Screening

     Kindergarten children will be involved in a screening program in early August.  You will receive notification about which day your child will attend.  The purpose of the screening is to provide a baseline of information in order to provide the most appropriate instruction.  The screening will be completed by the classroom teacher and school support personnel, i.e., reading, physical education and speech/language specialists.

        Continuing this school year, all Mariemont students in kindergarten, first and second grade will be assessed using the Dynamic Indicators of Early Literacy Skills (DIBELS) in the fall, winter and spring.  This quick assessment tool is research-based and provides teachers a reliable means of evaluating letter naming fluency, phonemic awareness/fluency (the ability to identify sounds, or phonemes, in words) and oral reading fluency. 

        A second kindergarten screening instrument is a criterion-referenced assessment of a child's readiness for school related activities and successes.  Four areas are assessed:  pre-reading abilities, numerical abilities, color/visual discrimination and position/spatial recognition.  It quickly measures a child's readiness levels, strengths and areas for improvement.  Language, and fine and gross motor skills are assessed with additional measures. 

	Pre-reading abilities:  This skill includes the ability to interpret visual information and to   recognize symbols, including letters, numbers and shapes.
	Numerical  ability:  This is the ability to count, and to a lesser extent, to recognize and identify numbers and shapes.  This also includes the  understanding of quantity, more/less, matching and sorting.
	Color recognition and/or visual discrimination:  This is the ability to discriminate between the basic primary colors and to discriminate between symbols.
	Position and spatial relationship:  This factor measures the ability to discriminate between the   position  of objects in space.
Also on your child's screening day , he/she will be involved in screening for the following areas of development:   Fine motor skills, gross motor skills, and speech and language development.
	Fine motor:  Fine motor refers to the ability to plan and perform tasks with one's hands.  Children need to develop and coordinate eye, hand and arm muscles to learn to write, a skill they will use throughout their lives.

	Gross motor:  Gross motor involves the development and coordination of the body's larger muscles (legs, arms, trunk) to produce effective and controlled movements.  gross motor development can be encouraged through running, climbing, bicycling, kicking and throwing a ball, etc.
	Speech and Language:  This screening includes a brief sampling of listening, speaking, articulation of speech sounds, and social conversational skills.   You can help the development of your child's speech and language skills by playing word games, giving directions of increasing difficulty, asking questions, discussing the sequence of your daily activities, and exposing your child to new vocabulary through daily conversation and reading aloud to your child.
	Vision and hearing:  This screening should have been done by your physician as part of the School Health Examination Record you were given at registration and submitted before the first day of school.