South Connection

South Connection is Oakwood's enrichment program that provides supervised activities for K-6 students throughout the school year and during the summer.

South Connection believes:

• That each child is unique
• That elementary school-age children should have a healthy and safe after-school experience
• That a structured, enriched environment enhances a child’s emotional and developmental growth
• That parent-school-community cooperation is essential for healthy child development
• That children need opportunities to explore and learn in a variety of settings
• That a child’s sense of security is enhanced by adult attention and supervision
• That a child’s self-esteem develops through positive experiences with adults and other children
• That each child needs age appropriate opportunities to develop problem solving and decision-making skills
• That children learn in varied ways from many life experiences and that exposure to a wide age range of people, multi-generational, is actually beneficial

Goals and Objectives

1. To provide a safe, nurturing environment for elementary-age children
2. To give children a chance to relax and renew their energies by means of exercises and activities designed toward this end
3. To provide a wide variety of activities in which children can be involved
4. To provide opportunities for children to make choices about activities, practice being responsible, and use problem solving skills
5. To provide appropriate physical activities to channel children’s energies and strengthen their bodies
6. To introduce children to experiences in arts, crafts, music, drama, and nature and help them develop their own creativity
7. To enhance the child’s feeling of self-esteem
8. To facilitate the development of each child’s social skills and encourage treating everyone with kindness and respect
9. To provide opportunities for children to develop relationships with adults and other children