Childhood Screening and Conferences

I will start with my usual apology for being extremly negligent with this blog.  We have a great trip to Disney World and I haven't blogged about it...maybe I will get to it this weekend.

I thought I would write quickly about last night though.  We took Keegan for his Early Childhood Screening (ECS) (required by the State of MN before age 5) and had conferences with his teachers at school. 

I wasn't sure what to expect for the ECS; in fact to be honest I was a bit anxious about it all.  Would Keegan listen to the teachers during screening?  Would he do what they asked?  He is kind of headstrong and, though I am sure he is developing fine, I was not sure he would cooperate.

As usual I shouldn't have worried.  First he went through the ability screening.  They looked at if he could stack blocks, memorize things, do basic motor skills etc.  One of the most impressive parts was a part where he had to do analogies.  They started pretty easy with a color analogy something like "an apple is red, so a banana is ___"
Then they went on to harder ones.  The hardest one was "a table is made of wood and a window is made of __"
Keegan did both types flawlessly.  The teacher was impressed and told us that the second analogy is aimed at 5 to 6 year olds; 3 year olds never get it right.  She was also impressed with his memorization skills, his adding ability, and many other things.  She got a bit excited that he was doing so well...probably just to keep him interested in things :-)

After all was said and done with the ability screening part, well, Keegan did an excellent job.  He ended up scoring a 24 on the testing; he needed a 16 to be on track.  The girl that came out before us was five years old and scored a 21; which was on track for a 5 year old.  So basically we have a 3.5 year old that is thinking at a 5-6 year old level.  Kind of neat; I wish we could take credit for it all, but Keegan is just a good boy and tries really hard.

Then we went in for the hearing/seeing portion part of the test.  He passed both well.  His sight is in the 5 year old range in one eye and the 4 year old range in the other eye.  His hearing was a bit off cause he has a bit of a cold.  He was less patient with this part, he thought it was boring and was ready to leave.

After that we went to LeeAnn Chin's for dinner.  Keegan's pick; we had a deal going that if he listened well at the screening he could pick dinner.  While at LeeAnn Chin's we ran into his buddy Henry from daycare.  Then it was home to feed the animals and back in the car to go to conferences.

I was going to go to conferences by myself but Keegan really wanted to go, so we all went.

His teacher again had nothing but good things to say about him.  She told us lots of interesting things.  Him and his best friend are the two leaders in the class and lead most of the activities.  He mainly hangs out with a group of five or so boys; but also plays with the other kids some.  She talked about how smart he is and how helpful he is. 

She also mentioned that he comes up with good stories, and can be strong-willed.  Which we are well aware of.  Lyle and I told her to be sure and let us know if any issues comes up.  We want to know right away if he is causing or having any trouble.  She said she would, but didn't foresee any issues.

She also gave us his journal, which was super cute.  They sit the kids down individually every once in a while and ask them some questions and write the answers down in their journals.  I didn't know they did this, so it was a fun surprise :-)

Overall it was a very good day for us.  Everyone had nothing but wonderful things to say about the Keester.  As a parent I can tell you that it feels wonderful to have such a smart boy that everyone seems to like.  I am happy he has a good group of friends, that he is happy, and that he can sit down and listen to instructions well when he wants to.   I am just so proud of him and so amazed at what he can do.

Hopefully this entry doesn't come off as too bragging; I am not trying to brag about my son...but I am very proud of him and want him to come back someday and read this entry and know how very proud of him I am.