Standardized Testing… boo.
Every year within 45 days of enrollment we must do developmental assessments on our preschoolers. This year I went back to using the Dial Three. The Dial Three scores each child in these areas using fun game like activities.
- Motor Area: Gross Motor items include catching, jumping, hopping, and skipping. Fine Motor items include building with blocks, cutting, copying shapes and letters, and writing, and the popular finger-touching task from the DIAL-R.
- Language Area: Items include answering simple personal questions (name, age, sex), articulation, naming (expressive) or identifying (receptive) objects and actions, plus phonemic awareness tasks such as rhyming and I Spy.
- Concepts Area: Items include pointing to named body parts, naming or identifying colors, rote counting, counting blocks, placing a block in named positions relative to a little house, identifying concepts in a triad of pictures, and sorting shapes. The DIAL-3 includes an item that assesses automatic naming of colors. This skill has been shown to be associated with potential learning disabilities.
- Self-Help Development: Looks at the child’s development of personal care skills related to dressing, eating, and grooming.
- Social Development: Looks at the child’s development of social skills with other children and parents, including rule compliance, sharing, self-control, and empathy.
All week we will be doing different parts of the assessment hoping to finish up by Friday. Shortly after that we will schedule parent conferences.
In addition to the assessment activities today we started a new unit called ” I have an Amazing Body.” During this week we will talk about our body parts and all the cool things they can do. We made a book called ” I can” and the kids told me what their body can do . We also put together a ” shape man” made from squares and rectangles.
Many of the kids brought in their letters decorated this morning. We have them hanging on the wall. If you havent brought yours in yet, no worries, bring it tomorrow. This is really a no stress activity purely for the enjoyment of having fun with your child. ( Ok, maybe it will help them learn to recognize the first letter in their name , but that is an added bonus. ) The parent is the child’s first and most important teacher. THAT’S YOU ! Think of me as your support staff. I am here to support all the things you are teaching at home. Sometimes, I know it gets hard to be creative so I lend you a hand and the materials to do an activity that is not only fun but developmentally appropriate. It’s not homework. Let’s not start using that word quite yet, it sounds so big and nasty for a preschooler. Let’s call it … um….. parental involvement pieces ! 🙂
One of our friends missed a couple days last week with a fever. Today we have a couple out that are throwing up. Here’s what our guidelines state :
The following are indications of illness that require your child to stay at home .
1. Fever – 101 degrees rectal or 100 degrees oral. Temperature must be normal (without medicine) for 24 hoursbefore returning to school.
2. Vomiting – Child must be a-symptomatic for 24 hoursbefore returning to school. ( vomiting free )
3. Diarrhea – Child must be a-symptomatic for 24 hours before returning to school.
Other things we can do to keep us all healthy are wash hands all the time…. especially after toileting and before eating.
Thanks yall ! We do all we can here to be clean and healthy but sometimes an old bug sneaks in and takes over. :/