Acorn Toddler Center and Weekend Music Programs:
Acorn Toddler Center provides half-day enrichment programs for children from 0-3 with care-givers. The Little Oak introduced Gordon music program for babies from the US and started the first music program for babies in China. The half-day enrichment program provides socializing opportunities involves babies and toddlers into activities such as music and movement, story-telling, arts and crafts, and cooking. The weekend music programs provide music games and experiences to children from 6 months to 6 years old and prepare them well before they pursue more structured music learning.
The Little Oak Training Center:
The Little Oak Training Center provides training to early childhood professionals as well as parents. All the trainers, whether from our school or abroad, are current practitioners and are experts in their fields. The Little Oak provides comprehensive programs of workshops and customized training according to the needs. It also provides follow-up support to childcare centers all over the country.
The Little Oak Performing Group:
In order to continue our progressive music education after our children leave the school, with the support from the Chinese Orff-Schulwerk Association, the Little Oak founded a performing group in early 2006, consisted of school alumni and kindergarteners.? In the performing group, the children participate in Orff activities such as percussion instruments, drama, and composing. Chinese folk dances as well as tap dance are also taught to different groups of children.? The Little Oak Performing Group is very active in performing for disadvantaged groups. They often visit orphanages, elderly houses, as well as schools for children of migrant workers. Their performance is refreshing and well received. Highly interactive, their performance invites the audience to participate to a great extent, and conveys new ideas in music-making.
The Little Oak Kids' Care Club:
The Little Oak promotes compassion education and emphasizes the cultivation of social responsibility among children of the privileged families.? Every year, the Little Oak holds a year-end charity performance, followed by a school fair where children and alumni sell their works to raise funding to support underprivileged children.? In 2005, the Little Oak joined the US-based Kids' Care Club and work together with people all over the world who care about children's compassion education.
In 2001, the Little Oak raised funding for Xinyun School for Handicapped Children to renovate their classroom;
Enter 2001>>
In 2002, the Little Oak raised enough funding to support 3 orphans to have heart surgery;
Enter 2002>>
In 2003, the Little Oak cooperated with Parents Magazine and CCTV to raise funding for Children's Hope Foundation;
Enter 2003>>
In 2004, the Little Oak raised funding for orphans in Philip Hayden Children's Village and Loving Tree Foster Home;
Enter 2004>>>
In 2005, families in the Little Oak made more than 200 gift boxes for all the children in Wangjiayu Orphanage in Auhui Province, and raised enough funding to give all the orphans New Year lucky money as a token of love from family members
Enter 2005>>> (This story is featured in Young Hero at following link:
http://www.kidscare.org/files/YH_Spring_2007_rev2.1.pdf
In 2006, children in the Little Oak made jewelry to be auctioned to the parents and raised funding to support orphans in New Day Foster Home to have various kinds of surgery, who later fully recovered to health and attended several year-end performances of our school.
Enter 2006>>>
In 2007, the Little Oak raised funding for orphans in Wangjiayu Orphanage again. The funding not only provided New Year lucky money for the orphans, but also covered some medical expenses.
In 2008, the Little Oak raised funding to help an orphan in Angel Mom Foster Home have hear surgery.
Enter 2008>>>
The Little Oak Employee Volunteering Project
Since 2005, with the help of Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, the Little Oak launched its Employee Volunteering Project. In the project, teachers in the Little Oak (sometimes with their family members) volunteer in the following activities: teach weekend arts classes to elementary school students in schools for migrant workers; teach weekend toddler classes in community center for migrant worker families; provide arts training for teachers in preschools and elementary schools for migrant workers; provide early childhood training for teachers in remote areas, etc. After the May 12 earthquake in Sichuan in 2008, the Little Oak sent volunteers to help a foundation set up temporary childcare center in Sichuan.
Environmental and Food-Safety Alert:
The founder of the Little Oak, as fellow of the international organization Institute of Leadership for Environment and Development, has brought environmental consciousness into the school. The curriculum emphasizes harmonious relationships with nature. Teachers work hard to take safe recycled materials for classroom use, which in turn, not only help preserve our mother earth, but also cultivate children's environmental consciousness and creativity. Teachers and many families in the school participate in nature-oriented activities such as bird watching, tree-planting, and efforts to combat desertification. The Little Oak also pays close attention to food-safety alert, and help in disseminating information and goods in organic farming.