I like to have official assessments for my kids, even though I often have a very good idea of what they know before we sit down to assess. My main reason for doing them is just to have my kids used to being tested and assessed so that it is never a cause for fear or trepidation when they are older.
So, when the little one wrapped up letter “Z”, I pulled out my fun Chicka Boom Tree assessments and some stampers (like these). The first time I used these assessments with my son, I admit I was at a total loss as to how to use them, and I made the whole ordeal much more complicated than it needed to be. This time, though, I just relaxed and let her tell me what she knew. She chose which letter to do each time, told me the name and sound of the letter, then stamped it before choosing another letter. It went very smoothly.
For the numbers, I once again handed her the stamp and sat back to see what she knew. She found each number in order as she counted, up to twelve and then got stumped. I praised her, put the stamp away, and then we finished counting the numbers together.
Her end-of-the-year preschool accomplishments:
- She can identify all her letters and sounds for capital and little letters.
- She can identify her numbers up to 12 and can count to 20 unassisted.
- She can count to 100 when assisted with the tens (20, 30, 40, etc.—she gets stumped at these transitions).
- She knows her colors and the names of basic shapes.
- She has lots of fun memories and can’t wait to start reading.
And if nothing else, that last accomplishment tells me we’ve had a very successful year.
