I've got a non adoption bone to pick...

Call me overprotective, sensitive, defensive and uptight... but I'm not.

Okay, so I know that every parent thinks their child is a genius, and therefore doesn't want to hear anything less. I know Aidan probably isn't a certifiable genius and I know he isn't the smartest kid to walk the face of the earth, and I know he struggles in some areas... mostly because when he gets frustrated with a particular type of material he just shuts down and we either end up in a shouting match or we walk away knowing school is over for the day... However, that being said, he's one of the brightest kids I've ever worked with, and I'd say the same thing if he wasn't my son. And yes I do have qualifications on which to base this judgement. I've worked with kids since I was 12, in all different types of settings, including 2.5 years of teaching pre-k. Aidan has been organizing his toys by "thing" into different baskets since he was 3, and he gets upset if we put them in the wrong basket. He has been coloring inside the lines since he was 3. He has the vocabulary of a jr. higher, he can recite the Lord's Prayer, Apostle's Creed, And an entire Psalm, plus several other Bible verses. He's also been putting 75-100 piece puzzles together by himself for nearly a year! He is helpful, articulate, organized, focused, and eager to learn.

I say all this to help you understand our shock today when we received Aidan's "estimated developmental age" score from the Private school we applied to. Granted, now that we know we can move on with the adoption we can no way afford to send him there, but that's beside the point... They said that from 0-100% he is in the 18% in regards to kindergarten readiness. That's just absurd! I have no idea how they came up with that score. Seriously, He scored at his age level on Personal Skills (Personal data; independence and self-sufficiency skills; responsibility) and Language (Understanding and using words; necessary for all language skill area). He scored a half year ahead in Fine Motor Skills (Coordination of the small muscles of the hands and fingers; necessary for writing, cutting, and detail work). He scored a whole year ahead in Visual Motor (Coordination of the eyes and hands; necessary for writing and copying) Body Image (Awareness of self and position in space; necessary for understanding the relationship of one part of the body to another) and Numbers (Counting and number concepts; necessary for understanding math concepts). He scored a year and a half ahead in Gross Motor (Coordination and control of the large muscles of the body; basis for development of all other areas). BUT he scored a year younger in Concepts (Factual knowledge and reasoning skills; the ability to understand relationships; necessary for critical thinking and reasoning).

Okay so all scores are by age. He "should" have a 5 in all areas.
Visual Motor: 6
Personal Skills: 5
Concepts: 4
Body Image: 6
Language: 5
Numbers: 6
Fine Motor: 5.5
Gross Motor: 6.5

Therefore, he is ahead in 5 areas, average in 2 and behind in 1.

THEN they hand us the worksheet for kids with problems in the concept area.
Colors: Um... he knows his colors, has for 2.5-3 years.

Judgment/Reasoning: Okay I can see how he may be behind in this area

Time: Seriously? They want a child ENTERING kindergarten to tell time???
Also he was expected to know the days of the week. The difference in day, week, month and year. Also able to identify seasons and the months that belong to each season.

Categories: Sorting and identifying objects by the way they are the same or different
He's been doing this for 2 years. He sorts his toys this way. Lines up his toys by height, color etc...

Anyway... either the test was flawed, Aidan had a really off day, the concept category was HEAVILY weighted, so much so it would squash his scoring high in 5 other categories, or I'm just plain crazy. You be the judge, I just wanted to vent, and I did. Now it's out of my system.