Melanie Green and Mike Barr, Editors
March 2013
Practice Good Manners
By Malia Jacobson,
Parenting Magazine contributor
T
hough most parents strive to teach
children niceties like “please” and
“thank you,” good manners don’t
begin and end with these magic words. What
about the tot who squirms at the dinner table
and jumps up after two minutes? Or the grade
-schooler who runs wild at friends’ homes?
How about the teen who avoids introductions?
If you’re raising a manners-challenged child,
you’re not alone. Childhood manners
mishaps are as common as children
themselves, says etiquette coach Chris J.
Rock. The good news: Childhood and the
teenage years is the time to learn and practice
appropriate behavior, and mistakes are to be
expected. Even better, swift etiquette
intervention can lay the groundwork for a
lifetime of civility.
Here is an age-by-age guide on helping kids
mind their manners.
Ages 0 to 5: Establish Expectations
The golden rule – treat others as you’d like to
be treated – forms the basis of all etiquette. So
how soon should parents start teaching
children manners? “You can’t start them too
young,” she says. “There is no certain age
when the magic begins.”
That means establishing family
behavior norms early. If you don’t want your
children to run indoors, traipse through
airplane rows, or jump on furniture, correct
these behaviors in toddlerhood with a firm,
gentle reminder: “That is not how we act in
this family. It doesn’t matter what other
children do.” Toddlers have notoriously short
memories, so catchy songs can help etiquette
lessons stick, Rock says. “We sing, ‘Yes is
better than yeah’ with our grandchildren.”
Teaching table manners can also start
early. Some recommend introducing flatware
as soon as children can hold it (often in late
infancy or early toddlerhood), discouraging
eating with the hands and gently stretching the
time tots can sit still during meals. Start with
just four or five minutes and build to 15 or 20.
Children as young as 2 can be taught to ask
their host – in most cases, Mom or Dad – to be
excused from the table when they are finished.
Miss Kim P. says that the best way to
teach manners in the early years is through
role modeling.
Ages 6-10: Show respect
The grade-school years bring more
friend visits and sleepovers – potential
manners minefields, since kids will be away
from parents’ watchful eyes. Teaching
children to be respectful guests in friends’
homes can build confidence when children are
developing their social identity (and may
increase the odds of a repeat invitation).
Before the play date, remind children
that being a guest means respecting their
host’s household rules. If the host family
removes shoes at the door or doesn’t allow
snacking in bedrooms, guests should comply.
To show respect, ask children to
address their friend’s parents as “Mr. and Mrs.
Smith” unless directed by the parents to do
otherwise.
From The Director...
Y
es! I see “it” again this March. “It”
almost always becomes noticeable for me
in early March. I hear “it” in the
language. I see “it” in the physical statures. I
feel “it” in the behaviors and interactions with
peers. For me, “it” is a thrill to observe – and be
actively involved in the process. The “it” is the
visible progress that I see from our children. Just
last week I encountered a group of our 4 year
olds on the playground in a play situation that
made me say to myself, “They are ready to go to
kindergarten!” When I see the 3 year old
classes with wonderful progress made in their
self-help skills, I think – they are ready for the 4
year old class. Just today in a two year old
class, “Miss” Betty and I noted that the interest
in socializing with peers among class members
indicates readiness to move to the next level.
What a joy! I am grinning inside even as I write
this article. I am also counting my blessings at
being able to be a part of this beautiful scenario
of childhood growth.
“In like a Lion.” Certainly, this
statement about the month of March has seemed
true for the first couple of weeks in this month.
All of our classes have taken advantage of the
March wind and cold weather to ageappropriately engage our children in the science
of weather events. Believe it or not – even cold
weather activities can be fun for children. Now
our staff is hoping that March will “go out like a
lamb.”
March is the month that the amount of
parent hours per family is reviewed. Each
family should accumulate 12 hours for the
school year for 1 child, 18 hours for 2 children
or more. Please be aware of parent hours and do
not hesitate to ask the staff for guidance as to
how to gain parent hours to complete
requirements for the school year. UUMP
recognizes the great benefits to the schools’
program contributed through parent service
hours. Many thanks are in order to UUMP’s
parents.
Here’s a reminder of a benefit to parents
– a parent seminar. On March 25 from 6:308:30 PM, at the United Church, Kim Hughes,
educational consultant and founder of Conscious
Connection, will present “Moving from Crazy
to Calm.” The cost per person is $5.00 (cash, if
possible) or $8.00 per couple. Give fee to Kim
P. and/or sign up in the office by Monday,
March 18.
UUMP continues to be in registration
for the coming school year. There are still
openings for our 2 year old and 4 year old
classes. Do guide anyone looking for either of
those classes to contact UUMP’s office and/or
view our church website for information about
registration for the 2013/2014 school year.
Our staff is looking toward the end of
March and anticipating many enjoyable
activities and events inside and outside the
classrooms. There will be artistic preparations
for Easter egg hunts, musical preparations for
the celebration of the Easter season and literary
preparations for the special school wide Easter
puppet shows. Bunnies will surely be present
during the Easter season activities – to be
specific, Peter Cottontail. It is the intention of
UUMP’s age appropriate preparations for the
holiest of Christian holidays to year by year
show children the importance of the recognition
of Easter before they begin to earn the real
meaning of the Easter sacred events.
At the end of the month, UUMP will
begin its celebration of Ester by adjourning
school on Thursday, March 28 in order to
celebrate Good Friday on March 29. The next
week, April 1-5, UUMP will be closed for
Spring Break vacation.
On behalf of the entire UUMP staff, we
wish our families a blessed Easter season and
happy and safe Spring.
Be in touch, I will.
Kim
Patterson
From the 2s
S
From the 3s
H
pring is in the air in the 2
year old classroom. We
welcome March and the
official beginning of spring.
In March we will be
learning about spring weather and all
the fun things that go with spring
(like kites and rainbows and Easter
and the color green). We will
celebrate Easter before we go on
spring break. We will have our 2
year old version of an Easter egg
hunt on Wednesday and Thursday
the 27th and 28th. More information
will come later in the month about
the Easter egg hunt.
We will be out of school
this year on Friday, April 29th in
honor of Good Friday and the
following week will be spring break.
We hope you can all slow down and
enjoy some time together. We look
forward to seeing everyone on April
9th and 10th to hear about how you
spent your spring break.
The rest of the year is going
to fly by. If you have parent hours,
but haven’t written them down in the
book, now is a good time to do that.
If you still need hours, don’t worry
there will be some opportunities
coming up. Feel free to contact Ms.
Melissa if you have questions or
worries about your parent hours.
With just a few short
months left in school, I would like to
encourage you all to foster
independence within your child.
One easy way to do this is by letting
your child help you find their cubby
in the morning and help with
hanging up their own backpack
before they walk by themselves into
the classroom. They may need a
little help at first, but they will feel
good about themselves when they
can be independent is such a simple
way.
old on tight! Spring is
coming and the 3s will
be busy exploring all that
is going on around us. We will
start by looking up to see
clouds and wind in our
Carolina blue sky. We
then look down to see
what is happening on and under
the ground. Worms and insects
and what their important role is in
our lives. We then explore all the
birds that we will see in our back
yards. Red, yellow, and blue, this
is truly the Southern part of
heaven.
Happy Spring!
Ms. Stephanie & Ms. Lisa
Ms. Melissa & Ms. Betty
During the last week in March we
will make our Easter baskets and
have our Easter egg hunt on the
27th and 28th and a special puppet
show with our Director. Please
remember that Good Friday (29th)
is a holiday.
Please bring in 12 prestuffed
plastic eggs for our Easter Egg
hunt. No candy please.
Small toys, stickers,
Silly Putty or trinkets
are treasured by the
kids.
From the 4s (4 Days)
S
pring is in the air!! You
will be seeing and hearing
songs, art, stories, and
projects related to spring coming
from our classroom. We will also
be doing a unit on weather so
look for sun, clouds, rain, wind,
and a little snow in our
classroom.
The last week of March we will
be focusing on Easter.
We will have our
class Easter egg hunt
on Thursday, March 28 at 12:15.
(Look for details to come soon.)
You all are invited to help or just
attend and experience the
excitement of our hunt with your
child.
Please send in 6 pre-stuffed
plastic eggs by Monday, March
25 for our hunt. NO chocolate,
please.
A super big thank you to Miss
Susan, Miss Dory, and UUMP
staff and parents for all your help
while I was out on a medical
leave. My husband had a bone
marrow transplant and is now
recuperating at home. Thank you
for your help, your prayers, your
emails, cards, and good wishes.
If you are in need of parent hours Ms. Kim & Ms. Susan
please see Miss Stephanie for
some upcoming opportunities.
As always, thank you for all your
help in the classroom. We
greatly appreciate you as we learn
and grow with your children.
From the 4s (5 Days)
“H
ead, shoulders, knees
and toes...knees and
toes.”
We are starting our unit on “The Human Body.” Each child will construct
a life-size model of the body. We will
be discussing how many parts of the
body function. Our unit also includes
the 5 senses. We will have fun with
games, art, and food tasting.
Show and Tell will be every Tuesday
in the month of March. Your child can
bring in one toy to show to the class.
Easter celebrations will be coming at
the end of March. We will be decorating eggs, have egg hunts and a puppet
show. Look for notes going home on
these events.
Ms. Jane & Ms. Christy
Meet Jane Borotto...
J
ane Borotto is the 5 Day 4s teacher.
This is Jane’s eighth year at UUMP.
Jane grew up in Morristown, NJ and lived
there until college. She lived in Florida for
14 years until moving to Chapel Hill with her
family because of the excellent reputation for
education and family life.
Jane has a BS in elementary education and
taught first grade in Hollywood, Florida. She
has two teenage children: Tyler, who is 19
and studies at Western Carolina, and Julia,
who is 13 and in her last year in middle
school.
Jane loves her job at UUMP. She looks forward to coming to work each day to help
mold and be a part of young children’s lives.
Jane likes working with such wonderful children, parents, and staff. She feels that she
and Ms. Christy make a great team.
Jane’s goal for her students is to develop and
practice positive social interaction with
peers. She wants to build self-confidence in
her children. Jane loves to make learning
fun, incorporating phonics and math with
games.
Jane loves the outdoors. Her favorite things
to do in her free time are to hike and run
trails with her dog, Jack.
Thank you for all you do for our children,
Miss Jane!
UUMP Happenings
Happy Birthday! Happy Birthday! Happy
Birthday! Happy Birthday!
2s
3/8
3/17
Camille Rucker
Ellexis McBride
3s
3/24
For Your Calendar
Tues., March 12: Parent Worknight, 7
-9 PM
Thurs., March 14: Curriculum Morning, 9 AM in the nursery
Tues/Weds, March 19-20: Fire Drills
Laurel Bosman
Happy Birthday! Happy Birthday! Happy
Birthday! Happy Birthday!
Weds/Thurs, March 27-28—Easter
Egg Hunts and Easter Puppet Shows
for the children of UUMP
March 29, Good Friday: 1O
SCHOOL
April 1-5—Spring Break, 1o School
April 8: Return to School
Reminder: Check and bring up to
date your hours record in the Parent
Hours notebook located in the hall
near the school office.
Happy Belated Birthday!
2s
2/18
Eleanor Ballew
3s
2/6
Freddie Stutzman
Do you have a newsletter
item? A question, request,
or idea? We are always
glad to get new ideas for
articles.
Call Kim Patterson or
contact Melanie Green or
Mike Barr at
[email protected].
Thanks!