Unity Preschool News

Dear Preschool Families,

This month we have the opportunity to teach our children about loving our neighbors and sharing with them. Thank you so very much for your donations of water. Ms. Brandi's family will be making a trip to her hometown (Hendersonville) this weekend to deliver this much needed resource.

Unity Presbyterian Church is currently collecting non-perishable food items for the Fort Mill Care Center to provide a Thanksgiving meal for Fort Mill families who find themselves in need of food. We would love the children to bring some items to Preschool during October. We will help the children place the items in our church display when we have Chapel later this month.

The items specifically requested by the Care Center for the month of October include the following: cereal, oatmeal, grits, soup, canned meat, canned fruit, pie crust mix, evaporated milk, stuffing, cranberry sauce, canned vegetables, and boxed instant potatoes. If you are overdue in cleaning out your pantry - other items (as long as not expired and not opened) are welcome too. Please send your items during the month of October. Preschool staff will accept them during the car line.

Thanks in advance for your participation and for sharing with others the wondrous gifts that God has given us.

Blessings,

Ms. Linda

Director - Unity Preschool

We are one month into our school year and we expect that our students have learned and practiced our classroom routines and are exhibiting "school ready" behavior in the classroom most of the time. Some of our students continue to exhibit poor choices more often than they should in two primary areas: 1. observing personal space (includes keeping your hands to yourself); and 2. listening to adults promptly and providing respectful responses. A firm "No" or "I don't want to"; ignoring the teacher's request; sticking out a tongue; or running away are not respectful responses. Unity Preschool encourages open communication and dialogue between parents and Staff so please trust that your child's teacher will reach out to you directly when or if a conversation about your child's behavior is warranted.

How can you help at home? In the classroom, our teachers use the following techniques to develop proper classroom behavior:

*modeling the behavior that we want;

*consequences AND follow through for behavior that we do not want; and

*positive reinforcement when the child is being successful.

These techniques along with your efforts outside the classroom will help us have a more successful school year. Thank you in advance for helping your child have a positive preschool experience.

This week we had our first Chapel time in the Sanctuary with all of the students. This year we are learning about the fruit of the Spirit. (Galatians 5: 22-23) We shared with the children that this is not the fruit that we eat, but rather it is a very special kind of fruit that grows in us when we love God with all out hearts and we listen to God. Each Chapel we will learn songs and hear a story about a different fruit of the spirit. Ms. Margaret, Unity's Director of Music, joins us for every Chapel. This week our special story teller was Ms. Liz, Unity's Youth Director. She shared the story of Miriam and baby Moses. (Exodus 2:4-10) Miriam showed love when she watched over her brother Moses. During our next Chapel we will hear a story about joy.

While the weather is nice, we thought it would be fun to host a Family Picnic for our preschool classes. You (mom, dad, grandparents, friends, siblings) are invited to bring a picnic lunch and a blanket to preschool and we will enjoy lunch together in our Park.

*Our Two's class is invited to join us on Tuesday, October 8 at 11:15.

*Our Threes classes are invited to join us on Wednesday, October 9 at 11:15

*Our Fours classes are invited to join us on Thursday, October 10 at 11:15.

If you are a working parent and cannot attend, simply let us know. You can send a lunch with your child and we will arrange a picnic partner for your child. If the weather does not cooperate, we have reserved the Fellowship Hall on those days and we will picnic indoors.

This month we have two Color Days:

Orange Day: Wear ORANGE on Thursday, October 10

Black Day: Wear BLACK on Thursday, October 24

Our next Spirit Day is Tuesday, October 31. We will celebrate Halloween in our classrooms. Your child's teacher will send party requests through SeeSaw later this month. Children are welcome to wear Halloween-themed shirts, but please do not send them in costumes. The novelty wears off quickly and we do not want to misplace costume pieces.

Our November Spirit Day will be Thursday, November 21. We will have a Thanksgiving Feast prepared by some special friends of the preschool. A sign-up for items will be sent in the November newsletter.

This year we have only three weeks between Thanksgiving and Christmas so we will invite you to enjoy some Christmas songs that our children will be learning followed by a visit the classroom to view some Christmas projects. 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.

Last month, we introduced our newest Unity Staff member, Ms. Jennifer. She works with Ms Danielle in the Older Two's (Bee) class so we are featuring Ms. Danielle this month:

Ms. Danielle is our Older Two's Lead Teacher. Ms. Danielle has been both a Two's Assistant and Four's Assistant. She also works in the Preschool Office on Mondays and teaches music to our Four's classes.

Ms. Danielle and her husband, Tommy, have two boys: Colton and Daxton. Colton is in sixth grade at Forest Creek Middle School and Daxton is in fourth grade at Doby's Bridge Elementary. Both boys are Unity Preschool graduates. Ms. Danielle is from New Orleans and attended Southeastern Louisiana University. She has several years of childcare experience and was a former Children's Coordinator at her church. Ms. Danielle makes sure that we celebrate Fat Tuesday each year and share in a King Cake together.

Below are a few of Ms. Danielle's favorites:

Favorite Foods: Mexican and Thai

Favorite Music: Country and Pop

Favorite Book: Ms. Danielle loves anything by Elin Hilderbrand and loves a good Devotional. Breathing Room is a favorite of hers.

Favorite Activities: She always enjoys going on trips with her family, especially to the beach. She can often be found at the football field cheering her boys.

Below are some pictures from our first visit last week with Ms. Jane, our Storyteller. We are blessed to have Ms. Jane visit us once a month to share her fantastic stories with us. Ms. Jane was a former Preschool Director in New Jersey. She moved to Fort Mill to be closer to her two daughters and grandchildren. She LOVES to read (for herself and to young children), travel, and work in her garden.

Ms. Jane also visits our Four's class once a month to share a science lesson with the students. They studied leaves in September and are studying apples in October. She has lessons planned on measurement, trees, magnets, seeds/plants, insects, and birds for the remainder of the year. Ms. Jane will also be doing a lesson on pumpkins with our Three's classes later this month. We are so grateful that Ms. Jane shares her wonderful stories and wealth of knowledge with our students.

Thank you so very much for your generous Scholastic Book Orders. We earned maximum rewards this month. Orders should arrive and be sent home next week. Several of our wish list items were also purchased so we increased our preschool library with several current titles. On behalf of our budding readers, we THANK YOU!

We used our Book Fairy donations to purchase "Llama, Llama Loves to Read" for our students in the Threes and Fours classes and a preschool favorite "If You Give a Mouse a Cookie" for our Twos. These were sent home last week and we will be sending October selections at the end of this month.

Our next school order will be sent home before Thanksgiving so that you can purchase Christmas gifts. You are, however, welcome to order any time of the year on the Scholastic website. If you use our Class Code (GXCK8) I will be notified and can finalize the order and have it sent to school.

We have received questions about whether you should send your child to school with runny noses, coughs, and other symptoms.

The rule of thumb that we like to use is "If another child had similar symptoms, would you want your child playing with them?" If you find you are wiping your child's nose often and/or you are reminding them to cough in their sleeve all day long, please keep them home. Your child will enjoy the extra loving time and it will help prevent spread in the classroom. If your child has a persistent cough or runny nose due to allergies or a rash from an allergic reaction, please let us know that they are not contagious.

Please remember that if your child has a temperature above 99 degrees, they should not return to school until they have been fever-free WITHOUT medication for 24 hours. Missing a day or two of preschool will not set them back on their educational journey as we strive to keep our classrooms healthy for all. We welcome questions if you are not sure what to do.

If your child receives the Snack Sack, please return the snack items on Tuesday. Please purchase enough items to feed ALL the children in your child's classroom (10 in Twos; 12 in Threes) for the three days. Please send items already prepped.

*No School (Fours) - Monday, October 14: This is a teacher work day for the FMSD.

*Tuition: Our next tuition withdrawal date will be Monday, November 4th.

*Folder Reminder: Please remember to empty your child's folder at least every week!

*Label Clothes/Backpacks/Water Bottles: Please remember to label all items that you send to school so that we can make sure they go home with the correct child.

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