Kindergarten Screening

Alexa had another HUGE event occur in her life last week. Kindergarten screening! Last Wednesday I took her to Meadow View Elementary in Farmington at 10:45 for her screening. It was kinda one of those deals where Adam set up the appointment, we filled out all the paperwork needed, I faxed the immunization info to her physician and then we didn't talk about it after that. It was a combination of us being a little bit in denial that Alexa was already to this phase in her life, preparing to go to kindergarten and us not wanting to make it a big deal in front of Alexa. We didn't want to jinx anything, ya know. We didn't want to coach her or scare her in any way. We wanted it all to be 'her'. I, of course, warned her of this day, saying she'd have to get her hearing and vision checked and then a teacher was going to ask her some questions, no big deal. She walked around for the next week or so holding one hand over her eye, telling me she could see with the eye that wasn't covered. She 'knew' she was going to pass the vision exam.
I have to admit I was a bit anxious myself, driving her to the school. Not knowing what to expect. Was Alexa going to be in one of she 'shy' moods and just bomb the whole thing? Would she forget her letters and numbers? Would she cry? What were they going to ask?

Lucky for me, I drove right up to the school and when we walked in, hand in hand, there was a lady sitting at a table with a big sign that said "KINDERGARTEN SCREENING". A mom with her daughter sat there going over their paperwork, while other parents and their kids sat waiting, reading books. Ok, (deep breath) Alexa, let's sit here and wait our turn. We read through a few books before it was our turn to get signed in. When we were called we went and sat at the table with a nice lady, who right away told Alexa she looked so pretty and loved her pig tails. That kinda broke the ice and made Alexa smile. We went through paperwork and put things in folders and got Alexa a pink name tag with a list of different stations like, hearing, vision, height and weight, developmental..ect. Each station she would receive a sticker, once completed.

When we were all set we were sent to height and weight. That station was open right away so we got right in. Again, the nurse complimented Alexa on how pretty she was that day and loved her pretty skin. Alexa smiled and said, thank you. Whoo Hoo..Good manners. She was measured for height first and is 42" tall. Then, she was weighed at 35.5 lbs. 50th percentile for height and 25th for weight. A tiny peanut. The nurse complimented her beautiful skin again before we left and Alexa proudly told her that she was half white and half brown. We laughed and then I had Alexa explain to her why she was half brown and she said, "because I'm Mexican". Alexa got her sticker and we were off to the next station.

The next station was hearing. Luckily that was open right away too, so we could walk right in without a wait. I sat on a chair by the door while Alexa walked over to the nurse all confident and proud. She put big headphones over her ears and explained to Alexa that she was going to hear little birdies chirp and when she did, she had to raise her hand. Alexa passed with flying colors. No concerns about her hearing. She also took a picture inside of Alexa's ear and apparently that looked perfect, too. Alexa picked another sticker and off to vision.

We had a long wait for vision. We sat in the hall with some other parents and kids, reading books while we waited. Alexa was able to call Adam to tell him how things were going. He was so excited and proud to hear that she was doing fantastic, so far. I even took a picture of her with her name tag on, waiting in the hall, so he could see her smile.

Finally it was Alexa's turn for the vision exam. The nurse gave her a card with 4 big letters on it, V, T, O and H. She asked Alexa if she could tell her the letters and sure enough, she could. I sat watching, very proud. She asked Alexa to look at the chart on the wall and when she pointed to a letter, Alexa had to match it up and point to it on her card. Well, since Alexa knew the letters enough to say them, she didn't really need the card. So, the nurse pointed to a few letters on the wall and Alexa said them perfectly with both eyes. Then, she had to put on a pair of glasses with one of the eyes covered, so she could see if she could see them with each eye individually. Again, she passed with flying colors. She was quite proud of herself, since she 'knew' she could see. *lol
The next station was developmental. Another long wait for this one. We just sat in the hall this time, admiring the art work in the hallway. We called Adam again and she was proud to tell him that she could 'see' perfectly. She was getting lots of stickers and that, of course, was the best part.

When it was our turn, a nice gal named Nancy took us to a conference room where they had a small table set up with some fun things and games for Alexa. I sat back behind Alexa so she couldn't see me and Nancy sat with her at the little table. She was so enthusiastic and fun. Alexa really took to her. Right away they started playing with some blocks. Nancy made a tower out of them and then had Alexa copy her and make the same tower. They did that a few times, and then did some counting games and problem solving. Alexa was spot on, on everything. No hesitation, she knew it all. Nancy had Alexa hop on one foot, balance on each leg, ect. and Alexa did excellent. I was sitting there cheering loudly (in my head). That's my girl! They did flash cards and writing games and rhyming and patterns and repeating games. Nancy was even challenging Alexa with some questions from the first grade level and Alexa was able to answer them as well. WHOO HOO!! Alexa smiled the whole way through and had such a good time. I pretty much held my breath through the whole exam. As a parent, you want your kids to do well and know all the answers. I knew Alexa was smart, but she even surprised me. It's the way that they test, it's so different from the way we think about teaching our kids. They try to trick them and Alexa was able to fly right through it with no problem. No concerns at all.

After we were done with the developmental test, Nancy took Alexa to another room for some group time, while I visited with the school nurse. We reviewed all of her immunization records and she asked me questions about Alexa's health. I had no concerns, I've been fortunate enough to have very healthy kids with no known allergies or crazy illnesses. She asked me a few questions about Lillian, too, and our family and had that all on record so when it was Lillian's turn for screening, they would have that all ready.

After I was finished speaking with the nurse, I went and picked up Alexa from group time and we were good to go. She was coloring a picture of a frog for Lillian, so she had to finish that first. Funny thing, too, was that the instructor of the group time was her Sunday school teacher at St. Michael's in Farmington. They both recognized each other, even though Alexa had only been there once.

We left, walking hand in hand, with me gushing over her, telling her how proud I was of her. I couldn't wait to get to the car to call Adam and tell him all about it. Alexa was dynamite! Definitely ready for kindergarten next fall. Adam was thrilled and couldn't wait to see Alexa and give her the biggest hug ever.

I rushed Alexa to school to get there in time to eat lunch with her classmates, but we just missed it, there were a few kids still finishing up, so she sat with them and ate. She was very excited to tell Ms. Tracy all about her screening.

Ms. Tracy ended up calling me at work to review her screening and was so proud to hear that Alexa passed everything with flying colors. Ms. Tracy said she knew Alexa would have no problem, as she is such a good student in preschool.

When Adam got home that night we let Alexa stay up after Lillian went to bed, so she could show him all her stickers and tell him all about her day. We sat at the kitchen counter eating cheese and crackers while she explained to him everything she had to do. We were all so happy and proud!

I put her to bed that night not able to stop telling her how much I love her and how very proud I am of her. She fell asleep with a huge smile on her face.