St. Luke’s Preschool
Ministry at St. Luke’s United Methodist Church
700 Southway Boulevard East
Kokomo, IN 46902
765-455-6090
Jennifer Mansur, Director of Preschool
Jesus said,
"Let the little children come to me,
and do not hinder them for the
kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these."
Matthew 19:14
New International Version
The Staff
Mrs. Nancy Rushton, Assistant, Four-Year-Olds
I am starting my 5th year at St. Luke's Preschool. I have been married to Steve for 32 years and our daughter, Jennifer, and son-in-law, Allen have 3 children. Raylynn is 7 and will be in second grade, Joel is 3, and Allen is 10 months old. I volunteer at church and in the community and strive to show people God's love.
Mrs. Jennifer Mansur, Director and Pre-K Teacher
Mrs. Mansur has been with St. Luke’s Preschool for eighteen years. She is married to John and they have two children, Michael (20) and Laura Anne (18), a dog and a cat. Mrs. Mansur loves children and enjoys reading mystery novels!
Mrs. Lisa McDonald, Teacher, Four Year-Olds
Mrs. McDonald is starting her second year at St. Luke’s. Her husband Mike is a manager for Meijer. Together they have three children, Sarah (23), Katie (18), and Patrick (16). Sarah will be starting a job at Riley’s Children’s Hospital and will be working in the NICU. Katie is on her way to Indiana Wesleyan University to start her freshman year. Patrick is now an upper classman at Kokomo High School. Both Katie and Patrick attended St. Luke’s Preschool. Mrs. McDonald is very excited to start back to school and is looking forward to a fun filled year.
Guidelines
and
General
Info
2011-2012
Absences
If your child is going to be absent from school please let us know at 455-6090. The children do miss one another when someone is absent. If your child has a contagious illness please keep your child home. If your child has had a fever, please keep your child home until he or she is fever free for 24 hours.
Birthdays
The state of Indiana does not allow us to serve homemade treats.
NO BIRTHDAY CAKES or CUPCAKES
To make birthdays a little more special, you can bring a store bought pre-packaged snack, pudding, ice cream cups, Popsicles, etc.
Take home treat bags are the best.
Summer birthdays will be celebrated as follows:
July and August Birthdays will be celebrated in September,
June Birthdays will be celebrated in May,
If you notice your child’s birthday has not been celebrated, please inform the child’s teacher immediately.
Party Invitations: If you are planning a birthday party for your child, you may put invitations in cubbies, only if the whole class is invited. Please let the assistant know you are doing this. Including everyone eliminates hurt feelings.
Book Orders
Please make checks payable:
St. Luke’s Preschool.
As the new school year begins, you may be wondering how you can help your child get a good start on learning. Research tells us that the more children are exposed to books at home, the better they do in school.
That’s why we have attached a copy of the Scholastic Book Club Order form. If you are unfamiliar with school book clubs, let me explain how they work. Approximately once a month during the school year the book club will offer paperback and hard cover books, sturdy board books, and age-appropriate learning materials...all at substantial savings.
The book club not only serves as a convenient way for you to help you and your child choose quality books at low prices, but with every class order we send in, our class can get valuable FREE classroom learning materials.
We hope you and your child will take advantage of this wonderful opportunity and order books this year. Please remember, there is no obligation to order--the decision is yours. We know of no better way to encourage a love of reading than to give children the opportunity to choose their own books and build a home library so that family reading becomes a rewarding part of their lives.
Please make checks payable to
St. Luke’s Preschool.
Cancellation of Classes
Cancellation of school, for any reason, will be announced on the radio, when possible. Our school closing will be announced on the following radio stations:
WIOU-AM 1350
WZWZ-FM 92.5
WWKI-FM 100.5
ALL the radio stations will be called by 8:00 AM.
Closing announcements are a public service of the radio stations, and if they are not announced it is not the fault of the preschool.
The voice mail message at school,
455-6090, will be updated as well.
Each class is allowed to miss the number of days they attend per week for cancellations.
After more than three days for pre k and two for four year olds, your May tuition will be adjusted.
Clothing
We encourage your child to wear comfortable play clothes. Be prepared for occasional spills. You may bring your own change of clothes. Please label all clothing, ESPECIALLY jackets, sweaters, sweatshirts, as this will help avoid much confusion.
NO SANDALS or FLIP FLOPS
This helps save hurt toes and feet when playing inside or outside.
Do NOT send your child in clothes
they can NOT get UP or DOWN at potty time.
This includes, bib overalls and body suits that snap in the crotch.
Children like their independence and we appreciate it also!
Conferences
We will be having fall and spring parent-teacher conferences.
This is when you chat with the teacher on your child’s performance.
Fall Conferences, 2011
October 20, 2011 for the Four-Year Olds.
October 21, 2011 for the Pre-K Class.
Spring conferences, 2012
The Fours will meet if needed
March 21, 2012 for the Pre-K Class.
Discipline
This word "discipline" will be defined to mean teaching or training as a way of helping children learn to control their feeling and actions.
The goal of discipline, as expressed in the classroom, will be to help children gain self-control, learn to respect the rights of others, learn to respect and assert his/her own rights, and learn the rules by which the Christian society operates.
The methods used may vary depending upon circumstances and the needs of the child.
Some methods used are as follows:
Re-directing or removing child from the situation. A major part of any disciplinary action is talking about the behavior in question and discussing possible consequences and alternative actions, which may be more acceptable. It may be necessary to repeat and repeat this procedure.
Let the child know how the action (not the child) makes others feel the positive as well as the negative feelings; include the adult caregiver's feelings as well as that of any other child involved.
Help the child find acceptable ways of expressing negative feelings; i.e. talking through their feelings.
Use logical, appropriate consequences when dealing with inappropriate behavior.
Provide opportunities for the child to assume responsibility within the group and individuality for his/her actions.
Drop Off and Pick Up Policy
Drop Off: WEST DOOR walk in
Park at the southwest corner of our parking lot, walk in and wait for your child to be greeted by their teacher!
Pick Up: WEST DOOR walk in
Park at the southwest corner of our parking lot, walk in and wait for your child to be released at appropriate time.
IF your CHILD is PICKED up FIFTEEN MINUTES LATE,
A $30.00 LATE PICK UP FEE is DUE.
FEE’S for late TUITION
MONTHLY TUITION IS DUE BY THE FIFTH OF EACH MONTH.
Please give payment envelope to the teacher or assistant.
You are expected to pay your monthly tuition by the 5th of each month or pay us a $30.00 late fee. We hate to do this but we are running a much tighter budget than in the past.
Thanks for helping us out.
G o a l s
The following list of goals is the basic outline for our entire curriculum and will be considered by our teachers when planning the activities for the children. We sincerely hope that parent(s) will join with us in achieving these goals during the time they are a part of our program.
Encourage a positive self-image and foster self-confidence.
Help self-discipline, being responsible for my actions and myself.
Understand God's love for all of us, communicating Christian attitude.
Create a positive attitude towards learning.
Create a positive learning environment.
Learn how to get along with other persons.
Encourage children to be creative.
Help develop language skills.
To be able to leave parents and home for a short period of time.
In order to obtain these goals we will provide materials,
attitudes, and an atmosphere conducive to each child's self-expression.
We will attempt to expand the child's understanding, manipulative skills, and creative potential by implementing the following policies:
Use positive reinforcement and immediate feedback.
Provide success experiences that develop each child's self-confidence.
Remember that the process is more important than the end product.
Plan activities in advance but are flexible in their implementation.
Give opportunity to use materials freely in a creative environment.
Allow children to help prepare and clean up activities.
Teach proper care and use of materials, equipment, books, and toys.
Show children how to and encourage them to do things themselves.
Encourage a child to complete one activity before proceeding to another.
Gently remind children at appropriate times to share and take turns.
Introduce a concept, reinforce it and repeat it.
Provide activities and materials at a variety of developmental levels
Holidays
THANKSGIVING Feast Day the week before break
Canned food will be collected for St. Luke’s pantry.
CHRISTMAS $5.00 Gift Exchange
Please bring a gift that is age appropriate for either a boy or a girl. Please do not spend more than $5.00. Please explain to your child that they will be giving their gift to a classmate and getting a gift from another classmate: not keeping the gift they brought.
Canned food will be collected for St. Luke’s pantry.
EASTER we talk about all the new life around us.
Philosophy
We believe that all children are a gift from God and they should be given the opportunity to develop to their fullest God given potential.
We believe the preschool years are critical in the development of a child and that it is in these years that a child's attitude about himself, about others, and about Christian principles is formed.
We believe that the preschool setting can provide a secure place for each child to develop his potential, have successes, be responsible, develop an interest and joy in learning, and share with others.
This setting includes the Christ principles of acceptance, love and forgiveness.
Pictures
School pictures will be taken by PHOTOS BY GREG, in November and again in April. This is a service to you and is not considered a fundraiser for the preschool. Greg does excellent photos and the children seem to open up and smile for him. We were very pleased last year. He takes individual and a group picture.
PHOTO DATES: Pre-K To be announced
Four-Year Olds To be announced
Play Dates
When inviting a preschool friend over, please be careful not to hurt the other children’s feelings. This can happen when the children talk about play dates at preschool. Be careful about informing your child about these fun times.
Sharing Time
Sharing is a very important part of your child’s development.
It will build their self-esteem and teach them how to express themselves.
Weapons (GUNS, SWORDS, SKULLS, KNIVES, etc)
are not allowed at school for any reason.
Snacks
We will be providing a calendar with snack days assigned.
The snack has to be STORE BOUGHT, PRE PACKAGED, due to state health regulations.
Your child will be leader the day they bring snack. This is special and fun experience.
FOOD ALLERGIES need to be reported to your child’s teacher immediately. If you have any questions, please ask the teacher.
REMEMBER, snack consists of snack and drink!
NO CAKES, NO cupcakes, NO muffins, NO brownies
Starting a mealtime tradition of saying our preschool prayer might be fun for your family and especially for your child.
Please, assist your child in learning the preschool snack time prayer. We say it every time we have snack.
Snack Time Prayer:
Thank you for the friends we meet.
Thank you for the food we eat.
Thank you for the birds that sing.
Thank you GOD for everything.
Amen
Thank you name of snack person for bringing our snack!!!
Pre-K Class Info
(Monday/Wednesday/Friday Class Info)
Pre-K Staff
Mrs. Jennifer Mansur, Teacher
Class Meets: Monday, Wednesday, Friday
Mornings: 9:00a.m. – 11:30a.m.
Fees for Pre-K Classes:
Registration Fee $50.00
Supply Fee $45.00
Tuition $75.00
Late fee is added after the 5th of each month. Late fee is $30.00
Three/Four-Year-Old Class Info
(Tuesday/Thursday Class Info)
Three/Four Year Old Staff
Mrs. Lisa McDonald Teacher
Mrs. Nancy Rushton, Assistant
Class Meets: Tuesday and Thursday
Mornings: 9:00 a.m. – 11:30 a.m.
Fees for Three/Four Year Old Classes:
Registration Fee $50.00
Supply Fee $35.00
Tuition $55.00
Late fee is added after the 5th of each month. Late fee is $30.00
IT LOOKS LIKE PLAY, BUT WE ARE LEARNING
To work and play together
To respect the right of others
To listen as well as speak
To grow in self control
To grow from dependence to independence
To listen to directions and follow them
To develop good working habits
To finish what we start
To clean up after work time
To participate in group activities
To enjoy using a variety of materials
To share toys, equipment and experiences
To dramatize stories and experiences
To develop an interest in books
To develop an interest in the world around us
To improve muscular coordination
To stay with plans for increasingly longer times
To develop new interests and extend old ones
To be HAPPY.
IT LOOKS LIKE PLAY, BUT WE ARE LEARNING!
