Kindergarten Readiness Test

This is our schools requirments:

MUST DO:
Say first and last name
Write First Name
Say alphabet
Identify all the letters
Identify numbers 1-10
Identify basic shapes
Identify basic colors
Match rhyming words
Hold a pencil/scissors correctly

my school district gave no readiness test.. the parents could choose regular kindergarden or developmental kindergarden if they thought their child was not ready for regular kindergarden.

My child is in regular kindergarden (2nd day) today they did shapes and colors.. I think the teacher is trying to figure out where the kdis are at so she knows where to start teaching.

I think our school's only readiness test was being age 5 before September 30th. I take it you're talking about a private school? Doesn't that old saying go something like "All I ever needed to know in life I learned IN kindergarten"???

Hi,
Each public kindergarten has a readiness assessment, which should be used not to determine whether the child can go to school or not, but rather what supports a child might need to do well. Areas assessed through your parent and child input include: cognitive skills (counting, letters), social and self-help skills, physical skills (jumping, balance), fine-motor skills (drawing, copying) and language skills (vocabulary, comprehension and participation in conversation). I hope someone from your area can tell you what the typical expectations are in your area, but please know that children are expected to have different skills sets upon entering kindergarten.

Check this test out.
http://www.covenanthome.com/kready.htm

My 4 and 1/2 y/o was required to take a "DIAL" (Developmental Indicators for the Assessment of Learning) test prior to enrolling in kindergarten class. Check to see if your school district also requires this test. It will give you a better understanding of where your child is currently so you will know what area's he/she needs to concentrate on. Keep in mind each district may have different requirements, and our child is enrolled at a private school pre-k and will continue on in this school, so they could have a whole other set of standards. But to give you general idea of what our child was tested on and had to pass prior to kindergarten enrollment : Our daughter was required to not only recognize the alphabet and know them phonetically but also to write both upper and lowercase alphabet. They are expected to be able to count to 100, write from 1 - 20, count the number of items on a page and pick the corresponding numeral, (five ladybugs=5), they also had to answer basic addition/subtraction questions, tester would have them count out 8 blocks then instruct them to remove 3, how many are left, or add 5 and now how many do you have, write their entire name using proper capitalization (one of the biggest mistakes people make is to teach their child to write in all uppercase. It makes it very hard on the child to have to then go back and learn lowercase and remember to use uppers for capitalization). She had to be able to recite her home address, breaking it down by house number, street name, city, state, zip and country. Also had to recite home phone number, names of her parents, siblings, her age. She had to be able to point out the various shapes, repeat patterns - the tester would build a small structure out of blocks, dd had to copy that exact pattern, leaving spaces where the tester did. They also would have colored blocks and create a pattern of blue, green, red, yellow, blue, green, then she had to complete the pattern by placing a red then yellow block. She had to cut out various lines, curved, straight, zig zag, as well as precision cut out a dinosaur. She also had to be able to draw circle, square, triangle, diamond (that's a toughy), and a rectangle. They had a board similar to what eye doctors would use, they'd move one circle to a picture of a fireman, then my child had to pick out the other pictures that would go with a fireman, like the firetruck, hose, boots, etc. They did that with police, fireman, doctor, dentist, waiter, teacher, crossing guard, and several others that I just can't remember. They asked her to point out the various parts of her body when they called out the body part, like where is your knee, elbow, thigh, shin, toes, fingers,....she did great with all that but they stumped her on knuckles..lol. (I have to admit I thought to myself...SERIOUSLY...knuckles, who'd of thought :) They also had pictures of grouped similar items like 8 bananas but all various sizes. They would ask her to pick out the tallest, smallest, thinnest, fattest, etc. Also tested spacial recognition, like put the red block under the green box or between the 2 blue boxes, etc. Then they moved into the Motor activities, she had to be able to hop on one foot for a certain period of time, then the other foot, then had to be able to jump up high enough to touch a beanbag that was about 1 1/2 foot over where her extended arms would be. Then she had to be able to throw and catch a ball, not a baseball but not as big as a basketball either. She also had to be able to skip. Since my daughter attends preschool where she was tested they already knew she could use the bathroom by herself, unpack her backpack, unpack her lunch box, clean up her lunch table, play well with others, put on her own shoes, jackets, follow 3 part instructions, transition between activities, etc. I will tell you I'm a WAHM that had my child home with me most days until full time preschool this year. While I worked with my child to educate her, I ONLY did it in fun ways where she really didn't realize she was learning. I'm not one to force it on my child. If it's not fun she's not going to want to do it. We learned to write in shaving cream on the patio table. I would spray the table with shaving cream and then we'd trace our letters, numbers, shapes, etc in there with our fingers. (kinda like finger paint but easily sprayed off with the hose). I know you're not suppose to but I'll admit...we play with food here :) If Mommy gave you 3 carrot sticks and you ate 1 how many do you have left now? And we make up silly songs to remember things like our phone number and address. The key thing is it HAS to be fun, no pressure on them or they will not want to do it. Good luck and God Bless!

A kindergarten readiness test is not necessarily to test the child for one thing or the other but to show the teacher what level his/her class is at so that he/she can start at that level and continue. It is also to show you at the end of the year how much your child has grown. Each grade has certain requirements the teacher is to present and some kids are always farther ahead than others. Just have your child do the best they know how and then help them grow throughout the year. You'll be surprised how much they learn, grow and develop. Kids just thirst for knowledge..Good luck to you and your children. School opens up a whole new world and chldren love to be there.

schools around here do not have pass fail exams to enter K. they do assess skills to identify future problems. Can child identify first name? The DIAL assesses basic vocab , body parts, concepts like point to hot cold fat thin long short. color and shape recognition and sorting write first name? copy an x, use scissors catch a ball, hop, play a game like Simon Says