Kindergarten skill test: What do the children get tested on?

MrsGabbs4Ed

Stephanie will be 5 later this month and we have begun the registration process for Kindergarten this fall.  (reg. is at the end of this month).  I was told there's skill testing later in the Spring.  I am wondering what they test the children on.  She's knows her letters and numbers and can write them (not perfectly but decently, still writes the N backwards).  She cannot read yet though.  My MIL was surprised at that since apparently Ed was reading at 3. .

Anyway, I am sure she will learn and have more skills by the time the fall comes but I am still curious what else they test the children on?  Please share your experiences! And holy sh*t I can't believe my "baby" is going to Kindergarten!

kellyann1972

we didnt have them for either kids school. FWIW they expected the kids to be able to sit, follow direction, interact, speak clearly, be responsible for their things (coasts etc) THey had to know their letters and numbers but lots of the kids couldnt write all of them upper and lower case. I dont know anyone who entered kindergarent "reading" as in not reciting a memorized book. I am sure some do but most dont. Lots of the kids read (as in BEGIN to read) at the end of K.

 

lpwish

In our town, it's called the Lollipop Test.  From what friends have told me, they ask them to identify letters, numbers, colors, etc.  All pretty basic stuff that I'm sure most of these kids have known for a while. 

ladyredlight

Is it sad that I don't even remotely remember any kind of K test?  Its been a while.

njmom2zach

From what I remember, the test was more to get the kids talking to see who had a need for speech services.  It was given by the speech teacher.  They had to identify objects on flashcards, write their name and put a series of cards in order to tell a story (seed in dirt, sprout, flower)  It was pretty painless.  FWIW, my son was reading well by four and my daughter is just reading now in Kindergarten.  She'll be six in a week.  It really all evens out by second grade, based on my experience as a teacher.

Liz051405

kellyann1972:

THey had to know their letters and numbers but lots of the kids couldnt write all of them upper and lower case.

Was that entering or exiting?

smallbutfeisty

Thanks for asking this, Gabbs!

 

(FWIW, my friend who teaches K in DE said they need to be able to wipe their own butts.) 

AmyRob04

They did RP's at his orientation. He didn't even know he was being tested. They had three or four fun stations set p and tested stuff like fine motor skills (ie, can he use scissors properly), gross motor skills (can he hoping one foot), color and pattern recognition via an art project, and then speech, which was done via conversation with the school's speech therapist.

MrsGabbs4Ed

smallbutfeisty:

Thanks for asking this, Gabbs!

 

(FWIW, my friend who teaches K in DE said they need to be able to wipe their own butts.) 

Houston we have a problem!! LOL.  Yeah I hope she ends up mastering this before the fall....or else!!!

smallbutfeisty

A does it, though i'm not sure not well.  We jhust have to work on "I'M DOOONE!!" which they do at school, i'm sure.

NJOdoyle

If Lucy needs to be able to wipe her own a$$ well then I need to buy a lot more underwear!

alicianrj

Just throwing it out there...as a Kindergarten teacher we don't wipe butts. Never have. If there is an issue I send them to the nurse.

We don't have a screening in my district but they are considering it for next year. In the next few weeks we need to start researching some. I really have no idea what is on them since we never did them before. I just met with my principal this week and she was so concerned about how many still can't recognize all of the upper and lowercase letters. We have to really encourage parents to make sure they can identify them when they come into Kindergarten and will work on the sounds/formation/etc at our Kindergarten orientation in April.

We only have a 1/2 day program (which is a whole seperate issue) and have a A LOT to cover in that short period of time and it just keeps getting piled on. If they were able to recognize the letters it would be very helpful but I do realize they are 5!

CLord

No worries!!  It's an assessment-- I think they did numbers, colors, letters-- identifying.  Writing first name.  I think cutting with scissors was another thing.  No rocket science crap.  They may tell you some skills to work on during the summer.  They told me to work on Aidan's pencil grip because it was a little loose.  It honestly took about 5-10 minutes tops.  I can ask my neighbor the next time I see her for a reminder- she works at A's school.

Aidan couldn't read yet when he got to K-- I don't think many in his class were there yet.  He is reading pretty well now- I have seen very quick progress.  He still can't tie his shoes or wipe his ass well, but hey.  

I edited above a slight bit.