Sunday, September 16, 2012

Kayley's Developmental Screening

Drew's school sent home a flyer a few weeks ago encouraging parents to sign up our preschool children for a developmental screening.  We have been struggling with the decision of whether to send Kayley to Kindergarten next year or have her wait until 2014.  She is eligible for Kindergarten next year only because she was premature, which caused her to be born before the deadline.  If she had been full term, she would have missed the deadline.  We thought the screening would be a great opportunity to see where she is developmentally. 

Andy took her to the screening earlier this week.  We weren't sure what to expect, but they assessed her for an hour so it ended up being very thorough. 

She was able to identify simple objects and clearly tell the screener what they were.  She talks in full, long sentences.  She was easy to understand.  She correctly uses pronouns and contractions.  She doesn't always pronounces her "R's" correctly, but the screener said that is normal for her age.  They did notice that Kayley pushes her tongue forward a lot.  They said they wouldn't be concerned about it unless she is still doing it in second grade.  I had to laugh when Andy told me about it because, unfortunately, I would say that is an inherited trait from me rather than any sort of issue related to being premature.  I had the same thing and mine didn't get better by second grade so I ended up in speech therapy during 3rd grade so we'll see how she does.

She knew her colors and shapes.  She was able to copy shapes.  She was able to copy numbers 1 - 5 except for number 4.  When she got to that one, she just said: "Umm...I don't know how to do that one."  She was asked to count as high as she could.  She got to 23 and then said that was it.  The screener laughed and thought Kayley was just bored with it, but could count higher.  And she is right.  Kayley is able to count higher than 23.  Classic Kayley right there!

They had her draw a picture of someone and she drew a picture of Andy with "a little bit of hair."  :-)  She was given 3 minutes to complete a task.  The task was finding the images that were on five flashcards in a picture that had a lot of detail.  Kayley was done in 1 minute and 16 seconds.  That was considered the best she could do, which puts her at age 6-7 for that skill. 

They also assessed her motor skills.  She was able to do everything they asked with no problems.  She stacked 8 blocks without them falling.  She was able to throw a ball to the screener and "hit the target" and she was able to catch the ball.  She bounced the ball in the correct direction.  She was able to walk and run smoothly and without issues.  She walked up a steep staircase like she should...alternating feet, not using the handrail for main support, not stepping on each step with both feet. 

They said that she was definitely age appropriate in everything and there were no concerns.  Overall, they said we had "such a sweet, fun little girl."  I questioned their screening abilities after hearing we have a sweet girl!  Just kidding!  Kind of.  :-)  She is sweet as can be...when she wants to be! 

This week also brought my birthday.  33.  Yikes!  The kids made me cards and helped Grandma bake a birthday cake.  I also got adorable homemade cards from our niece and nephew.  Homemade cake and homemade cards are definitely what I love!




We also watched some football this weekend.  Drew had a flag football game Saturday morning and we watched UNI at Iowa Saturday afternoon.  I never know who to root for when UNI and Iowa play.  I received my college degree from UNI and my law degree from Iowa so I love them both!  I honestly thought UNI was going to win so I was a little disappointed, but I also was glad Iowa didn't get beat by another in state rival!  The kids were split on their allegiances as well - Drew and Kayley were for Iowa and Ryan was for UNI! 





After the game, Andy and Drew were playing catch and Kayley wanted to join in:

 


And I have to add this picture.  Kayley asked Andy to get her a carrot from the garden so he did.  She thought she was pretty cool walking around eating her carrot!



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