TECEC TIMES
Where the journey begins......October 14, 2026
Dear TECEC families,
Fall provides the perfect opportunity for our children to explore, discover, and learn through hands-on experiences connected to our early learning standards. The children have enjoyed tasting apples of different colors of red, yellow, and green while comparing flavors and sharing their observations. They have also painted with apples, dissected them to discover what is inside, created apple prints and patterns, and enjoyed apple-themed stories and songs. These activities support language development, early literacy, math skills, creativity, fine motor and scientific thinking through playful learning.
To bring our learning outdoors, we recently enjoyed a special lesson making fresh apple cider. Last Thursday, Andrew Shriver (Miss Claudia’s husband) and Emma Campbell (Miss Claudia’s daughter) joined us to help turn fresh apples into delicious cider using a vintage cider press. Before pressing the apples, the children explored them using their senses, describing their colors, textures, and shapes. They then watched with excitement as the vintage wood press transformed solid apples into liquid cider. This hands-on experience encouraged curiosity, observation, and critical thinking while introducing early scientific concepts. From my perspective, the highlight was them enjoying a cup of freshly pressed apple cider! From tasting and painting to investigating, singing, and pressing apples, the children are discovering that learning can happen everywhere, even with an apple!
Fall is the perfect time to turn a fun family activity into a meaningful learning experience. Making apple cider together is a great way to celebrate the season, spend quality time with your child, and encourage curiosity through hands-on exploration. If you’d like to try making your own apple cider at home this fall, please see the following recipe: Apple Cider Recipe
On behalf of our team at TECEC, I want to send a heartfelt thank you to our PTO and all the parents who supported our catalog fundraiser, which wrapped up on Friday. Thanks to your amazing generosity, this was our highest-grossing catalog sale ever! The children will directly benefit from your incredible support, and we couldn't be more grateful.
Kind regards,
Principal
The 4s finished up September creating the most beautiful “rainbow owls” practicing their bumpy lines showing the owl’s feathers, drawing talons and adding glittery stars to their night sky. We have learned about straight lines and “stripes” as well! The 3s sponge painted, getting so messy and having so much fun! We learned about the colors that the fall leaves change to as we collaged our black cat and leaf cut-outs to finish the artwork. The 3s then created “calico corn” learning about circle “kernels” using marker caps and collaging various materials representing the “stalks.” The 4s then created gorgeous detailed haunted houses, with silver painted stars, learning how to draw a spooky tree, and adding drawn windowpanes. We are identifying shapes, types of lines, and colors. Just yesterday we started a fun pumpkin lesson creating an expressive face and practicing our stripes to show the ridges! I look forward to another month with these art superstars!
Miss Anna
Our young artists have been busy exploring lines, shapes, colors, and creative techniques!
The 4s class created beautiful “Line Gardens,” using a variety of lines to draw flowers before bringing their artwork to life with watercolors. The 3s class practiced tracing different types of lines and then created their own unique line drawings, which they also painted with watercolors.
Both the 3s and 4s explored the shapes and forms of apples through collage. The 3s practiced important fine motor skills by ripping, tearing, and gluing paper inside an apple outline. The 4s took their learning a step further by drawing their own apples before filling them with torn paper. These projects encouraged students to observe shapes, explore lines and forms, and think carefully about the size and proportions of their drawings.
Most recently, we read Mixed: A Color Story and explored primary and secondary colors. Our young artists experimented with color mixing by pressing red, yellow, and blue paint together to discover the new colors they could create. By folding and pressing their papers, they also discovered the magic of symmetry, creating colorful, one-of-a-kind paintings!
Ms. Angela’s
Our annual Halloween parade will take place on Monday, October 26th. The parade will take place around the outside perimeter of our school beginning at 11:00 AM & 2:30 PM. Visitors will not be able to enter the building after the parade. If the weather does not cooperate, the parade will take place on Wednesday, October 28th. If we experience inclement weather on October 28th, the parade will be held inside for the children. I am sorry, adults will not be able to view the parade indoors if we have inclement weather.
Our four-year-old classrooms have been busy this month exploring fire prevention, places in our neighborhood, and pumpkins! During Bridges Math, we investigated patterns, practiced measuring, created graphs, and identified attributes using pumpkins and leaves. We also enjoyed making fresh apple cider with Mr. Andrew and Miss Emma. The Long Hill Fire Department visited our school to teach us about fire safety, introduce us to firefighters, and give us a close-up look at a fire truck.
In October, we began our Social Thinking curriculum with Unit 1, “Thinking Thoughts and Feeling Feelings.” The children are learning that our thoughts happen in our brains and our feelings are felt in our hearts. They are also discovering how our thoughts and feelings work together.
Next month, we look forward to exploring the themes of thankfulness, family, and shapes through fun, hands-on learning experiences.
Please continue to encourage your child to practice independence throughout the day. Everyday routines provide wonderful opportunities for children to build confidence and develop important self-help skills. Some ways to support independence at home include encouraging your child to put on their coat, shoes, and clothing independently; open containers and snack packages; and practice fastening buttons and zipping zippers.
TECEC parent/teacher conferences will take place in the afternoons of October 27 and October 29 from 1:00 PM - 4:00 PM. In addition, we have an evening conference date on November 5 from 6:00 PM - 8:00 PM. All students will be dismissed at 11:20 AM on those three days to accommodate the conferences. There are no afternoon classes those three days.
Conferences are a fantastic opportunity to meet with your child’s teacher and review the progress made since the beginning of this school year. Conferences are generally fifteen minutes in length and designed to provide an overview of your child’s pre-readiness, social, language, and motor skill development.
School Appointments Instructions
Go to our school appointments: TECEC Parent-Teacher Conferences
Register for an account by clicking the "REGISTER" menu tab and filling in the on-line form. Choose a user id and password for yourself and then click the "Register Now" button.
Please enter an email address so we can send a reminder.
Add your children into the system by clicking the "Add a Student" button. Click the "Insert New" button to add more children.
Click the "book appointment" icon beside each child's name to schedule appointments.
Select your child’s teacher to book an appointment.
Click on the available time slot to book your appointment and click view appointment to confirm.
To Delete Appointments:
Click “View Appointments” from the HOME page.
You will then see the list of appointments that you have booked. To delete any of the appointments, click the red “x” icon beside the appointment.
If your child is receiving special education support and you would like to invite related services professionals such as their speech therapist, occupational therapist, physical therapist, social worker, or psychologist to your meeting, please fill out the following form in addition to the school appointment portal above Related Services Conference Request. We will do our best to accommodate your request.
If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me or your child’s classroom teacher(s).
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 2026-2027 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, November 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
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 Thursday, November 12 at 7:00 PM at a location that has yet to be determined.
