Dilly Days with Beth and Joellyn: Authors of The InvestiGator Club™ for Robert-Leslie Publishing

Summer is finally here. Now, teachers and parents alike have to contend with the specters of learning regression and readiness for the next grade.

That’s why Beth and I developed a brand new program called Get Ready for Kindergarten. It’s not even in the Robert-Leslie catalog or on The InvestiGator Club’s website yet. We created this program to work in both school and home environments.

The children get to visit “Camp InvestiGator” and have fun learning as they pretend to go camping. The class even meets around an imaginary campfire to open and close every day! Here you see beautiful hand-print sandcastles made with a mixture of tan paint and real sand. Doesn’t Camp InvestiGator look like fun?

Today’s something is nice and simple. Please read all the way through for your smile and affirmation.

Okay, preschool experts, I’d love to hear what you think. Following are two opinions that I recently heard while enjoying some time with two friends who send their children to different preschools. With whom do you agree? Send us your comments—we’d love to know!

Christine, mother of 4, “Pro”
I am a strong believer in having a graduation ceremony for preschoolers who will enter kindergarten. It’s so much fun to see those little ones with caps, gowns and diplomas. These ceremonies help children feel pride in their accomplishments and help them look forward to upcoming school years.

Anne, mother of 2, “Con”
The only occasions for which we should reward children with graduation ceremonies are high school and college, when they’ve reached a major milestone and have worked for years to accomplish something. It seems that today children are rewarded too often for non-accomplishments—tasks that should be expected. Activities like preschool graduation ceremonies mislead children into thinking that they should be rewarded for almost anything.

In general, it seems that children usually have a fun time with it and are undeniably cute. But do the children get as much out of it as the rest of the family do?