Over 100 years ago, Dr. Maria Montessori, an Italian physician and educator, began a revolution by calling for a transformation in education using science as a means to developing new educational methods.

Dr. Montessori’s innovative approach to observing children through the lens of a scientist resulted in her developing a method of education, the Montessori method, that was based on human development and the needs of children at different ages. Her findings provided educators with a new understanding of child development. She discovered that students thrive in an environment that stresses the development of a child’s individual and natural abilities, promotes respect towards the child, provides a stimulating curriculum with hands-on learning materials, and allows choices and independence within structure.

There are now more than 22,000 Montessori schools in at least 110 countries worldwide. We are thankful for the opportunities this educational method offers our students. Our governor, Henry McMaster, has continued the tradition of recognizing “Montessori Week” by signing the State of South Carolina Governor’s Proclamation that proclaims February 26 – March 2, 2018, is  Montessori Education Week. This week is celebrated by several thousand Montessori schools worldwide each year!

This year, The FOA Parent Teacher Organization (PTO) celebrated this week with a variety of school spirit activities that gave students the opportunity to celebrate our special school. Additionally, FOA hosted ten Polish Montessori educators and administrators to share and affirm the Montessori method on an international level.

After qualifying at SCISA’s Regional Spelling Bee on January 24, Reece. F, Zoe P. and Ranjan J. headed to the statewide spelling bee competition on February 21. We are proud Reece F. for becoming the 2018 SCISA State Spelling Bee 4th Grade Champion!

We are also proud of Zoe P. for becoming the 2018 SCISA State Spelling Bee 8th Grade Runner-Up and Ranjan J. for placing 3rd in the 8th-grade competition!

Your hard work and commitment paid off and you represented FOA well! Congratulations!

Congratulations to the Five Oaks Academy Middle School Quiz Bowl Team for winning the 2018 SCISA Regional Middle School Quiz Bowl on February 7. This victory qualifies them to compete in the 2018 SCISA State Quiz Bowl that will be held later this month. We are so proud of your hard work and effort!

2018 Middle School Quiz Bowl Team: Marcos, Thomas, Ranjan, Zoe, Sam, and Coach Matt Lehman (Not Pictured)

In the Primary Montessori classroom, children learn the sounds of the alphabet using the sandpaper letters. Beginning around age 3 each child is introduced to a few letters sounds at a time until they have mastered a good portion of the alphabet. Using the sandpaper letters, they trace the letter as it would be written while making the sound of the letter. They see, feel, and hear the sound as it is being pronounced. The shape of the letter becomes part of their muscle memory. The Primary children learn through touch and not memorization.

Dr. Montessori found that children were capable of encoding words months before they developed the hand-eye coordination needed to control a pencil. Words are built using the movable alphabet using objects or pictures representing a cat, bug, mat, etc. The child will sound out the letters and begin to build the words. They will naturally write larger words until their fine motor skills strengthen.

During the time children compose words with the moveable alphabet, they are practicing concentration and body control with the Practical Life and Sensorial materials. Letters are being written in sand, with chalk, and even water against chalkboards. These materials allow for practice without the frustration of writing on paper with an eraser. They are then introduced to the metal insets, which offers practice in pencil control, lightness of touch, as well as design qualities. It is the three materials; sandpaper letters, moveable alphabet, and the metal insets, which are the core of the handwriting and word building curriculum for the three and four-year-old.

The Kindergarten students begin using specially lined writing paper during their Kindergarten year.  This helps with establishing where each letter sits on the line.  Their writing naturally becomes smaller and formation improves.  The Kindergarten students practice handwriting daily.

The handwriting sequence in the Primary classroom prepares a child’s mind and hand to be able to write.  After a child has learned to write letters and words, practice and development exercises will help them improve their handwriting as they progress into their elementary years. Their writing will become legible, beautiful, and unique. Each child will learn to write but each does so in their own way. Uniqueness is fixed when the mechanism of writing is well established. Once a handwriting style is set, it tends to remain fairly well intact throughout adulthood thus highlighting how important the handwriting process and preparations are so this childhood acquisition will be correctly set.

Congratulations to the students from FOA’s Lower Elementary, Upper Elementary, and Middle School classrooms who participated in the SCISA Regional Spelling Bee on January 24, 2018. They all did an outstanding job!!

The participants are:

LE: Gabriela and Ethan

UE: Maddie, Reece, Mac, and Chance

MS: Zoe and Ranjan

Good Luck to Zoe, Ranjan, and Reece! They qualified to compete in the SCISA State Spelling Bee on February 21!

(Photo Credit: Erin McCall, FOA Parent)

FOA Students Participated in the SCISA Regional Spelling Bee on January 24

Five Oaks Academy’s Middle School and Upper Elementary Battle of the Books teams represented our school well at the South Carolina Independent School Association’s (SCISA’s) Regional Battle of the Books competition on Tuesday, Nov. 7 at Newberry College. Middle School placed 5th out of 27 teams and will be advancing to the State competition held later this month.  The Upper Elementary Team placed 12th out of 30 teams. We are so proud of the hard work shown by both of our teams in reading up to 20 books over the summer and practicing weekly in preparation for this competition. Congratulations to both of our teams!

Many of the parents of the team members have commented on how the Battle of the Books experience has encouraged their child to read books they might not necessarily have chosen on their own and how it has inspired a love of reading in their child.

We are excited to announce that Caroline Sellars, former assistant in the Lower Elementary 2 classroom, has followed through on her dream of becoming a published author! Her first book has been published and is for sale on Amazon! Middle School will be hosting our former Five Oaks faculty member on Tuesday, December 12th as a guest speaker and for a book signing. Congratulations Ms. Caroline on reaching for your dreams and inspiring our students to do the same!

For more information on her recently published book or to purchase her book, click here.

Failure is NOT a bad word! It could be the best gift you give to your child!

What?!?

Join the PTO for Montessori Parents in Action (MPIA) this Friday, November 10 from 8:30-10:00 for an open discussion on the book The Gift of Failure: How the Best Parents Learn to Let Go So Their Children Can Succeed  with specific focus on Part 1 of the book “Failure: A Most Valuable Parenting Tool.”

Please come even if you have not had the opportunity to read the book. This is such an important topic as many parents struggle with deciding on when to step in to help a child and when to allow a child to fail and learn from that failure. See below to learn more about this worthwhile book to read and join in the conversation!!!

In this book, Jessica Lahey delves into modern parenting and the tendencies towards overprotectiveness: parents who run home to retrieve forgotten homework assignments, deliver forgotten lunches to school, mastermind children’s friendships and interfere on the playing field. Children are robbed of the opportunity to experience failure and in turn the opportunity to learn from failure and learn to solve their own problems.

Jessica writes, “Out of love and desire to protect our children’s self-esteem, we have bulldozed every uncomfortable bump and obstacle out of the way, clearing the manicured path we hoped would lead to success and happiness. Unfortunately, in doing so we have deprived our children of the most important lessons of childhood. The setbacks, mistakes, miscalculations, and failures we have shoved out of our children’s way are the very experiences that teach them how to be resourceful, persistent, innovative and resilient citizens of this world.” Additionally, she writes “In order to help children make the most of their education, parents must begin to relinquish control and focus on three goals: embracing opportunities to fail, finding ways to learn from that failure, and creating positive home/school relationships.”

We hope you will join us for a group discussion of this well written and thought-provoking book.

Please join the Primary teachers for a Parent Workshop exploring the Montessori math curriculum this Thursday, November 9 from 6:00 p.m.-7:00 p.m.  This workshop will help parents understand the sequence of the Primary math curriculum as well as become familiar with many of the math manipulatives.

We welcome perspective Pre-Primary and Primary parents to this informative night.  We kindly ask that you RSVP so we can be prepared with an appropriate number of chairs for the presentation. Please RSVP to Jessica Greer at jessica@fiveoaksacademy.com by Thursday at noon.

This workshop will be beneficial to parents of boys and girls alike as Ted will discuss the unique academic, social, and emotional development of each gender.

Please join FOA and Guest Speaker Ted Braude on October 12 at 6:00 pm at the Windy Hill Event Barn in Simpsonville. Ted is a psychologist, therapist, international speaker, and author who will give a special presentation, “Men in the Making: Boys Grow Through Strength and Play”. During this time he will delve into the intricacies of raising boys into men. However, this workshop will be beneficial to parents of boys and girls alike. Ted will highlight the developmental differences in genders as well as the differences in relating to girls both academically and socially.

Please RSVP at   https://foatedbraude.eventbrite.com so we will have adequate seating available. We will also have childcare on the FOA campus for current students Primary age and older.

On Friday, October 13 at 8:30 a.m. Ted will join us during our Montessori Parents in Action (M.P.I.A.) for a Q & A session.

We are honored that Ted has accepted our invitation to come to the Upstate and speak to the Greenville community. For more information on Ted and how he helps boys reach their full potential as men, visit his website at https://www.boysworkproject.com/.