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Developmental Assessment Together with parental insight, teacher observations, school and other appropriate records, a developmental screening

or assessment is used to observe and document a child's behavior and performance in order to identify where he or she is functioning along the continuous path of development. The Gesell Developmental Observation-Revised (GDO-R) 2010 involve direct observation of a child s growth and development, as well as some measures of achievement. These GDO-R assessments should be administered only by an examiner trained through Gesell Institute workshops, and a refresher course is recommended every five years due to the complexity of the assessment s interpretation and scoring. GDO-R examiners make discriminating observations of a child's behavior and then evaluate these observations through comparison with normative patterns for each developmental age. The GDO-R has no right or wrong responses. Administering the GDO-R is quite different from other developmental testing where a quantitative score is obtained. As Dr. Gesell said, "A child is more than a score." Gesell assessment items are designed to allow the child to accomplish tasks successfully within his or her attained developmental level. There are no right or wrong responses. Developmental evaluation is based upon observing every aspect of child development, including language development, cognitive development, fine and gross motor development, social and emotional development, adaptive behaviors, and overt behaviors. Combined with the Teacher Questionnaire and Parent/Guardian Questionnaire, all of these

aspects indicate the overall development of the whole child. GDO-R focuses on the development of the whole child. Because success in early childhood and elementary school settings is made up of more than simply academic achievement, the GDO-R gives an overall picture of the whole child's development, taking into consideration social, emotional, physical, cognitive, and adaptive development. When utilized as a complete assessment system, this is pulled from three sources -- the GDO-R assessment, the Teacher Questionnaire, and the Parent/Guardian Questionnaire. Research has proven that healthy growth and development in all of these domains is extremely important. GDO-R uniquely provides a qualitative description of the child s development rather than a numerical score. The GDO-R is unique in many ways, especially in that it provides a qualitative, descriptive profile of the child's development rather than a numerical or standardized raw score. As such, it requires interpretation, and individuals who administer it need special training. Gesell Institute provides training workshops throughout the country. The GDO-R and soon-to-be introduced Gesell Screener are based on data from the 20082010 national GDO study. A national study collecting current baseline, exploratory, and normative data on the Gesell Development Observation was completed in Fall 2010 and was highly Harvard recognized by Education Letter. The term school readiness has been a hot topic in early childhood education for decades, as its definition has been discussed, revised, and expanded many times over. The concept relates to a set of

skills and behaviors required in order for a child to succeed in formal schooling, specifically at Kindergarten entry. Success in this way is defined by the society, and thus includes meeting social and academic expectations.1A variety of genetic, environmental, and cultural factors play a role in school readiness, but it is important to maintain a holistic view of the concept, taking into account the whole child the social, emotional, physical, and intellectual characteristics of the child. While academic skills are certainly an important part of school success, other facets of development will not progress properly without a focus on a child s physical and emotional well-being, including overall health, social development, and most importantly a desire or readiness to learn.2 As such, another key part of school readiness today involves looking beyond the child to the greater environment true school readiness involves not only the ready child, but also the ready family, the ready environment, and the ready community. The latter parts of this equation relate to the responsibility of the school system, and the greater community, and thus are often grouped into the term ready schools.3

What Does My Child's Stage of Development Have to do With His Readiness for School?

When children reach the age that makes them eligible to start school, there is suddenly an expectation that they should all have the same skills and abilities and should all behave in exactly the same ways. While research has shown that every child goes through the same stages of development in the same order, it is important to remember that each child has his or her own unique rate and way of

development.4Furthermore, for each individual child, social development may differ from physical development, intellectual development may differ from emotional, and so forth. Even children of the exact same age differ remarkably from one another in size and shape and in what they know and can do. In an ideal world, a child s chronological age would be exactly matched to where that child is on the path of development. Dr. Arnold Gesell, a pioneer in his field, was the first researcher to point out that a child s developmental age (or stage of development) may be different from his or her actual age in years the chronological age. Developmental age refers to how a child behaves socially, emotionally, physically, and intellectually on a continuum.5 In the United States, Kindergarten is considered the first year of formal schooling, and specific behaviors in all areas of development are expected. These expectations may or may not be consistent with your child s natural, developmental stage at this time. Your child s ability to meet these demands in Kindergarten is closely connected to how successful he or she will feel in school.6 This is precisely why 5 understanding whether your child s developmental level matches the school s expectations is so important. If My Child is Old Enough to Start School, Is there Any Reason to Wait? Parents want their children to be successful in school. Teachers do too! However, not all children are ready for the same thing at the same time. While birth date determines when a child can legally start school, it does not guarantee that he or she is ready for the demands of today s Kindergarten, or that the particular Kindergarten setting

is ready to meet the needs of your child. Consider the fact that in a typical Kindergarten classroom, there will be a wide mix of birth dates, including a child born one day after the cutoff date, turning six in Kindergarten and thus one whole year older than a child who was born on the cutoff date or the day before. Factor in developmental rates and differences, and some children may differ by two years in terms of their developmental level. While we do not suggest that waiting a year is the best solution for all young children, and we recognize that this simply is not an option for many families, particularly those without access to quality preschool settings, it may be a viable option for some children and in some schools. In certain cases, waiting a year may level out the playing field so that development can catch up with chronological age, or age and development can catch up with the school s expectations. Being ready for school requires so much more than academic knowledge, and being aware of the school or program s developmental expectations is key in understanding whether or not your child is ready for that Kindergarten classroom. Regardless of the setting, social, emotional, and physical readiness are equally, if not more important, than 7 achievement skills. Developmentally young children may have not yet acquired the fine motor skills necessary for writing, the attention span to remain seated and focused, or the social skills necessary to interact in the structured environment of the classroom. Before deciding whether or not to enroll your child in Kindergarten, it is important to understand what will be expected of your child and to know how he or she will meet those expectations.

While we do not suggest that waiting a year is the best solution for all young children, and we recognize that this simply is not an option for many families, particularly those without access to quality preschool settings, it may be a viable option for some children and in some schools. In certain cases, waiting a year may level out the playing field so that development can catch up with chronological age, or age and development can catch up with the school s expectations. Being ready for school requires so much more than academic knowledge, and being aware of the school or program s developmental expectations is key in understanding whether or not your child is ready for that Kindergarten classroom. Regardless of the setting, social, emotional, and physical readiness are equally, if not more important, than 7 achievement skills. Developmentally young children may have not yet acquired the fine motor skills necessary for writing, the attention span to remain seated and focused, or the social skills necessary to interact in the structured environment of the classroom. Before deciding whether or not to enroll your child in Kindergarten, it is important to understand what will be expected of your child and to know how he or she will meet those expectations. What is "Developmental Age" Exactly? Research shows us that certain behaviors, language, and intellectual abilities are typically characteristic of and associated with a specific chronological age. A child s developmental age will indicate where a child is socially, emotionally, physically, and intellectually on this path of development, as compared to typical behaviors and characteristics of that age.

For example, systematic observation of a child who is chronologically four years old may tell us that the child exhibits the characteristics, behaviors, and abilities that are associated with a three-and-ahalf year old overall. Through such observation, we might determine that the child s developmental age is 3. It also could be the case that a four year- old child may be developmentally four-and-ahalf. It is important to understand that faster is not necessarily better and slower is not bad. The simple fact is that children develop at different rates. The younger the child, the more variance there is in development. In addition, many children do not experience even or consistent growth across the various areas of development (social, emotional, physical, and intellectual). Few children, in fact, exhibit behavior that is entirely characteristic of any one developmental age. Some behaviors may be ahead of and some behind those known to be typical of an age. For example, a child s language skills may reflect an older developmental age while his or her motor or social skills may be younger. Each child is unique, bringing his or her own individual and special differences to the growth process.

widely from school to school, as does the readiness or ability of the schools and classrooms to meet the needs of the individual child.10 Regardless of these expectations, though, coping with school routines requires that a child be able to adhere to rules, listen to and follow directions, wait one s turn, and much, much more. Children are ready to start school when they can cope with the complexities of the particular school environment, meet the developmental expectations of the classroom, and learn at the same time. The teachers and administrators at your child s school are your best source of information in helping you to determine the readiness of your child to meet the expectations in his or her prospective Kindergarten setting. My child is very

unique rate of growth and development. A quality preschool provides the experiences and opportunities that are appropriate for that age and stage of development, but these experiences do not set a timetable for development.12

ypical Behaviors of FiveYear-Olds


The five-year-old thoroughly enjoys life and is sunny and serene. The child at this stage is often anxious to please and determined to do everything just right. While not particularly adventurous, the five-year old is expansive intellectually and enjoys practicing skills and abilities.
Motor Behaviors
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bright. Won t that make a difference?


Intelligence is only one part of school success. While some children may seem advanced in one or another aspect of their development, such as language skills or the ability to read, this alone is not a good indicator of overall readiness. Social, emotional, and physical, as well as intellectual readiness are necessary for a child to succeed and be happy in school. When children are not fully ready for the many demands of school, stress often gets in the way of their ability to learn, and to feel happy and successful.11

Is more poised and may exhibit less exuberance that at four and a half Is more organized and has greater control of movements Has well-developed gross motor skills; enjoys skipping, jumping, and climbing Has established hand dominance and uses dominant hand more consistently Has increased control over pencil grasp

Language Behaviors
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How Will I Know When My Child is Ready to Start School?


Consideration of your child s behavioral or developmental age is important when determining school readiness, particularly in the context of the individual school or classroom setting. The expectations of individual Kindergarten settings vary

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My child went to preschool. Doesn t that make her ready?


Preschools, educational stimulation, and other environmental factors can support and enhance development and foster curiosity, but they can not hurry or change the overall development of any child, nor can they speed up a child s

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Experiences an explosion in language learning Enjoys talking but may answer using one word responses Shows much interest in new and big words Knows that words represent ideas and objects; likes to discuss this Asks questions now to seek information Speaks with increasing grammatical accuracy Pronounces more clearly

Personal- Social Behaviors


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Wants to please and do things right

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Wants to have things go smoothly and is a much easier playmate Is more independent in personal care skills Often enjoys one-on-one activities

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Learning Behaviors
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Has more of an understanding of the world and may accurately judge what he or she can and cannot do Asks how, when, what and, especially why questions constantly Lives in the moment Needs adult approval; wants to do the right thing Relates imaginative play to real life Exhibits increasingly creative and constructive abilities; enjoys hands-on learning

Disobeys readily; can be brash or combative May show an increase in tensional outlets such as nail biting, hair pulling, or crying Is insecure and tentative in nature Complains readily Plays well one moment, argues the next Is torn between choices, often tries to choose both options at once in play and other activities

Is he or she able to work independently without constant adult supervision? Can he or she find ways to resolve conflicts and solve problems? Can he or she make simple decisions given a few choices of play activities? Can your child take care of personal belongings and toileting needs independently?

Learning Behaviors
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Tends to exhibit oppositional behavior in play activities Has difficulty making decisions Has frequent reversals of letters/numbers Is prone to tattle on others due to an emerging sense of right and wrong

Typical Behaviors of Fiveand-a-Half-Year-Olds


The five-and-a-half-year-old is often hesitant, dawdling, and indecisive. Behavior at this stage may be characterized by opposite extremes such as happy/sad, quiet/loud, or agreeable/defiant. The fiveand-a-half-year-old may seem to be in a constant state of tension.
Motor Behaviors
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Parenting Strategies
Although gentle, compliant, and eager to please, the fiveyear-old does not find it easy to admit the occasional wrongdoing. Due to the fiveyear-old s desire to be good and to do the right thing, parents may grow to expect this kind of behavior all of the time. It is important to know that while the five-year-old tries hard to tell the truth or to resist taking another s belongings, he or she is not always successful. Prevention is infinitely better than punishment. Discipline techniques are best delivered to the five-year-old calmly and in a matter-of fact tone. When considering your child s readiness for kindergarten, think about how you might answer the following questions:
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While this is not an exhaustive list of questions related to readiness, it may help you when considering your child s unique needs and abilities at this time. It is equally important to understand what specific behaviors or skills the kindergarten program expects of your child and how aware the program is of developmental levels and meeting the needs of individual children.

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Is more restless and less composed; finds sitting still increasingly difficult May have an awkward pencil grasp Frequently reverses letters and numbers when writing Language Behaviors Has difficulty making decisions Uses more diverse and complex language Offers or asks for explanations

Personal-Social Behaviors
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Is oppositional in nature, moving from one emotional extreme to the opposite

Is your child comfortable being away from you for an entire day? Does he or she have the ability to express ideas and feelings to adults other than you? Can he or she accept minor disappointments or limits without tears? Can your child listen to and follow directions?

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