Interesting, yet also very boring.

I received a "developmental checklist" from Allison's teacher today. A skills assessment is part of the 2-3 yr old curriculum and both myself and the teacher will independently fill one out. It will be reviewed once we both complete it, looking for skills that may need to be worked on in either classroom, home or both. It also will serve as "developmental red flags" in case further intervention is necessary.

This list is very interesting to me, but I'm sure boring to anyone who doesn't have a child in the 24-36 month age group. I'm writing down the list they gave me in case anyone else wants to see the skills you should look for in a child in this age group. I thought it especially pertinent due to the daycare vs stay at home mom discussion we just had here. If I was a stay at home mom, I don't know how I would get information like this, so just in case, I wanted to share. Who knows, if I was a stay at home mom, maybe this would all be stuff I would seek out and research. But since it doesn't apply to me, I have never even considered the fact this information existed.

I took the list seriously, as I tested her on each and every task. Coming up with some of them took a little creative thinking, but we got through it. I hope you find it just as interesting as I did! I am not sharing for any other reason than to do just that - share. Forgive my ignorance if everyone already has this information and it's just new to me.

Movement
~ climbs well
~ walks down stairs alone, placing both feet on each step
~ walks up stairs, alternating feet with support
~ swings leg to kick ball
~ runs easily
~ pedals tricycle
~ bends over easily without falling

Hand and Finger Skills
~ makes vertical, horizontal, circular strokes w/ pencil or crayon
~ turns books pages one at a time
~ builds a tower of more than 6 blocks
~ holds a pencil in writing position
~ screws and unscrews jar lids
~ turns rotating handles

Language
~ recognizes and identifies almost all common objects and pictures
~ understands most sentences
~ understands physical relationships (on, in, under)
~ can say name, age and gender
~ uses pronouns (I, you, me, we, they)
~ strangers can understand most of their words

Cognitive
~ makes mechanical toys work
~ matches an object in hand or room to a picture in a book
~ plays make believe with dolls, animals and people
~ sorts objects by color
~ completes puzzles with 3 or 4 pieces
~ understands concept of "two"

Social/Emotional
~ separates easily from parents
~ expresses a wise range of emotions
~ objects to major changes in routine

Developmental Red Flags
~ frequent falling and difficulty with stairs
~ persistent drooling or very unclear speech
~ inability to build a tower of more than 4 blocks
~ difficulty manipulating small objects
~ inability to copy a circle by age 3
~ no involvement in pretend play
~ failure to understand simple instructions
~ little interest in other children
~ extreme difficulty separating from primary caregiver

Allie can do most of it, but does have some issues with some. (I wish I was able to say "my kid can do everything!" with a smile, but I can't!)
~ She can pedal the tricycle backwards, but can't do it forward, when there is resistance.
~ She can turn thick type pages of a book or pages of a board book, but can't turn regular paper pages one at a time. She'll turn 10 pages at one time and not notice.
~ She doesn't use the pronoun "they". Instead, she uses "them". IE: "Them played with me at the playground!"
~ I was a little unsure about what exactly a "mechanical" toy was. They have literal mechanic toys (wrench, screwdriver, etc) and she can use toys that take multiple steps, but just don't know what they mean by "mechanical".
~ Regarding separating easily from parents. She protests almost every day I take her to school, but she doesn't resist it. She'll go right to her teacher, she's just not happy about it.
~ Objecting to major changes in routine? Isn't this every kid from birth? Allie doesn't like it when she is expecting to do one thing, but we do another. How is this a developmental skill? I think I may be looking at it incorrectly.