Kindergarten Readiness

Unlock foundational skills. Discover hidden gaps—Personalize support.

At Unlock the Potential, I offer an early literacy screening service designed to identify your child’s strengths and areas of need across all the essential skills for reading success. This assessment covers the same foundational areas evaluated by the widely used STAR Early Literacy Assessment, a tool implemented in schools throughout our county and across the nation — and it goes even further. 

✅ What Skills Are Assessed?

 The early literacy assessment evaluates:

• Phonemic Awareness – the ability to hear, identify, and manipulate sounds in words
  
  

• Letter Recognition & Sound Knowledge – understanding of alphabetic symbols and their sounds
  
  

• Phonics & Decoding – the ability to read unfamiliar words using sound-symbol relationships
  
  

• Sight Word Recognition – automatic reading of high-frequency words
  
  

• Vocabulary Knowledge – word meanings and oral language understanding
  
  

• Reading Fluency – accurate and expressive oral reading
  
  

• Sentence & Passage Comprehension – understanding written sentences and connected text
  
  

• Print Awareness – understanding the basic conventions of print
  
  

• Early Numeracy – foundational math concepts such as quantity, comparison, and number sense
  
  

✨ Bonus: Because I work one-on-one, I’m able to observe how your child approaches tasks, offering valuable insight beyond right or wrong answers.

✅ Research- and Evidence-Based Tools

 Carefully selected set of research-based and evidence-based assessments, including:

• easyCBM® – a nationally recognized, evidence-based tool developed by the University of Oregon, used in RTI and MTSS models across the U.S.
  
  

• PAST (Phonological Awareness Skills Test) – grounded in the science of reading and developed by literacy researcher Dr. David Kilpatrick
  
  

• Clay’s Concepts About Print – a classic research-based tool for assessing young children’s print awareness
  
  

• Tests of Dyslexia (TOD) – a comprehensive, evidence-based assessment system for identifying dyslexia risk used by clinicians and schools
  
  

• USNS (Universal Screeners for Number Sense) – based on research into early math development and number sense
  
  

These tools allow me to dive deeper than typical school screeners, helping to uncover both gaps and strengths that may otherwise go unnoticed.

✅ Why Choose a Personalized Screening?

• Administered by a trained specialist with years of experience in literacy intervention, educational therapy, and diagnostic assessment
  
  

• More than scores — includes observations of learning behaviors, strategies used, and emotional responses
  
  

• Actionable insights — use the results to guide your homeschool instruction, request accommodations, or plan interventions
  
  

•  Perfect for homeschoolers, micro-school families, and early learners not yet served by school-based assessments
  
  

✅ Who Is It For?

This screening is ideal for:

• Kindergarten through 3rd grade students
  
  

• Homeschool families seeking benchmarks or peace of mind, or transitioning from homeschooling to traditional education

• Children struggling with early reading or learning
  
  

• Families seeking insight before investing in tutoring or intervention
  
  

• Anyone who wants to support their child’s learning before problems arise