Kindergarten Screening FREEBIES!

Kindergarten screening or kindergarten roundup is an exciting time of year when new kindergarten students come to do assessments and get their first glimpse at kindergarten.  These assessments help teachers create balanced class lists and establish a baseline to measure academic growth.

Yes, this is a very important time, but it’s also an extremely stressful time because if you’re doing kindergarten screening in the Spring, you still have a class full of students (who has time for MORE kids?!). And if you’re doing it in the summer… well… it’s summer (need I say more?).  It is hard to get your head in the right place when it’s already pulled in a million different directions.

If you’re stressed out about kindergarten screening, you’re NOT the only one! Here’s a glimpse into how we do kindergarten screening at my school to help you along your way.

A Quick Look Inside Kindergarten Screening

At my school, we found that the most helpful part of the screening was the letter identification because it helps to separate students who are coming in with no background knowledge from students who have a strong literacy foundation already. However, many schools also give math assessments such as number ID, shapes, and counting.

We also found more and more students start kindergarten lacking fine motor skills and social skills.  Thus, we have students write their names and assess their fine motor skills by having them draw a self-portrait in a heart and cut out their heart.  Our goal is to get an overall picture of each child before they come into kindergarten.

We also hold open play sessions. Parents sign students up for a time slot, and we are there to watch, take notes, and play as well, but our main focus here is to see the kids interact with each other. Do they share? Do they throw a fit when it’s time to clean up? How do they transition from play to a story?

I am hopeful that this will provide some insight into the social and emotional piece that we don’t often see come out until a few weeks into school, and then it explodes. If we can get any information from this informal play session, it will allow us to more evenly place students, and get more information from parents and preschool teachers before the school year starts.

Resources for Parents

Before screening is over, we give parents handouts with suggestions for fine motor work and name work that students can do over the summer. The handouts have fun, play-based ways for students to strengthen these skills.

Free Resources for You

Are you holding a kindergarten screening or kindergarten roundup soon?

You can download the letter ID and parent handouts that I use in my kindergarten screening right here!

And let us know: Do you do a kindergarten screening? What are your favorite parts? What do you want to change? Leave a comment below!