O give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; for his steadfast love endures forever. Psalm 107:1 - NRSV

Dear Preschool Families,

Thank you so much for donating food items for the Fort Mill Care Center to provide a Thanksgiving meal for Fort Mill families. Unity donated over 1400 pounds of food to the Care Center. Your donations are greatly appreciated. During our October Chapel time with our Pastor Matt, the children had the opportunity to place the donations in our gathering area as you can see from the pictures below.

Although November seems to be the start of holiday stress, I hope you find some time to

contemplate your blessings and find gratitude in your daily life. Unity Preschool is especially grateful that you share your delightful children with us and we look forward to enjoying many Thanksgiving and Christmas traditions with them in the coming weeks. From our Unity Preschool family to yours, we wish you a safe and blessed Thanksgiving holiday.

Blessings,

Ms. Linda

Director - Unity Preschool

P.S. Please remember that we will be closed for Thanksgiving week - November 25 - 29. Please mark your calendar for our Christmas Program on Wednesday, December 18th.

Our Spirit day for November will be Thursday, November 21! We will be celebrating with a delicious Thanksgiving Feast in our classrooms. Mr. and Mrs. Ronnie Dunn, two of our Preschool VIPs ("Volunteers Impacting Preschool"), will be helping us in the kitchen along with some of our Preschool Board members, Ms. Carol and Ms. Miranda. If you are interested in providing an item, please use the sign-up below:

https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C0D49AEAB28A02-52647968-unity

Next Spirit Day is December 19: PJ Day - We will ALL (yes, Staff too) wear our pajamas and enjoy some Christmas fun. This is our last school day before the Christmas holiday.

Below are some pics from our Halloween Celebration Spirit Day in October.

Please wear BROWN next Thursday, November 14.

Our December color day is RED DAY on Thursday, December 12.

Our Staff unanimously wanted to do a Christmas program again this year. We will be doing "Christmas in the Barn" so please mark your calendar for Wednesday, December 18 at 11:30 in the Sanctuary. More details to follow, but everyone is welcome to enjoy some Christmas spirit with us. The children will return to school the next day (December 19) which is Pajama Day - a fun and exciting way to end the school year before our long Christmas break.

Unity Presbyterian Church has an endowment fund and each year church ministry programs are encouraged to apply for funds. This year Unity Preschool was awarded funds to purchase a sensory table and themed items for the table. Each month we decide on a theme and we rotate the table between the Three's and Four's classrooms. Our Two's class has their own smaller bin that we use with assistance of the teachers. Below are some photos of some of the sensory play that we have done this year.

Preschoolers love to dig their hands into the sensory materials, and it is fantastic for their brain development. Sensory play gives them a hands-on and tactile experience, building connections in their brains while they do what they do best – learn through playing! The children improve fine motor skills by increasing hand strength as they stir, scoop, dig, and pour. Sensory tables support social skills such as taking turns, teamwork, cooperation and communication when used with others. They also support cognitive and language development as children sort hidden items by size or color and talk about the hidden items with friends. Giving students fun experiences like this makes them excited about exploring and learning, laying the foundation for a lifelong love of learning.

This month we are featuring one of our Three's teams: Ms. Becca and Ms. Sarah who teach the Monkey Class. Ms. Sarah and Ms. Becca worked together in the Three's class during Ms. Becca's first year at Unity. After four years in the Four's Owl Class, Ms. Sarah is excited to return to the Three's.

Ms. Becca Haltiwanger is in her fourth year at Unity Preschool. She is currently our Lead Teacher in our Three’s (Monkey) class. Ms. Becca is a former second-grade teacher, turned stay-at-home mom, until rejoining the teaching world here at Unity!

Ms. Becca and her husband, Jeremy, have three children: Skylar (Fort Mill Middle School) and Reece and Hattie (Fort Mill Elementary School). All three children are Unity Preschool graduates! Ms. Becca and her family are actively involved in the ministry of Westminster Presbyterian Church in Rock Hill.

Here are a few of Ms. Becca’s favorites:

Favorite Foods: Mexican and dark chocolate

Favorite Music: Country and Contemporary Christian

Favorite Book: “Redeeming Love” by Francine Rivers. This book shows God’s redeeming love and His grace towards us in a powerful way.

Favorite Movie: “Steel Magnolias”

Favorite Activities: Reading any chance I get, spending time with family, soaking up the sun, shopping, and getting manicures!

Ms. Sarah: Our family of four moved to the Carolinas from Michigan 13 years ago. The warm weather suits me just fine. In fact, summer is my absolute favorite season. My husband and I have two girls: Katherine (19) is a sophomore at Clemson and Elizabeth Grace (10) is a fifth grade student at River Trails Elementary. Our family loves taking trips to the beach and to the mountains. Another warm weather favorite of mine is gardening. Planting flowers gives me great joy and pleasure. l enjoy nothing more than filling up the back of my vehicle in the spring with beautiful annuals.

I cherish spending time with my family. Especially with how rushed we all are nowadays. To me, time is one of the most important things you can give your loved ones. Both of my girls love to play golf, so I spend lots of time on the course! I also enjoy cooking and being in the kitchen with my husband. We make a great team when it comes to food.

I love “Oldies” music...60’s and 70’s. Anything from the Beatles, The Stones, to CCR, Bob Seger and Rod Stewart...I could go on and on! Being from Detroit, Motown music has a special place in my heart too. I really enjoy reading when time lends itself and I have read many good books. One that stands out in particular is The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett. I thoroughly enjoy reading or watching period pieces. My favorite series though, is Harry Potter. J. K. Rowling has an amazing imagination!

That pretty much sums it up for me, other than being a part of such a special community and playing such a tremendous role in the lives of our precious children. There’s no doubt in my mind that God led me to Unity Presbyterian for a reason when I enrolled my youngest daughter in the program eight years ago.

Unity Preschool has a VIP (Volunteers Impacting Preschool) program where members of Unity volunteer to help at the preschool. Some of our VIPS help in the Four's classroom each week during Center Time. Others help us with various projects including laminating, cutting, die cutting, etc. These are very special folks who make our jobs easier.

Two of our special VIPS are Ronnie and Doris Dunn, long-time Unity members. Doris is an organization queen and helps brainstorm various ways to maximize our storage space in the preschool. She also helps with various special projects that we have. Ronnie has been our Feast Chef for several years. We are grateful for these special Unity Preschool Helpers.

We are so excited that we have had few absences this year due to illness. Please remember, however, that we anticipate an increase in children's respiratory illnesses this time of year, including flu, RSV, and COVID. We are also hearing reports of an increase in Mycoplasma pneumonia or Walking Pneumonia. When it seems like a cold is lasting longer than 7 to 10 days, especially if the cough is getting worse or not going away, it could be walking pneumonia. While we understand that runny noses and slight coughs are common this time of year, please keep your child home if they have the following:

*Extreme Congestion: If your child is having a hard time eating and/or sleeping due to a stuffed-up nose or has yellow or green mucus requiring frequent wiping.

*Chronic Coughing: If your child is coughing frequently and or the coughing is causing your child to gag.

*Fever (99 and above)

*Diarrhea

*Vomiting

Unity Preschool follows the 24-hour rule. Please do not send your child to Preschool until they are symptom-free without medication for 24 hours. Masking a fever with Tylenol in the morning is not permitted. If your child has a fever and it breaks at 9 pm at night, your child should remain home the next day. If your child throws up at preschool and is sent home, they should not attend preschool the next day. If you are on the fence about whether your child should attend, err on the side of caution and please keep them home. They will likely enjoy spending the day more with you and it will help keep all of our students healthy.

Thank you for supporting Unity Preschool with your book orders. We were able to choose several books for our Preschool Library after our September order. Holiday flyers will be sent home next week. We ask that orders be placed by Friday, November 22 so that we will receive them in time before we break for Christmas.

We had a great response to our Book Fairy campaign from our preschool families and friends and Unity congregation members! We had enough donations to purchase 10 books for each child this year, so watch for a book coming home in backpacks each month and for your child's birthday.

Some of you have asked for gift ideas for your child's teachers for the Christmas holiday. We have "Favorite Things" lists available for you. Simply send us an e-mail (preschoolatunity@gmail.com) and we will include a list in your child's folder. Holiday gifts are very much appreciated by our hard-working Staff, but are certainly not expected.

*November Days Off: Please remember that we are closed the week of Thanksgiving (November 25-28)

*Cooler Weather: Unless it is raining or really cold, we try to spend some time outdoors every day. Please send warm coats (labeled with your child's name) to school with your children so they can enjoy the outdoor time. You may also want to send fall/winter back-up clothes that we will happily change out if your child currently has shorts/t-shirts in their bag.

*Tuition: Our next tuition withdrawal date will be Monday, December 2.

*Newsletter Update: Our next and final Newsletter for 2024 will be Thursday, December 5

Front Row - Left to Right by teaching pairs:

Ms. Maureen and Ms. Kellie (Fours - Fish)

Ms. Kristen and Ms. Elizabeth (Fours - Owls)

Back Row - Left to Right by teaching pairs:

Ms. Jennifer and Ms. Danielle (Twos - Bees)

Ms. Sarah and Ms. Becca (Threes - Monkeys)

Ms. Laura and Ms. Brandi (Threes- Frogs)

Ms. Linda (Director)

Not Pictured: Ms. Carolyn (Librarian/Thursday Helper/First Call Sub)

Unity Preschool does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national and ethnic origin in administration of its educational policies, admissions policies, scholarship programs, and other school-administered programs.

Email: preschoolatunity@gmail.com
Website: https://www.preschoolatunity.com/
Location: 303 Tom Hall Street, Fort Mill, SC, USA
Phone: 803-396-8454