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What Happens in Kindergarten Assessments????????
As best as we can tell, the format of kindergarten assessments (or interviews, screenings, or whatever you want to call them) is about the same in all private schools (described here from the parent perspective):
- ARRIVE. Arrive at the school and convene in some location with all the other parents and kids, with some unstructured time together.
- SEPARATE. The kids separate from the parents. This can either be with the kids being asked to line up and leave the room in which everyone had been — or the parents leaving the room.
- WONDER WHAT'S GOING ON. The parents often stay in the room, either with unstructured time or with school staff or volunteer parents available ostensibly to answer questions. In one of our three assessments, parents were invited to leave and come back, once they left their cell-phone numbers. Generally, you have no idea what's going on in the other room where your child is. In one of our three assessments, the director of admissions described exactly what was going on — but my impression is that that is atypical.
- REUNITE. Regardless of whatever shy or tantrum-throwing mood they were at the separation, the kids all come back, making lots of noise and showing great cheer and enthusiasm.
- ICE CREAM. I am kidding in listing this as part of the kindergarten assessment process, though only partially, as this seems to be an extremely common promised post-assessment trip, based on what I heard as I left every assessment…
By and large, what private schools do during these kindergarten assessments when they are off separately with our children seems to be a closely guarded state secret. One parent with whom we were speaking hypothesized that the schools specifically tell the students not to tell their parents what happens during the assessments. That might be a bit conspiracy-theory, but we must admit that his daughter is usually the type to be quite talkative and descriptive about what happens at any school-related activity — and she apparently revealed almost nothing from any of her kindergarten assessments. This differs from our older child, who has a head start on adolescence by generally answering any "What happened at school?" questions with short answers like "Nothing," or, "I don't remember." Nevertheless, through a series of yes/no questions posed to our child, some ruminating with other parents here and again, and an occasional mention of something in a book or website, we have cobbled together some lists of what we think is the general range, or at least some illustrative examples, of what happens at these assessments.
- What They Know
- Alphabet
- Sing ABCs
- Say ABCs
- Write ABCs
- Numbers
- Count out loud (e.g., 1-5, or as high as they can or want)
- Write numbers (e.g., 1-5, or as high as they can or want)
- Identify colors
- Recognize shapes
- What They Can Do
- Gross motor skills
- Hop on one foot
- Jumping
- Running
- Small motor skills
- Writing letters or numbers
- Drawing
- Using scissors
- Making something with paper and glue
- Social/Maturity/Developmental
- Goal: Can they separate from parent(s) for the assessment?
- Warm-up conversations (e.g., in circle time or small groups)
- What's your name, age, and favorite color?
- What's your favorite animal?
- Goal: Can they make transitions from activity to activity?
- Goal: Can they follow instructions?
- Run to other end of room, and jump 5 times.
- Playing "Simon Says"
- Can they play/work well with others?
- Play together with big batch of Legos
- Goal: Do they share space and toys with the other kids?
- Goal: How do they react and participate in cleaning up when the teacher asks?
- How They Think
- Interview
- Tell me about your favorite birthday
- Thinking/Reasoning
- Does a whale live in the forest, ocean, or a house?
- What do you think is going on in this picture?
- Drawing — What Will They Choose or How Will They Depict
- Draw picture of yourself
- Draw picture of your family
- Draw whatever you want
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