The US precaution: the colourful examination
In our series on the U examinations, this time we look at the U8. The focus here: Movement, language, logic.
At the U8, the children are around four years old. As with all screenings, they are measured and weighed, there is a hearing and eye test, the immunisation record is looked at and the parents are talked to a little about how social life is going at nursery school.
And then the U8 is a nice examination because you can do a lot of active things with the children: The children have to balance, stand on one leg, they have to draw simple geometric figures and also a house and a person. (Although Doc is rather generous in his judgement here, remembering his own drawing and painting skills ...)
Then there is also a lot of linguistic development. The children look at a hidden object book together and are asked to tell a bit about what's going on. What's important is that they don't have to be able to speak everything perfectly at the age of four. They should form longer sentences, use grammar correctly as a rule and small mistakes are okay. And even if they still say "Dinderdarten" or "Sule", for example, in most cases this is no reason to get nervous at the age of four. Then you can wait and watch and give the parents a few tips.
Then the children have to complete sentences, memorise numbers and repeat nonsense words - all in all, it's a very colourful affair.
Of course, the children are also examined from head to toe and, as always, there should be time at the end to answer questions from the parents. At the U8 check-up, the focus is often on the topics of sleep and cleanliness.
Further interesting tips
Volunteer interpreter service
A sensitive topic, but one that is really important in the everyday life of a paediatric practice - and above all for the health of the children concerned. What do you do if the parents of a (sick) child don't speak German or barely speak it?
Buckling/lowering foot
Today a topic that can be categorised under "avoiding unnecessary visits to the practice", a true classic: the child's foot or the child's foot position.
Sleepwalking
Today we're talking about somnambulism. This is neither something naughty nor something to eat - but quite simply: sleepwalking.