Practicing writing. Image courtesy of Naypong / FreeDigitalPhotos.net
Tomorrow the kids and are off to the primary school for their Best Start Kindergarten Assessment. This is not a test, just a guide to help the teachers understand what the kids already know and might not know. It helps them understand how to teach your child and if there are any areas that the child will need special assistance.
It will be nice for the kids to see more of their mates before school officially starts on the 3rd of February and also meet their teachers. They are very excited and keen to start Kindy and I am of course rather excited and nervous. I am excited for the fact that they are off to learn bigger and greater things but also nervous for how they will go, and hope it all goes well. I know you cannot hold their hands and I don’t want to as it is their time to learn and grow, just hope that the first day and school on a whole is a good experience.
The start time for the assessment is not early but as we have been working on holiday time it is. We need to be there for 9.35am and have been sleeping in past that. I will need to set the alarm to make sure we don’t miss our appointment.
Part of me knows it is not a test and that is fine. Each child knows things and does not know other things. They are still learning. However I do have a daydream that the teacher will come out and say, “Wow your kids are so smart, they are geniuses, and need to be in the advanced class” Yes I know silly, but I will just be pleased if they answer some questions and do o.k as it is just Kindy and they have all their school career to learn and to be clever at things.
The girls are only five years old, there is time to learn all the things they need to know. My little girls are still babies and still getting to know the world so of course my silly daydream will not be real.
I think many parents think that the teacher will tell them their child is talented. I don’t care. I just want my kids to do well, be happy, and get a good education. Every person has a talent somewhere and sometimes school is not the place to discover this.
Since the kids had two years at a Montessori Preschool it will be interesting to see if this has helped with the transition to school. I have never done the school thing yet, and my little girls are my first kids. I am a newbie at kids at school. I only have my own experience to go by.
My experience is not helpful as I went to many different schools and that was years ago now. I am keen to see if any information from the assessment is shared with the parents and to just see how they went. I don’t want to change things and appreciate that teachers need to know a baseline and where to start things for each child.
As said, my kids are just starting out and there is heaps more to learn. This year is going to be great for them as they were getting very bored at preschool and really needed the next step to keep their brains stimulated.
Have your kids had the Best Start Kindergarten Assessment, and if so how did it go? Did you get any feedback? Send in your comments.
