A former Kindergarten teacher who’s now a stay-at-home mom in Fernandina Beach is offering a “Pre” Pre-K program for 3-year-old children.
Jeni Cochran will teach the half-day classes in her house in the Flora Parke subdivision starting Sept. 4. Cochran strongly recommends signing your child up to attend on a regular basis for the most educational benefits.
The classes will include lessons about safety, the body, manners and school concepts. There will be basic sign language every day, as well as “centers” featuring activities like play dough, painting and puzzles. Cochran will also work one-on-one with children to teach them their names, phone numbers and more. There will also be games. (See a longer list of the class offerings at the end of this post).
Cochran’s program is not state-licensed, but she said she has a number of top-level qualifications. She was a teacher just outside of Washington, D.C., for four years. She is CPR and First Aid trained on the professional rescuer level. She has a BA in Elementary Education and a minor in Deaf Education. During her teaching career, she taught at a school that specialized in assisting children with Autism and ESL (English as a Second Language) children.
Here is what she told me about her work in that school:
I was the Grade Level Chair, the head of the Spanish tutoring program, on the Science and Math textbook committees for the county. My classroom was an observation classroom for new teachers in the county and my method of integrating Autistic students into the regular education environment is still being taught to teachers today.
The classes, open to a maximum of 10 children, will follow the local schools’ calendars.
I asked Jeni to tell parents in her own words why she is offering this program. Here’s what she had to say:
I am currently a stay-at-home mom that also keeps several kids during the day. I wanted to offer my little kids the structured opportunity to prepare for school. As a former teacher, I know what I wanted kids to come to school knowing. It was frustrating every year to start with concepts that were beyond basics. I believe strongly in a good foundation for education and I can provide that.
If you’re interested:
Where: Flora Parke subdivision, Fernandina Beach, FL. Contact for exact address.
When: 10 to 11:30 a.m. weekdays starting Sept. 4. (Drop-off is 9:45 a.m.)
Cost: $50 per-week
Contact: Email jenicochran@aol.com. Please reference the pre-k program in the subject of the email. You can also call or text Jeni at 301-906-1069.
Here is the full list of concepts Jeni told me she plans to teach throughout the year:
Feelings, family, 5 senses, body parts, jobs, food, playground safety, fire safety, washing hands/brushing teeth, stop and go, colors, shapes, patterns, more or less, sorting, calendar concepts, opposites, same and different, animals, counting numbers, sequencing events, nursery rhymes, parts of a story, and an author study on Eric Carle. We will also cover school concepts like: audience manners, following rules, raising hands, walking in a line, and center rotation. Centers are a crucial factor in schools so we will have the following centers: play dough, paint, blocks, little people, puzzles, and coloring. While students are in centers, I work on an individual basis to cover personal info: full names, phone number, writing your name, and hopefully reading. We will also cover kids’ games such as: ring around the Rosie, duck duck goose, red light green light, hop scotch, bowling, bingo, and memory. Basic sign language will be taught every day.
