LOWER SCHOOL NEWS
Friday, September 3, 2004

Learn More About the Riggs Institute Writing Road To Reading and Spelling!
All SFCS 1st and 2nd Grade students will be using the Riggs Institute Writing Road to Reading and Spelling. An informational parent meeting about this phonics program will be held on Thursday. September 9, at 7:00 p.m. The meeting will be held in Room 202 on the Lower School Campus. Please plan to attend. Riggs flashcards and/or a CD may be purchased in the Lower School Office.

Dr. Mildred Young shares the first ever SEEDS book, "Frederick"

When your path crosses a person like Mildred Young, you need to stop and visit for awhile. She would rather you not know that her “official title” is Dr. Mildred Young, or that she backs her passion with multiple degrees in Gifted Education, Children’s Literature and Curriculum Development from the University of Georgia and Furman University. When you first meet her, she breezes over her 32 years of experience in the Greenville Public School District or her 18 years of teaching at Furman University.

Young would rather you just know that she has a passion…a passion for literature. Even more important, Young has a passion for the children of our world who will turn their love of reading into plans for the future. That was the passion that gave birth to the SEEDS Program that SFCS will utilize this year in K5 through 5th Grade. Thanks to a donation from the SFCS/ PTF and a generous contribution from the Kiwanis Club of Greenville- Eastside, SFCS was able to purchase this unique program.

The ‘SEED’ was planted in Young’s mind in the late ‘70s. As a 5th Grade teacher, she realized that students were not comprehending the basic concepts of thinking, research and planning that are essential to future success in life. Her experience during the formation of the Talented and Gifted program in the Greenville School System only proved that these essential needs were still not being addressed, even at the gifted level. Young identified four core needs that were not being nurtured:

1. Children did not know how to conduct research.
2. Children did not possess critical thinking skills.
3. Children did not have productive thinking skills.
4. Children did not share a love of literature.

SFCS parents train to plant the SEEDS of success at SFCS

These “alarms” were enough to prompt Young to further pursue these challenges. While researching for her doctorate in the mid-‘80s, the SEEDS Program was born in the library of Duncan Chapel School. Young developed and wrote a program that stimulated children to read or hear a story and get the facts from that story. Then, children are challenged to go beyond those facts and explore open-ended questions designed to encourage a student to come up with unique and original responses. One of Young’s favorite memories was from a small child who was asked, “How would you show someone you liked them?” The child responded, “If I were a cat, I would purr.” Young recently held a SEEDS training seminar for SFCS parents, who will be carrying these nuggets of wisdom into the K5 – 5th Grade classrooms. While addressing the seminar, Young shared that SFCS trainees will be teaching children, “who will have the ideas that may save our world. This is not a ‘gluing macaroni noodles to a box program,’” added Young. “This is a thinking skills program, one that will last a lifetime.”

SFCS is unique to the SEEDS Program in that for the first time in the history of SEEDS planted in any school, Young is thrilled to have the full support of teachers at all levels. “ This is so exciting to me,” exclaimed Young. “Of all of the schools I have ever worked with, SFCS is the first where I’ve had total teacher involvement.”

“These teachers are wonderful,” added Young. This is a breakthrough for Young in that SEEDS is a parent volunteer program, but with teacher support, it can grow into a wonderful exploration of literature, thinking skills, creative brainstorming, research and many more learning tools. These skills will not only benefit our Lower School students, but students who have experienced SEEDS reap the benefits in the Middle and Upper School years to come.

Please stay tuned to the Lower School Parent’s Page and the Crusader Communiqué for future parent SEEDS training opportunities. You won’t want to miss a chance to be involved in this exciting program to plant the SEEDS of success in the lives of our students.

Understanding how memory works is the underlying component in successful learning. Students may be unsuccessful academically due to problems with their memory. Here are some tips to exert the memory muscle. Studying for a test is a healthful exercise for mind development. It’s a vivid lesson in getting prepared for an important event. Such “tests” will continue long after graduation.

• The time before falling asleep is crucial in filing knowledge in longterm memory. Instead of a child calling a friend between homework and bedtime, place the call before studying. Sleeping right after studying is the best way to foster optimal consolidation in memory.
• Teach your child that concentration is vital to productive memory. Attention to what’s being studied will improve memory function.
• Children should devise their own system of how to use their memory. They should figure out the best way for them to remember the subject matter and put it in an organized format. It could be frequent rereading of notes or selftesting.
• Always exercise active working memory. Arithmetic is one method, such as mentally calculating 11 times 21 and going on to larger numbers. Reading bolsters working memory, especially if you highlight sections of text and then orally summarize it.
• The keys are proper preparation and anticipation. This habit will also help in preparing for an important career event.

Shannon Forest Christian School is pleased to announce that 4th Grade student, Mattie Roesch had been chosen to participate in the Visual Arts Program of Arts Reaching Middle and Elementary Students (A.R.M.E.S.) at the Fine Arts Center in Greenville. Roesch was nominated along with approximately 600 other area students with only 80 spaces available for the fall. She auditioned in the spring, was notified this past summer and offered a space in the program. Roesch will begin the after school program each Monday and Wednesday throughout the school year. The A.R.M.E.S. Visual Arts Program gives students experience with a wide variety of both two and three dimensional art forms. Drawing, painting, printmaking and ceramics are some of the areas that will be covered in the program. Congratulations, Mattie

Students in PK4, K5 and 1st Grade will begin SFCS Intramural Soccer on Wednesday, September 8. This is a wonderful opportunity to learn fundamentals in a non-threatening environment. Sessions will be held each Wednesday from 3:00 p.m. until 4:00 p.m. through September 29. Participants will be escorted across the street to the Upper School Soccer Field. Parents may pick up their children on the Upper School side of the street at 4:00 p.m. 2nd through 6th Grade Soccer begins on Wednesday, October 13.

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