When campers leave for the summer, Susie's engagement with students doesn't end. Helping local teachers in Western North Carolina to help their students is both her personal passion and part of the mission of Camp Spring Creek. In the past few weeks, Susie has been busy doing demonstrations in Mitchell County elementary schools. Working with students in grades K-3, she demonstrated some of the key concepts of the Orton-Gillingham approach.
Focus on Handwriting
Achieving a proper pencil grip is important in helping kids to write with greater efficiency, leading to greater endurance. When students have a proper pencil grip, they are able to focus on what they want to write, rather than how to write it. That also applies to letter formation. If a child has to think about how to form a letter or use too many strokes to make a letter, that detracts from his or her ability to get thoughts down on paper. Susie worked with students to improve their pencil grips, making written expression easier.
Phonemic Awareness
To build confidence in beginning readers, Susie encourages them to start with what they know in small bits, then read and "spell sound" to build up to words. While working through words, Susie provides incidental vocabulary as needed. When working with a group of third graders recently, for example, she encouraged them to help her spell the word "marmalade." By "chunking" the word into syllables, most students were able to figure out how to spell it.
Bringing multisensory techniques to local classrooms give learners in these under-resourced schools access to the techniques used by our tutors at camp. Helping teachers and helping all learners to love reading is one way that Camp Spring Creek gives back to the community!