Assessment of reading skills is a key component to many preschool tests. This provides you with an understanding of children's current vocabulary as well as understanding of letter recognition. Many formal assessments ask preschoolers to read as many words as they are able in a given time or ask the students to say the sound a particular letter makes. Informal assessments test a variety of additional reading skills, including reading comprehension and fluency.
Children develop motor skills quickly at a young age. Both gross and fine motor skills are common objectives of preschool assessments. Gross motor skills are those that require large movements such as running or jumping. Fine motor skills require the children to have more fine-tuned control over their muscles for tasks such as writing or cutting. Testing motor skills in preschoolers allows you to compare them with other children their age to ensure they follow a proper developmental track.
Because preschool is a time when children learn language skills at a very fast rate, and these objectives are part of many assessments. These tests often separate receptive and expressive language skills into different categories. Expressive language is spoken language from the child; receptive language is what the child understands from listening to language.
Preschool assessments also test more generalized academic objectives. For example, standardized tests measure students' math and science skills and compare them to peers and older children. The mathematical problems tested in preschoolers are very simple, such as grouping, sorting and basic counting. Science objectives that may be tested are sinking and floating and basic animal life cycles. Refer to your district's specific grade-level objectives for more information on the other academic skills tested for preschoolers in your area.