TECEC TIMES
Where the journey begins.......December 4, 2024
Dear TECEC families,
I hope this message finds you well and that you all had a wonderful and healthy Thanksgiving! I had the joy of celebrating the holiday with my wife, sons, my parents and some close friends from out of state. We enjoyed a delightful feast of turkey, delicious side dishes, and a variety of desserts. The greatest blessing, though, was the time spent together which is sentiment I'm sure resonates with all of you when you share precious moments with your loved ones.
Next Tuesday, December 10th, you will receive a report regarding your child's progress via email.
The skills are derived from the Connecticut's Early Learning Development Standards (ELDS) which is the framework of our curriculum. The report you will receive that is utilized by many districts throughout our state is called the Connecticut Documentation and Observation Teaching System (CT-DOTS). We utilize this system to monitor progress which is useful when designing instruction to meet your child's individual and collective needs of the program. More information can be found here.
Kind regards,
Principal
While we've enjoyed a mild fall, winter weather seems to be on its way. Please take a moment to review TECEC's inclement weather guidelines and adjusted schedules here to stay prepared for potential snow or any other disruptions to the school day.
The kids really enjoyed our fall themes. We explored leaves, went on nature walks to look for signs of fall, raked and jumped into leaves, used leaves for art projects, and talked about clothing for the cooler weather. Now we are getting ready to welcome winter! We will spend the month of December learning about what animals do to prepare for winter and nocturnal animals. We enjoy discussing family traditions during this holiday season and encourage you to reach out to your child’s teacher if you would like to share something special that your family does to celebrate. Some classes will be baking, some will play with gingerbread playdough, but every room will be learning about the joy of giving as we make special gifts to give to family and discuss ways to share and “give” to our friends in school. Please remember to send in hats and mittens labeled with your child’s name. We go outside as long as there is no snow on the playground and the “feels like” temperature is above 30 degrees.
The Speech Department hopes that everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving. We had lots of fun at school talking about the different foods everyone may have eaten at a Thanksgiving dinner.
We can’t believe that we are days away from December! What a fun time of the year! There are so many activities to keep our families busy and in the holiday spirit. The speech and language therapy rooms will be busy too! This month we are focusing on different themes and vocabulary related to the holidays and the upcoming winter months. There is so much fun to be had and not much time left!
While surviving the busy days in December, here are some things to keep in mind that can be done during your everyday activities.
- Introduce new vocabulary related to your family activities (ie. wrapping, ornaments, cookie cutters).
- Expanding utterances
- If your child says “lights” you can say “I see white lights!”
- Making inferences
- Why do we need to put on our coat/boots?
- Asking and answering WH questions (Who, What, When, Where, Why)
- Speech sound generalization
- If your child says a sound incorrectly, just model the right way!
The speech and language department wishes you all a very happy and exciting holiday season!
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/
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.
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.
Please join us on Wednesday, December 4, 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
