Next, testing in utero to make sure the kid's ready for the world. If not ... you thought you were done at nine months? guess again!

Jessica, they just look for developmental milestones. When Liv was assessed, they tried to check to see if she could stand on one leg. Little Miss Slapstick pulled a Three Stooges act and executed an exaggerated fall for effect.

She still made it in.

Aims, Liv pretty much wants to direct all imaginary play with Owen and her friends. She sometimes needs reminders to let other people use their own imagination and add to the game, too. Usually, they work it out themselves and I think that's always the best way to go.

Matilda didn't have to get tested for pre-K for what it's worth. But she was assessed developmentally to see if she was on track to go to Kindergarten this coming year. Which was important since she's turning 5 in September so will be youngish for the class.

They want stuff like using scissors, holding pencils in a tripod grip, understanding the difference between boys and girls, etc. They don't even really have to know their numbers or letters or colors--that stuff is the basis of the curriculum in 4K. And learning to work with others and socialize.

When Liv was assessed, they tried to check to see if she could stand on one leg. Little Miss Slapstick pulled a Three Stooges act and executed an exaggerated fall for effect.

Hahaha!

Maybe that 5 minute meeting changed his life, ita. Just accept the gratitude and chocolate as your due.

I have missed my window for working in the front yard today. Too hot.

the parents are contacted and generally it's explained that if the child can't understand the rules or control herself with certain expectations, *that* child would be removed.

Huh. I wonder if this had to do with the fact that my niece is already only attending the pre-school 2 or 3 days/week. They may have decided that it's economically smarter to let her go and let the other girl stay. Which is poor child development, but sound finances. Bah.

Man, came in this morning to find yet another email from someone that My Nemesis said she would coordinate with. Three months ago. I forwarded the email to her, cc'd my boss, and attached the three-month-old email in which she said she'd take care of the issue.

If you insist on getting ownership of all this shit, you have to then do the shit. Sheesh!

Clearly my tone on the internet needs work, or else we need to rethink the ban on smilies here - I was mostly kidding. Like others have said, it's an assessment of school readiness and major developmental milestones. (They don't actually care how tall the block tower is, they care that the kid understood the question "would you like to build a block tower?" and that the kid is physically able to pick up blocks.) Not all parents have the education level necessary to notice if their kid isn't hitting milestones, so asking "Does your child have a speech delay?" isn't necessarily going to yeild a helpful answer.

Still made me nervous as heck while we were in there. I kept biting my tongue to keep myself from saying "HIS CURRENT DAYCARE TEACHERS THINK HE'S A GENIUS! DON'T YOU ALSO THINK MY CHILD IS BRILLIANT, PRE-K TEACHER?"

Neither of my kids needed to be tested for pre-K, but the pre-K was attached to their daycare, so the teachers had basically watched my kids grow up. They did transition my boy early, though, so that he could transition with his best friend (who is almost 6 months older than he is).

I watched DH teach today. OMG, his mind and his daughter's mind work in such similar ways. I hadn't quite seen that before.

Aims, bossiness and directing the play is quite common with girls of that age, as Cash notes. I assume it's developmental. The 7 yo and the 4 yo are sisters? One thing I notice is that my two kids play well together when there's no one else there, but often spat when there is a third, esp if that third is a closer friend to one than the other. Could be that some of the stuff you're dealing with is the two sisters jockeying for position.

There, there, Jess -- we all know he's Very Advanced.