We are so proud of all of our Five Oaks Academy students and families who have helped support Amman Imman this school year. Amman Imman is a nonprofit organization dedicated to improving and saving the lives of the some of the poorest and most abandoned populations of the world by supplying permanent sources of water in the Azawak of West Africa. In this area, half a million people have no water for ten months of the year.

FOA students from the Lower Elementary classes held an Artist Bazaar where they sold hand made crafts to raise money in support of this worthy cause. These students planned, designed and created beautiful crafts to sell during this event. “Their creativity and passion are inspiring,” exclaimed one of our Lower Elementary teachers.  In addition to the Artist Bazaar and students personal donations, a water sale was held during a school wide event to help raise money and awareness for this charity.

Our students’ hard work and contributions truly make a difference in the lives of the people who live in the Azawak Valley, Niger. Please check out the below link to a blog post written about FOA students!

http://wellsofloveblog.ammanimman.org/2012/12/a-deposit-into-foundation-of-life.html

The most recent copy of “Tomorrow’s Child” is now available in the office. “Tomorrow’s Child” is a monthly magazine published by the International Montessori Council (IMC) with the purpose of further educating parents and teachers on the Montessori method. This magazine is a great resource that provides articles on how to nurture your child both academically and at home.

Five Oaks Academy has been a member of the IMC since our conception as a school. Every year we attend their National Conference and our Executive Director, Kathleen Trewhella-Grant, has completed their course on Building a World-Class Montessori School. The IMC also offers resources on Montessori education to parents and teacher on their website. For more information on IMC and Montessori education please visit www.montessori.org or stop by the office for the latest copy of “Tomorrow’s Child”.

The Winter 2012 edition of “Edible Upcountry” contains great articles on South Carolina foods as well as our most recent ad featuring one of our Middle School students, Carson Barber. Carson appears in the premier ad on our sustainable gardening project that includes raising our FOA chickens. Our organic chicken coup came to the campus this fall and is a middle school project that integrates our chickens into many aspects of the curriculum for each classroom level. Please pick up a copy of Edible upstate in the office or go edibleupcountry.ediblefeast.com

We would like to thank Carson’s dad, Dustin Barber, who designed and crafted a bench that has been placed beside our chicken coop. This bench provides our students a suitable place to observe the coop and to watch chicken life.

Our annual Holiday Program will be held Thursday, December 13 at 6pm at the Fountain Inn Center for the Visual and Performing Arts. Our holiday program is reflective of our student centered educational method. The students select songs and poems that incorporate what they are studying in the classroom. Our middle school students are producers of the program: handling both back stage operations and hosting during the performance. They will also be demonstrating their talents between acts by performing piano, guitar and vocal arrangements. Please join us for an evening of unique holiday cheer!

Please reserve your tickets to the show by going to our private web site at my.fiveoaksacademy.com.

Please join Five Oaks Academy for our 7th Annual Artists’ Bazaar! We will host this event in the house on November 29, 2012 from  2-7 pm. Artisans from our local community will sell handcrafted items. There will be unique items such as altered clothing, jewelry, soup, printmaking, aprons, picture frames, holiday decorations, banners and much more! A portion of the proceeds will go towards FOA’s Guest Artists Fund. This fund enables us to bring locally and nationally renowned artists to campus for student workshops.

In addition to all of the Artisan items, the Lower Elementary classrooms will be selling student-made crafts. All proceeds from these items will go to Amman Imman, a non-profit organization that raises money to build wells in the Azawak Valley of Niger, Africa.

From 5-7 there will be an adults only shopping time where wine and light hors d’oeuvres will be served. Bring a friend and get a head start on your holiday shopping!

        

The Five Oaks Academy Annual Fund Fall Fête will be held Friday, November 2 from 6:00PM until 9:00PM at The Loom at Cotton Mill Place in Simpsonville, SC.  Celebrating the fourth year of this annual event, the Fall Fête is the school’s largest adult social event of the year.  The Fall Fête provides a unique opportunity for faculty, parents and friends of Five Oaks Academy to come together and celebrate the past, present and future of our unique institution and the many wonderful contribution is has made to the Upstate of South Carolina.

Dinner and live music will be provided. Dress is fall casual attire. Childcare is provided upon advance request on campus at Five Oaks Academy.

All parents, adult family members, faculty and friends of Five Oaks Academy are encouraged to attend this once-a-year celebration.  Parents are requested to RSVP via the electronic invitation they received.  If you have questions, would like to RSVP or would like to confirm childcare for the evening, please contact the Five Oaks Academy front office.

        

SCETV’s P.A. Bennett visited Five Oaks on October 18 to sit down with Dr Hughes and discuss the current challenges plaguing the Nations educational system and the call for a revolutionary change in education. This episode of SCETV’s Connections will air on Friday, December 18 at 7:30 and Sunday, December 21 at 12:30. Connections is SCETV’s weekly public affairs program and online discussion about issues that affect South Carolina’s minority population.

On October 19 and 20, Five Oaks Academy teachers and faculty will be attending the South Carolina Montessori Alliance (SCMA) State Conference in Columbia for professional development. This Montessori conference is a combination of private and public schools coming together to emphasize the best practice in Montessori schools.

Dr. Steven Hughes, a leading pediatric neuropsychologist based in St Paul, is the keynote speaker for the state conference and will be discussing the current challenges plaguing the educational system and the call for a revolutionary change in education. There will be an array of speakers and topics covered, some of which include: “Why Johnny CAN Read”, “Creative Extensions to the Montessori Curriculum for the Child and the Adolescent”, ” When the Light is Dim:Strategies to Ignite and Organize the Struggling Student”, “Embracing Mindfulness in the Montessori Classroom and the Benefits of a Middle School Montessori Program”.

Kitty Bravo, from The Center for Guided Montessori Studies, will be speaking at SCMA in two sessions, “The Parameters of Freedom” and “What About Wanderers”. The first session will delve deeply into the importance of balancing freedom with responsibility and how a well prepared environment provides clear limits as the parameters of freedom. The second session will look children who wander instead of engaging in work. It will discuss the different types of wanderers, why they wander and how to guide them into meaningful activity. Following the conference, Kitty will come to Five Oaks Academy and observe our teachers in their classrooms on Tuesday, October 23.

On Friday, October 19th, the A.R.M.E.S (Arts reaching Middle and Elementary Students) program came to the FOA campus to perform for the students and faculty. The ARMES program is a tuition-free gifted and talented arts program designed to meet the needs of students in grades 4 through 8 who have demonstrated outstanding talents and a deep interest in strings, theatre, visual arts or dance. The purpose of the program is to allow students to explore their chosen art form indepth while promoting individual creativity.

FOA’s toddler directress, Miss Rosy, has a 13 year-old daughter who has played violin with the ARMES program for the past four years and is excited about performing for our community.

The ARMES Strings Chamber Music classes include four levels from beginner (students with no prior strings experience) to advanced.  Each class meets twice a week for a minimum of 90 minutes.  Student progression is based on mastery of each level’s curriculum and goals and lots of practice and fun!  Each student learns solo, chamber and orchestra music and is encouraged to develop love of all music.

Ms. Eleonore Shults, the current ARMES Strings teacher, started out as a viola player in the first class of ARMES in 1991.  She now teaches ARMES Strings at the Greenville Fine Arts Center and runs her own private lesson studio.  She currently performs with the Greenville Symphony Orchestra.  Teaching the ARMES Strings Classes is her favorite part of the day.

To find out more about the A.R.M.E.S program visit their website at www.armesprogram.com.

Five Oaks Academy is thrilled to announce that Dr Steven J. Hughes, PhD will be speaking for our Parent Lecture Series on October 18th. Prior to his visit to Five Oaks Academy, Dr Huges will be keynoting at the upcoming conference for the South Carolina Montessori Alliance (SCMA). In March, He will be a speaker at the American Montessori Society (AMS) conference.

Based out of London, Dr Steven J. Hughes, PhD, LP, ABPdN is a board-certified pediatric neuropsychologist who specializes in assessment and treatment planning for persons who have problems with attention, concentration, organization, planning, and related executive functions. He also consults with organizations about educational program evaluation, and speaks to groups around the world about developmental education, neurocognitive disorders, parenting, and other topics of interest to parents and educators. Hughes completed his PhD in clinical psychology at the University of Minnesota and his post-doctoral fellowship in pediatric neuropsychology at the University of Minnesota Medical School, where he served as a member of the faculty of the Division of Pediatric Clinical Neurosciences from 2001 to 2011.

In his clinical work, he has specialized in neuropsychological assessment of children and adolescents with a wide range of learning, developmental, and medical disorders, and assisted in the supervision and training of future neuropsychologists. Himself a Montessori parent, Dr. Hughes has helped many families from the Twin Cities Montessori community understand their child’s special educational or developmental needs. He is a lecturer at the Maria Montessori Institute in London, England, and the Montessori Training Center of Minnesota. He is also a frequent speaker at Montessori schools, regional and national conferences, and other events around the world.

His research interests include measurement of attention and executive functioning in children and adults, the effects of living in poverty on child development, and the neurodevelopmental benefits of classical Montessori education.  You can learn more about Dr. Hughes and his research by visiting www.goodatdoingthings.com.

Please put this amazing opportunity on your calendar. You will not want to miss this!

This event will be held at:
The Fountain Inn Center for Visual & Performing Arts
315 North Main Street
Fountain Inn, SC 29644

“Montessori is like education designed by a gifted pediatric
neuropsychologist!”

-Steve Hughes, Ph.D.