Kim Hughes and Dominic Gullo from Young Children magazine wrote about assessment:
“Assessment is a continuous process. Ideally, assessment describes the progress of a child’s learning not just after a single test but over time. There is no beginning, middle, or end to learning, so it follows that assessment of children’s learning should not be limited to measurement only at the end of an instructional unit” (Hughes & Gullo, 2010, p. 57-8).
A lot of our products at The Adventurous Child, which we built with state early standards in mind, are useful for assessing children. For example, our balance beam will help them develop balance and coordination through outdoor play. Moreover, the ability to step from narrow beam to narrow beam requires a greater skill level than just walking on a standard preschool balance beam. Watch your kids’ understanding in gravity and enjoyment of motor and sensory experiences increase as they move from one beam to the next!
Our stepping pods are another great way to monitor kids’ physical developmental milestones. While crossing the Playground Stepping Pods, a child’s brain, eyes and feet all have to work in accordance with one another to move from lower pods to higher pods and back, and to step from a small object to another small object. Aside from assessing development, this is fun, too!
