
TECEC TIMES
Where the journey begins.......November 6, 2024
Important upcoming dates
Wednesday, November 6 Head Start Parent Policy Meeting 8:30 AM
Wednesday, November 6 PTO meeting 7:00 PM
Thursday, November 7 Parent-Teacher Conferences 11:20 dismissal, no afternoon classes
Monday, November 11 Veterans Day
Thursday, November 14 Fathers Club 7:00 PM location TBD
Friday, November 22 PTO Playdate at the Trumbull Library 5:00 PM
Wednesday, November 27 11:20 dismissal, no afternoon classes for Thanksgiving recess
Thursday & Friday November 28 & 29 School closed for Thanksgiving recess
Monday, December 2, School reopens with regular schedule
Wednesday, December 4 Head Start Parent Policy Meeting 6:00 PM
Wednesday, December 4 PTO meeting 7:00 PM
Thursday, December 5 Father's Club 7:00 PM
Sunday, December 8 TECEC Father's Club Moana-2 movie event 10:00 AM more info to follow
Friday, December 20 11:20 dismissal, no afternoon classes for winter recess
Wednesday, December 25 Christmas
Wednesday, January 1 New Year's Day
Thursday, January 2 Schools open with regular schedules
Dear TECEC families,
I hope you and your families are adjusting to the end of Daylight-Savings Time! We know that this time shift can affect young children’s routines, and it may take a few days for everyone to fully adjust to the new schedule. Even those at my age!
Our teachers are mindful of these changes and are ready to provide extra support as needed in the coming days. We encourage you to keep a consistent bedtime and morning routine, as this can help ease the transition for your child. If you notice any challenges or have concerns about how your child is adjusting, please feel free to reach out.
Following last week's letter, I’d like to take a moment to reflect on the theme of gratitude. November provides a wonderful opportunity to nurture this invaluable quality, which can have a lasting impact on a child’s growth. Gratitude not only encourages children to appreciate the world around them but also fosters empathy, social-emotional well-being, and a positive outlook on life. Cultivating this trait in our children is, I believe, essential for their holistic development.
At TECEC we are focusing on gratitude and thankfulness this month. A few ideas to encourage gratitude in the home and community are:
- Go around the house or yard and find things you’re grateful for like, toys, favorite books, or nature items outside.
- Read books about gratitude with your child and discuss the themes afterwards.
- Share your own moments of gratitude with your child and encourage them to share theirs with you.
- Consider creating a gratitude jar where you can jot down things your child is thankful for. At the end of each week, review these thoughts together to reflect on the blessings you’ve both recognized.
- Incorporate gratitude into your child's bedtime routine by taking a few moments each evening to discuss what you're both thankful for that day.
- You might also consider volunteering as a family or participating in charitable activities to show your child the importance of giving back to the community.
If you have any questions or ideas to share about promoting gratitude at TECEC, please don't hesitate to reach out to me or one of my fellow team members.
Respectfully,
Principal
Veterans Day November 11th
Terrific Threes!
The month of October flew by, ending with an amazing Halloween parade! It is always so fun to see all the kids in their costumes. We must also extend a special thank you to the PTO for providing the pumpkins to each classroom for the kids to decorate. In November, we will be finishing our fall thematic unit with activities such as raking, jumping, and exploring leaves. We will create leaf rubbings, paint with leaves, go on a leaf hunt, and gather leaves to make leaf collages. In preparation for Thanksgiving, we will talk about the harvest, turkeys, families, and traditions. We will also be starting our Fundations lessons. These lessons expose our youngest students to the letters and their sounds with a weekly “letter story”. You may be surprised with what your child starts to notice regarding letters and words in their environment! Please continue to send your child wearing sneakers each day as we will be using the playground and going on nature walks.
Mrs. Orr & Miss Sue's class enjoying a hands on literacy and math lessons
Music notes from Miss Gabby.....
I hope everyone that participated in Halloween had a safe and enjoyable experience! Can you believe it’s already November! With the weather lately, it’s sometimes hard to tell what season it is. But no matter the weather, Music continues with more fun ahead. This week, we have started themes of Leaves with the Threes and Shapes with the Fours, so we will be having a lot of fun playing the drums (to some Native American themed songs) and triangles of all different sizes (circles and triangles). We will continue the month singing songs about the four seasons, turkeys, thankfulness and Thanksgiving. Music, as always, will include the use of visuals, movement and sign language. I will be sending another playlist with the available songs through ClassDojo, so you know what your children may come home singing. Some of those songs will include Four Seasons, The Tree Song, It’s Fall, Ten Little Turkeys, Five Little Turkeys, Turkey Feathers, The Turkey Hop, Friends and Family (November), Powwow, The Pilgrims Are Coming, Sail the Mayflower, Happy Thanksgiving to All, The First Thanksgiving, My Work is Never Done, Riding a Horse to Grandmother’s House, What Kind of Pie Am I?, Walk in the Woods, Fall Leaves, The Pumpkin Pie Song (running song), a few Thank You songs and many, many more. There are also two thanksgiving dinner songs and a thank you song (Ten Days of Thanksgiving, Thanksgiving Dinner, and Give Thanks), which are combined in a video called Give Thanks and the kids always enjoy them! I will try to video the children singing some of the songs to share with you all. Looking forward to December, my overall theme will be Holidays Around the World, so that will be something to look forward to! Have a wonderful rest of the Fall season and a Happy Thanksgiving for those of you who celebrate!
Love,
Miss Gabby 😊
TECEC PTO November Playdate
Save the date...... A Big Night Out (ABNO)
Flu Vaccine Requirement
Inclement Weather Schedule
TECEC's inclement weather and adjusted schedules can be viewed: here.
Arrival and Dismissal Procedures
Our arrival and dismissal procedures were developed to keep the children, you and our team safe. Please review the following guidelines that your adherence is critical to assure everyone arrives and leaves TECEC safely. One particular highlight is that vehicles must only enter the TECEC driveway by taking a right from Middlebrooks Ave. into the parking lot from 8:20-3:30. Attempting to access Middlebrooks Ave. via Church Hill Road and trying to take a left into TECEC creates an unsafe traffic pattern and should be avoided. Our arrival and dismissal procedures can be found here.
If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out to us.
We love our volunteers!
One of the hallmarks of our program is parent and community involvement. Your child’s teacher will be reaching out to you with the best ways to engage with their education. We also encourage you to take the time to fill out the TPS volunteer form for the 2024-2025 school year. For most individuals, you will only need to complete part one (Tier one). This will permit you to volunteer in the school while in the presence of a staff member. Part two (Tier two) is for those who will be working with children not in the presence of a school employee. Since every volunteer will be in the presence of a TECEC staff member, there will not be a need to complete that section, unless you plan on volunteering in another school. This form has to be completed annually as mandated by the state guidelines for school volunteers. If you are interested in volunteering, the form can be found here and dropped off at TECEC so it can be processed. All submitted forms need to have an original signature, therefore a form with an e-signature will not be accepted.
Head Start Parent Policy Committee Meeting November 6
Please join us on Wednesday, November 6 for our Head Start Parent Policy Committee meeting at 8:30AM. The meeting will be held in person at TECEC beginning at 8:30 AM. For those who would like to join virtually, please click meet.google.com/idi-sypb-cyz.
Next TECEC PTO Meeting November 6
Please join us on Wednesday, November 6, for our next PTO meeting. The meeting will be held in person at TECEC beginning at 7:00 PM. For those who would like to join virtually, the link is: PTO Meeting
TECEC Father's Club Thursday, November 14
The TECEC Father's Club is recruiting new members. Please note that you can join as a mom, aunt, uncle, grandparent or any family member that would like to support the children, teachers and each other. Their next meeting will take place this Thursday, November 14th at 7:00 PM. Location TBD.
TECEC Spirit Wear
EVERY THURSDAY IS SPIRIT WEAR DAY!
Every Thursday is spirit wear day! Since many of our children do not attend school on Fridays, we thought it would be fun to have “TECEC Thursday” each week where everyone is encouraged to wear school spirit wear. If you don't have any TECEC spirit wear, feel free to wear our school color which is blue. You can also purchase spirit wear here: https://tecec.ptboard.com/