. We just started it this week and they've been doing well so far.
Good luck! I wish I could follow Nannyde's technique but I don't have the backbone
