Video: Vocabulary Words with Tutor
Here's one more quick video snippet of a tutoring session from this year's camp season. Here, the tutor assists the camper with a growing list of vocabulary words. Notice how she slips in last week's challenge words and how she coaches the camper toward a process of elimination with his new challenge word for this week. Her tone of voice is gentle, her delivery is kind and consistent, and the student responds with positive, clear thinking and engaged learning. [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jn9ZePa9RPQ&w=640&h=360]
Week Eight in Photos
Video: Tutoring Victory with Spelling Rule
We are so proud of all our campers and just happened to luck out one afternoon when we got this video clip of excellent work being done by tutor Valerie and camper Cole. High five to both of them (with a little help and observations from Susie on the side). Check out what they discovered in just one, short session:
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1_z2um_YXuA]
Week Seven in Photos
Back to School Book Recs (for parents)
More than any other book about your rights, the rights of your child, and the roles of teachers and schools--this book, Tests & Assessments published by Wrightslaw--will get you through the ins and outs of the school year logistics. Susie recommends it highly. The founder of Wrightslaw, Pete Wright, even spent some time with us on the phone last year so that we could publish an interview with him on this blog. Learn more about his story from personal experience to Supreme Court by clicking the links. Pete's grandson also happened to go to camp this summer!
View additional book recs and research articles here.
Week Six in Photos
Video Clips from Early Summer
In case you missed this series of "sneak peek" videos from our first half of summer,
we thought we'd share them here on the blog. We're always a week or so behind with our photos on Facebook,
because we live without Internet at camp (yay!). These videos should tide you over until next week. Enjoy!
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=90f6S4PzSB0?list=UUTBl6_O5vTjJeQPlcoeAJaA]
View 4 more clips by clicking the "playlist" option in the upper left, or right here on our YouTube Channel.
Week Five in Photos
Video: Application (Review & Reinforce)
Continuing our series of videos on tutoring, today's clip features a short lesson on "R&R," review and reinforce. This involves application of all the concepts a student has learned, presented in random order. Watch for opportunities for visual and auditory learning. For more videos, subscribe to our YouTube channel on the right sidebar of this blog.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1tnIQWrXTAs&w=640&h=360]
Week Four in Photos
Video: Tutoring for Phonograms
A quick "hello" to new readers out there who signed up for our blog this weekend after dropping off your child at Camp Spring Creek. We post every Tuesday and Thursday, with additional updates on Facebook. Summers will include a weekly photo collage or slideshow. Because we have no Internet access at camp, our weekly slideshows usually publish a few days after the week is finished. They're worth the wait, we promise! Meantime...
Last month, Susie led another Associate Level Orton-Gillingham training course and we used that opportunity to create a series of videos showing our participants in training as they practice with a "tutee" (an adult acting like a young student). Today, we'd like to share the video on phonograms with you:
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=imLZ3I_usF8&w=640&h=360]
Week Three in Photos
More Week 2: Our Fourth of July
As we recap on last week at Camp Spring Creek, we find that the time is flying by because of all of the fun, studying, reading, playing, friend-making and good old camp activities! These good old camp activities include archery, paintball, free swim, creek walks, learning to build shelters in nature, visiting the public pool in Spruce Pine, and going to the lake Sunday morning. On Wednesday July 2, Camp Spring Creek was involved in Penland's annual parade. Camp Spring Creek decided to show-off famous people who have dyslexia. The campers and counselors made signs and face masks. Some of the famous people with dyslexia included Vince Vaughn, Leonardo da Vinci, Cher, Orlando Bloom, Jay Leno, Jim Carrey, John Lennon and Whoopi Goldberg. There was free ice cream after the parade and award ceremony. The campers did an awesome job preparing and being in the parade and they even won an award!
When it became dark, we all stayed for the fireworks show.
Fortunately, those were not the only fireworks we witnessed. On the Fourth of July, Camp Spring Creek went to Bakersville for the Independence Day event. There, we played on the playground, listened to a live band and, once it became dark, watched more fireworks! We're having a bit of trouble getting pics from camp into town, where there is Internet, so please stay tuned and thanks for your patience!
Jen on Summer Slide
Today, we'd like to continue our discussion on summer slide. In addition to advice from Susie, we spoke with Jen Ramming, Director of OpenDoors of Asheville whom we partner with for trainings and scholarships. Jen had this to say about summer slide:
OpenDoors of Asheville works primarily with students from multigenerational poverty, but our support families and their children also struggle to avoid summer slide. Many parents, regardless of their tax bracket, have to work during summer while school is out, so they search for high quality enrichment programs that make the students' summer fun and memorable, while helping them use their hard-earned skills from the previous year and not fall behind.
Unfortunately, summer achievement loss is particularly evident in reading ability. While many students show some loss in reading skills over the summer months, low-income students, who often do not have access to books in the home, experience an average loss in reading achievement that outpaces their time spent out of school (Cooper, 1996). This is especially critical for rising third graders, as their window for learning to read proficiently is quickly closing. We find one antidote to this slide is for parents and mentors to find quiet time to read to children or listen to books on smart phones and other mobile devices.
We also find it imperative to provide camp opportunities where healthy peer relationships can flourish and academics are quietly woven into the day in a way that helps struggling learners find new reference points for their knowledge.
Most students also lose about two months of grade level equivalency in mathematical computation skills over the summer months, but more than half of the reading and math achievement gap between lower- and higher-income youth can be explained by unequal access to summer learning opportunities. As a result, low-income youth are less likely to graduate from high school or enter college (Alexander, et al, 2007). OpenDoors endeavors to find summer camps and enrichment activities for every child in order to allow kids to bloom all summer long, and come back to school in the fall ahead of where they left off.
Doesn't this continued investment in children, year round, make sense to all of us?
Week Two in Photos
Week One in Photos
It has been a jam-packed, fun-filled first week here at Camp Spring Creek. The campers have all settled in just fine and there have only been a few mild-cases of homesickness. So far, the activities during this last week included: free swim, kickball, volleyball, capture the flag, creek hikes, dodgeball, water polo and a balloon scavenger hunt. On Friday night, there was a big campfire and we made s'mores. Saturday, we hiked in the Lost Cove (Wilson's Creek). The campers had a great time swimming in the creek and hiking. Sunday, we are going tubing on the river.
When the campers are not doing fun activities, they are busy working with their tutors. The Trail of Pages, the total amount of pages read by campers during the morning reading hour, this week has a total (all campers) of 2,937 pages read. Check below for the whole chart!
It has only been the first week and there have already been some great experiences! 
Check back for more updates!
Interview: The Esteemed Diana Hanbury King
Eager for camp photos? Check out our Facebook page while you stay tuned for Week One in Photos coming this Tuesday.
Today's inspiring individual is Diana King, one of the topmost influential Orton Gillingham practitioners in history, friend and mentor to the van der Vorsts, and all-around lifetime inspiration. In the course of her 54 years as a teacher, she has transformed the lives of countless young people with dyslexia by giving them hope for a normal and successful future. King has been working with dyslexic children almost longer than anyone else in the field. She is the recipient of the International Dyslexia Association Lifetime Achievement Award, among other recognitions, and continues to support and guide Steve and Susie in their dream to grow Camp Spring Creek.
Camp Spring Creek: You’re known for teaching and inspiring so many others—from students, to parents, to administrators, to today’s top teachers. But you’re also a student of life and were once in school yourself. Please share an "ah-hah" moment that you’ve had as a “learner,” inside or outside the classroom. What were you attempting to do, how did someone help you see it differently, and what did it feel like to succeed?
Diana King: What I remember best were those few moments when someone expressed confidence in me and in my ability to learn. When I was about nine, Alan Brown, a neighbor and Air Force pilot, taught me long division in a way that I understood it. He also gave me a test of digit recall and was impressed with how many I remember—I still have a high score on digit span. Then, when I was ten, I was in a classroom where the other students were learning Latin, which I had never done. I was supposed to be studying something else on my own, but then I blurted out an answer to one of the questions the teacher posed. Immediately, I was invited to join the Latin class. Finally, when I was about thirteen at school in Bermuda, Charles Violet, who also taught me to sail, asked me if I would like to be the school meteorologist. I had no idea what the word meant, but he explained that I would make daily observations of temperature, relative humidity, barometric pressure, and wind speed, and that those results would be sent into the weather bureau in Hamilton.
CSC: You’ve gone on record stating that it is possible to determine whether or not a child has a learning difference by age 4. What are the telltale signs parents and teachers can look for, even in the face of being told by many others that it is “too early to tell”?
DK: First of all, it is important to learn, not just which family members are or were dyslexic, or had difficulty with reading or speaking, but what they are or were good at. If Dad is an architect and Mom is a watercolor artist, or grandfather was an inventor, a surgeon, or an engineer, the dyslexic trait is likely to be in the family. Pay attention to handedness, not just in the immediate family, but in relatives. Does the child show signs of mixed dominance or of being late in establishing dominance? Dyslexia is more common in families where there is a history of mixed dominance. Then of course, one would like to know what the child is good at. Does he enjoy skateboarding or skiing—dyslexic individuals have an enhanced sense of balance. Does he spend hours building elaborate constructions out of Legos? Finally, what about his or her speech? Little reversals such as washerdisher or flutterby may be cute, but they are also symptomatic. Can he rhyme, or does he notice rhyme? The time to diagnose dyslexia is before the child has a chance to fail at reading.
CSC: You co-founded Camp Dunnerback and Kildonan, which have changed the lives of so many people. But despite scholarships that are available, these experiences are not available to the vast majority of children with dyslexia. What would you say to a parent who does not have extra time, energy, finances, or community resources…but has a hunch that “something’s up” with their child’s learning style? How can this parent get his or her child what is needed within the family’s means?
DK: One possibility is to investigate services that may be free. Teachers trained at the Scottish Rite Centers are well qualified, for example. Sometimes members of the Academy of Orton Gillingham Practitioners and Educators have members willing to tutor at no cost, or students under training who need a student for their practicum. If all else fails, the best bet might be home schooling. Mothers can work under supervision and work successfully, especially at the beginning stages.
CSC: Please tell our readership about the first time you met Susie and Steve, and how your lives have criss-crossed over the years:
DK: I first remember Steve and Susie as fixtures in the summer program, long before they married. Steve, a quiet and rather shy Dutchman, was a reliable member of our counseling staff and taught swimming and life-saving skills. Susie was vibrant, flirtatious, impulsive, and energetic and an enthusiastic tutor. Their marriage seemed an unlikely combination. In later years, I was able to watch them develop their dream into what became Camp Spring Creek, and raise their three wonderful children. It has been a long and meaningful friendship.
CSC: Congratulations on retiring! How are you spending your days and what’s been the most surprising about this next phase of your life?
DK: The days are never long enough for all I want to do. I garden, cook, enjoy friends, attend local concerts and art shows, watch Netflix movies, read every day—finally time for War and Peace—and try to learn as much as I can about subjects I had never studied. Since my learning has been in languages (French, German, Italian, and Russian), and I never took a science course except for botany as a requirement for my master’s degree, I have become passionate about making up for the deficit. I relish the Great Courses programs and have delved into geology, oceanography, astronomy, anthropology, and am now tackling chemistry and hope to go on to physics and calculus. I am hoping for another ten years.
We’re hoping for at least that many, Diana. Thank you for everything you do!
Staff Training in Photos
Our Camp Counselors are Here!
Here's a group shot of our camp counselors during lifeguard training, which began June 5th and continues
with general camp training right up until the last minute, when the campers arrive on June 15th.
From near and far, we're overjoyed to have a stellar team this summer and can't wait to kick things off!
