Kinderwaddle

By Beckie Carlson

This week was fun. I had the supreme opportunity to test kindergarten students in math and reading. If you have never had this amazing priviledge, you really have not lived. I'm not exactly sure where the word 'kindergarten' comes from, and I'm to lazy to look, but I'm thinking it has something to do with the virtual 'garden' of different personalities, abilities, and talents of children this age. They are an absolute delight. Well, until they sneeze on your or wipe something foreign on your new favorite skirt. But I digress....
Testing Kinder takes a certain kind of mentality. You can't really go into it very serious. The test is spelled out as to what the test giver says, but the kinders never seem to have gotten the memo about what they are supposed to say. The following are some actual answers to questions I gave this week, in no apparent order.

Q: Dan was a tall man. His sister Emily wanted an apple she couldn't reach so Dan got it for her. What did Dan look like?
A: He had on a white shirt, red pants and brown shoes. He had yellow hair and blue eyes.

Q: An adventure is an experience that is new and exciting, like taking a boat down a river or going hiking in the woods for the first time. Use the word Adventure in a sentence.
A: I'm going on a adventure to do mushrooms.
(I had to ask another question here.....)
Q: You are going to do mushrooms?

A: Oh! I mean Marshmallows! (giggles......)

Q: This word is GOOD. Which of these words, boy, bad, mean, cry....are the opposite of Good?
A: Puppy
The student I loved/hated testing the most was very consistent in his answers. For every question on the reading test, he gave the confident answer of ROPE. I'm not exactly sure why he was so obsessed with ROPE, but at least he was consistent. I think he has a very bright future ahead of him. I mean, if you are consistent....that's really all you need.
Next week we get to do more testing. I think I speak for everyone when I say we truly love testing the kids. It is right up there with waxing my brows or scrapping bunions off my big toe. Nothing compares. I'll try and keep a notepad handy so I can record some more gems for you all. Until then, if you want to recapture your youth, start saying random things. I'm pretty sure someone with recognize the child in you and send you to time out...If you are lucky....cause I said so.

Photo credit: Google.com