Pea had a kindergarten pre-screening test last week. The week up to it we focused on kindergarten preparation for her. I remember being so worried about Pork Chop’s screening this time last year. I was a nervous wreck but he did wonderfully. The daycare that they attended, La Petite Academy, had an excellent curriculum. It turned out that Pork Chop was well ahead of his classmates. He complained for the first half of the year that the work was the same as it was in VPK (voluntary pre-kindergarten.) When I pulled out the homework that he had in preschool, it was literally the same exact worksheets. He was right. (He was also bored and got into LOTS of trouble that first half of the year but that’s a story for another post.)
I am a little nervous about Pea starting in a new school. She has food allergies and her Juvenile Arthritis is unpredictable.
I seriously considered home schooling her this year but decided that it would not be the best choice for us at this time. My children go to a magnet school and benefit from the classroom environment.
That being said, I do work with the kids at home. Though I am far from being a tiger mom, knowledge and learning are a priority. The high school magnet program I graduated from is consistently one of top ten high schools in the country every year. That educational base has served me well time and again and I would like my children to be taught to think critically and creatively by the school as well as my myself.
I am an active part of the homework time though I will not do the work for either of the kids, no matter how many tears are shed!
I was offered the opportunity to review the Kids Academy apps and gladly accepted. Though I was compensated for the review, all opinions regarding the apps are my own with input from my children. These apps are free on the iTunes app store.
I integrated using the Kids Academy apps into our kindergarten preparation review and it worked very nicely. Of the three apps, Kids Academy Learning Games, Kids Academy ABC, and Kids Academy songs, the first two were by far the more useful. Pea played games that gave her practice with counting and writing her numbers and letters.
Pea loves to sing so she enjoyed the Kids Academy Bingo Song Karaoke app. However, at five she has outgrown many of the preschool songs like Bingo. I, for one, enjoyed listening to her sing something other than “Let it Go” or “Do you wanna build a snowman”, even though she did get bored of Bingo pretty quickly.
Pork Chop is more into video games than Pea is and he surprised me by opening the apps on his own and playing some of the educational games. He is going into first grade and he breezed through the apps as expected. The ease in which he played the games helped bolster his confidence regarding his readiness for first grade.
Pea completed her pre-screening with flying colors. The door to her testing room was ajar so I was able to eavesdrop overhear the testing. It was pretty amazing to hear her answer so quickly, all the while laughing at how easily she was answering. Hopefully, she doesn’t laugh so loudly every time she answers correctly while being tested in a class full of others!
There is nothing more awesome than hearing my child’s pride in her own abilities.Tweet
Does your kindergarten have a pre-screening review? Do you have favorite learning apps that your kids enjoy? If so, share them in the comments!
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