Sound Skills Screener

There's an assessment device used on kindergarten and grade 1 kids that determines their understanding of sound segments, initial and ending word sounds, sound segments, syllables, blending, and some other stuff.  We used this on Parker today and the results are that his sound skills are at a grade 1 level.  And according to Fountas and Pinnell he's reading at a grade 3 level and I think he's getting better every day!

Every parent thinks their kid is really smart, and we've always thought he was bright but he seems to have a real aptitude towards linguistics so it's interesting to see where he falls on the charts and stuff (he's still only 3 years old).  He's also able to do math, which is awesome because I suck at it so hopefully he can do it for me.  He can do basic adding and subtracting (what's 10 plus 10, what's 3 plus 2, what's 8 take away 2, etc) and is kind of obsessed with clocks and numbers.  He has a crazy memory and recalls the strangest things, like exits on the 401 or directions to get places.  He also seems really good at music, like keeping rhythm and doing different beats with his hands and feet at the same time.  He can also remember every song ever written.

Like everyone, though, he's good at some things and not so good at others. He has weird hangups and habits: he bites his nails constantly and chews the skin around his fingers, he's extremely cautious and sometimes painfully shy, he's not very physically dexterous and gets nervous about trying new things.  He's getting better now that he's older, but he sometimes doesn't want to go down slides (even though he actually loves them) because it sometimes freaks him out.  He's starting to do some imaginative roll play (which I think is kind of late compared to other kids) but it's fun to see him explore and pretend and try new things.  He's funny, goofy, smart, quirky, and cute and we love him!