Getting Ready for Kindergarten

Simi is getting ready to go to kindergarten. He's so excited; he just can't wait. Every time we talk about it, he gets a great big smile on his face and he jumps up and down; he just can't wait to go.

I think this year at pre-school has been difficult for him. He was REALLY sad last year when his friends moved on to kindergarten and he had to stay at pre-school. Now, he is the oldest in his class because he missed the cut-off for kindergarten by a mere two weeks. Academically, he is reading and doing math on a first grade level - in pre-school. So, he's excited to move up to kindergarten.

Poor kid, he's going to be in for a shock when he learns that he's far and away ahead of everyone else in kindergarten too. He is going to be bored out of his mind while his kindergarten class-mates are busy learning the letter of the week.

Simi and I went to the pediatrician for his kindergarten check-up. He got FIVE shots and he was REALLY brave about them. I just about passed out watching this kid get his shots and he took them so bravely.

The pediatrician was checking Simi's development and asked Simi to identify some shapes (circle, square, and triangle). Then, she asked Simi to draw one of each and to draw a picture of a person and she left the room to pierce another child's ears. Simi draws his shapes, then moves onto drawing his person. He first draws a head, with eyes, nose, mouth, and ears. Then, he draws a neck, shoulders, and arms. He draws a torso, and legs and feet. Then, he goes back to the arms and he draws hands and fingers. He draws five fingers on each hand. He would have continued but I asked him some questions and then we started reading a book.

The pediatrician walked back into the room, saw Simi's person and explained that at age five, they look for stick people with three parts (for example, a head, torso, and leg). Simi's person had well over 15 parts. So then the pediatrician and I talked of ways to keep him engaged and continue his love of learning while he's at school....

OK, now for his stats. But before we talk about this year's stats, let's review last year's stats. Last year, just before we got his heart fixed, he was in the 25th percentile for height and in the 5th percentile for weight.

Now, he is in the 60th percentile for height and 50th percentile for weight, with a BMI of 10.

And now we can register Simi for kindergarten.