By Melanie Patterson

The North Jefferson News



When it comes to pre-school, there’s no room for slackers.

“The difference between kids who went to pre-school and kids who didn’t is amazing,” said Sherry Farley, director of God’s Kids pre-school in Morris. “It’s getting to where kids with no pre-school are having a harder time when they get to Kindergarten.”

Farley and God’s Kids teacher Belinda Ballard were among 11 participants in a JOEYS workshop at Bryan Elementary School Wednesday.

JOEYS (Joint Organization of Educators of Young Students) is a new group formed to help local pre-school teachers have children ready for Kindergarten.

That is because Kindergarten has changed so much in the past few years.

“Kindergarten is like the old first grade,” said Bryan Elementary principal Debra Campbell. “By the time they finish Kindergarten now, most kids know how to read.”

She agreed with Farley that Kindergarten teachers can tell a big difference when their students attended pre-school.

Most of the pre-school kids go to Kindergarten already knowing the alphabet and their numbers and colors, according to Campbell.

Kindergarten teachers can then move on to more advanced instruction.

Teaching at Wednesday’s workshop was Dr. Sandy Thomas, reading coach at Snow Rogers Elementary; Jennifer Murphy, reading coach at Bryan Elementary; and Robin Oakley, a Kindergarten teacher at Bryan.

Murphy and Thomas said that principals from six north Jefferson elementary schools met and agreed to start the JOEYS program.

Warrior, Bryan, Snow Rogers, Mt. Olive, Fultondale and Gardendale elementary principals all agreed that the program would benefit children, Thomas said.

Wednesday’s workshop was only the first one. Thomas said there would probably be at least five more within the next year.

Pre-school directors filled out a survey of what they would like to see taught during the workshops.

“We’ll just follow what they’d like for the topics,” said Thomas.

Murphy said the directors requested workshops on classroom management, math, reading, parent involvement and discipline.

Wednesday’s sessions focused on math (graphing and patterning) and reading comprehension.

The sessions are free for pre-school teachers and directors.

“The pre-school programs are so important because they’re helping with the basics for when children reach Kindergarten,” said Campbell. “We thought it was important to give them some free professional development to help them out.”

Shelby Haygood, a pre-school teacher at Gardendale-Mt. Vernon Child Enrichment Center, was one of nine teachers and directors from her pre-school who attended the workshop.

Haygood said she was learning some reading strategies that she would take back to her classroom.

Kay Moman and Gina Guess, directors of the Gardendale-Mt. Vernon pre-school, said the goal of the workshop was to enhance the level of teaching at their site and to “make sure we’re all on the same page.”