What Mom In Her Right Mind Wants Her Child To Be Less Than Above Average?

Hi all, welcome to my new blog. I'm so happy that you found your way here!

I've just put the finishing touches on the front page of the website - www.testingforkindergarten.com, having agonized over the right tag line to use.

Originally, the tag was going to be "Give Your Child Every Advantage in School and Life." Who among us doesn't want to give their child every advantage they possibly can, right? But then I decided that sounded too corporate - something MasterCard might have come up with if they had an Early Childhood Division. Oh look, apparently they do!

Then I considered "Your Guide to Raising a Smart Enough Child." I thought that was good, a tag that might speak to parents who wanted the best for their kids but who drew the line at prenatal tutoring and flash card drills. My neighbor's daughter who was visiting from L.A. thought the tag meant I'd be writing about raising average children and (I quote), "What mom in her right mind wants her child to be less than above-average!" I explained to her that I only meant that this would not be a blog about how to raise your child to be a genius when nature intended him to be, well, average - normal - a regular Jack or Jill.

It turned out that this woman had been using of those expensive Teach Your Baby To Read programs with her son. She was determined to turn her (most likely) smart enough child into a genius. "Well, you really can't," I told her. "You can help Herman become smarter, even raise his IQ. But geniuses are born, not made. And by the way, he can't read. He's just memorized those flash cards!" I probably should have left the last part off (even though it's true). We parted on a rather sour note, which is too bad for her because Herman is adorable and I had been about to offer to baby sit him for free.

It was back to the drawing board for my tag line. I finally settled on "Your Guide to Raising a Plenty Smart Child." With the exception of my neighbor and other Pushy Peggys like her, I believe that's what most of us want - happy, normal children who are plenty smart. Plenty smart kids turn into plenty smart adults who can accomplish whatever they go after in life. Plenty smart kids excel in school and life and friendships. They are goofy, curious, observant and talkative. They are naturally good at some things and struggle at other things. But that's okay because struggle teaches them to persevere.

They love to read, color, work on the computer, play and giggle. Or maybe they don't. Maybe they are obsessed with dinosaurs or fascinated by boogers. They are leaders at the playground or shy kids who prefer to observe what's happening around them.They say the funniest things! Seriously, where do they come up with that stuff? Every day, they display sparks of genius, brilliant wit and superb artistry. At the same time, you're a little worried this or that possible delay, but you know kids develop differently. It's probably nothing. You have the highest aspirations for them, but you are also open to whomever they might become. Your plenty smart child is perfectly imperfect and you have never loved anyone so dearly.

Does this resonate with you? If so, I hope you'll stick with me and become a regular reader.

In this blog and on this site, I want to give you all the information and support you need to get your child into the school program you most want for her. I'll show you what she must know and be able to do to excel at kindergarten testing and succeed in school. I plan to introduce you to some of the top experts in early childhood education and development so you can get their advice as well. I'd also like to explore other aspects of raising children that go beyond school because, let's face it, there is more to life than having a high IQ. If you're thinking, "Right on, Sistah! There's way more to life than having a high IQ," then this blog will speak your language.

For now, welcome and happy Parenting!

Karen, The Testing Mom

P.S. I hope you'll sign up for my tips and daily test questions (for kids between the ages of 2.5 - 5.5). Be sure to use an email address that accepts HTML for the test questions so you can see the visuals.