Kindergarten testing

Yeah, it starts already. I have issues with standardized testing on 5 year olds, but the good news is it was 1-on-1 with her teacher with me there. And neither I nor the teacher ever referred to it as "testing". I told Elly in advance that she was going to have a special meeting with her teacher because she wanted to know what to teach Elly, so she wouldn't be having her do stuff that was too easy or too hard. And the teacher today just referred to the testing as "some activities we're going to do together." (I love this teacher... if they could all be this good we'd be set.)

Anyway, Eliana rocks. Highlights of the testing would be that the teacher asked her to count as high as she could and she went to 100, and that she read all the way up to level 14 before the teacher stopped her and decided that would be a good place to start her for the school year. (And she read all the words in level 14 perfectly... the reason to start her there was for fluency - faster reading with more inflection.) To put that in perspective, they aim to have kids reading at level 4 by the END of kindergarten, and at level 18 by the END of 1st grade. Though I'm sure Eliana could read the level 18 books now, I'm very glad at the choice to work at a level where she feels confident and can work at mastering the subtleties of reading. Also, she was able to answer the teacher's comprehension questions, and that is clearly an important component.

I'm so happy that even in today's school system, my child can be given work that is appropriate for her level. Hopefully that will last through all her school years (I have my doubts).

On our walk home, I told her she did a great job and that I was proud of her. She said, "Does level 14 mean that I read like a 6th grader?" I said, "No, a 1st grader, but that's still really good." She said, "Yeah. I'm an awesome super star."