Lucy took the kindergarten-readiness assessment and score 89.5. They rounded it to 90, so she's in. The counselor didn't say anything to me about waiting until June when she gave me paperwork to fill out, so I think Lucy's really been accepted to kindergarten.
I watched a video online of a boy taking the same assessment and knew we had some things to work on. We practiced standing on one foot. I made up a cheer to teach her to spell her last name. She had to be able to write her first and last name, and she already knew how to write her first name. I know she can write all her letters, so I just focused on teaching her to spell her last name, and she put it together for the assessment. Her score probably benefited a few points from my having watched the video.
The only things she was marked down for on the assessment were standing on her non-dominant foot for ten seconds, drawing shapes (her corners are often a little rounded), and saying the alphabet. According to the score sheet, she sang the alphabet instead of saying it. In the video I watched, that kid sang the alphabet and was then instructed to say it instead. According to Lucy, they didn't say, "Say it; don't sing it." So I'm not sure she was given a chance to try again. She lost 5 points for not saying the alphabet, which I know she can do, so her score should have been 94.9. Test materials say that a score above 91 is in the gifted range. I'm not sure why this kind of knowledge-based test thinks it can figure out who is "gifted." Also, the expectation for this test is that children will take it when they are actually five years old. She's 4.5. I put her scores in the assessment's online scorer to see what further information I could get. I had to tell it that she was already five to get to input the data from the assessment she took. With a score of 94, it said her adjusted age is 6.5. That actually seems about right intellectually.
The counselor did say that she was concerned about Lucy's maturity. Lucy was fine during the testing, but as soon as she got back to me, she started climbing on a chair (which the counselor helpfully told me was not appropriate behavior in a classroom). I'm concerned about her maturity, too. I also know that Lucy was taken into a room by strangers and made to answer questions for 15 minutes. Then they couldn't find me, even though I hadn't moved from where they left me. So when she got back to me, she had some steam to let off. Climbing on furniture is not appropriate behavior, but I get why she did it. I really do think she'll be fine when August arrives. If not, we can hold her back. And the counselor says that we have 30 days after school starts to decide if kindergarten is a good fit for her. The counselor also told me that based on Lucy's score she would be really bored in preschool.
I think at this point we're assuming we'll go ahead with kindergarten. We can change our minds later. I think Lucy is excited about kindergarten. As we were driving up to the school, she saw the playground and students playing on it and asked me what was going on. I told her it was recess; Every day at kindergarten, you get to play on a playground. I then reminded her that we were there to talk to a kindergarten teacher to see if she wanted to go to kindergarten next year. "I do," she whispered longingly from the back seat. :)
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