Kindegarten bound

In preparation for kindergarten, the school holds a "treasure hunt." It's an opportunity for the kids to see the school and for teachers to do a quick evaluation of the skills and abilities of the incoming class. We rushed in, running late because of Sam's swimming lesson, to find that they'd nearly written us off as no-shows. I wonder if parental timeliness is one of the criteria used to place kids in particular classes?

They started off with a "treasure map" with pictures of the teachers he'd meet along the way. It starts out very easily with a very simple art project then off for a disguised test of his ability to recognize letters. They sat down with the kids for a letters game where the letters were all mixed on a page and to check letter recognition. Sam recognized all the upper case letters but mixed up some of the lower case ones, the "b,d,p,q" series, "f & t" and "u & n." I'm surprised there was no number recognition section. He met the first kindergarten teacher after that, the youngest of the three in the smallest windowless room. Based on what I saw there, I have to assume that rooms are assigned based on seniority. I never noticed the politics of room assignments when I was a kid but I bet it's a big deal to teachers when they get to move to a nicer room.

The next stop was the computer lab where listened to the school song on the computer. I'm surprised he didn't start punching keys doing his "work."

Off to see the next two kindergarten teachers, one of whom invited him to write his name on a poster board, and then to the gym for a quick look, then to the science center. It was a whirlwind tour of the school. I wonder how much the teachers learn about the kids in such a quick and chaotic visit?