Playing School: Assessment Time

If your child has never done any schooling this may come as a complete shock to you: Children are brilliant.

She-she, around age 1.

Ask a child what color such and such is, and whether told previously or not, they'll likely be able to tell you, or describe it like "well it looks sorta like red, but is lighter".  They might recognize things like the star beside the elevator button, or at the very least, that parking under the Golden Arches likely means burgers are about to be had.  That's because young children learn by observation more than most anything else.

My husband will forever remember the day our beautiful little almost 1 year old sat up on his lap placed a finger on the tip of his nose and declared triumphantly, "Nose!"  It was her first word.

 So when you sit down with your little toddler to do these "I Can" pages and take the "Readiness exam", you may be completely shocked to realize your child might be able to do a lot more than you thought, thus allowing you to dive a little deeper than you had planned.

That's why I really recommend doing these with your children, and the more excited you are about it the more excited they will be.

The first thing I recommend is the I Can... Assessment, its pretty basic, but deep enough to allow your child the opportunity to show off - not to mention its free, cute, and not as intimidating as the dozens of pages I've found in other packets.  (You do have to sign up for a Teachers-Pay-Teachers account, but that too is free, and not intense.  I've pulled tons of packets from here and really do recommend it.)

The other is an online website called SchoolSparks that has a Kindergarten Readiness Test.  The most excellent part of this test is that it includes a variety of assessments from math skills to gross motor skills, and provides feedback on how you can help your child grow in the areas they're weakest.  (The chart below is not She-she's, I just clicked through it quick to show you the end graph.)

She-she and I sat down and did the I Can... series together to prep her for school this week, and when I loaded up the SchoolSparks sight I had her near to play with, she enjoyed hopping on one leg and showing me "she could do it" to so many of the questions.  Be excited, and they will be too!