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The Capital Disctrict Parent Pages Features are cover stories pulled from our print edition. For ALL features, stories & more, pick up an issue at one of our many locations.
Camp instills confidence: Program caters to kids with language-based learning disabilities
Posted on Thu, April 23rd, 2009
Written by: J.B. Baker, Editor
email: cdparentpg@aol.com
Camp Dunnabeck, offering 350 acres of green rolling grounds and an A-to-Z list of fun activities including archery, canoeing, ceramics, hiking, horseback riding, painting, sailing, soccer, softball, swimming, tennis, tubing, wakeboarding and yoga, is any summer camper’s dream come true. But Camp Dunnabeck, established in 1955, caters to a specific audience, children who are underachieving or failing in school because of dyslexia or language-based learning disabilities.
Dyslexia is an inherited neurological condition that makes it extremely difficult for a person to read, write and spell in their native language — despite their intelligence level.
Dunnabeck, the oldest residential program of its kind, is located at the Kildonan School in Amenia, Dutchess County. The school works with dyslexic students, ages 8 to 16, to help them “decode” language. And while the summer campers — either half-day, full-day or boarders, are at camp to get intensive one-on-one training using the Orton-Gillingham language-training philosophy, the program’s recreational activities were created to help the campers develop self-confidence and creativity since failure in school can inhibit creativity, as well as erode confidence.
Cameron Kemmer, now 12, from Holmes, spent the past two summers attending the day camp at the Dunnabeck. At first he was reluctant to give up his summer going to “a stupid educational camp,” his mother, Maura Kemmer said.
“Within one day he could not wait to go back,” Kemmer said. “It is the balance of activities; he had never been tubing, or speed-boating or horseback riding. Also, he got one-on-one time with the tutor. … They kept saying ‘You can do this, look how great you are.’ School can be overwhelming. Even though dyslexic kids are smart kids, they just have glitch.”
Kemmer said that she and her husband were amazed by the self-confidence and academic proficiency her son gained, especially since he first went to camp the summer before he entered middle school.
“His skills went up, and he was able to integrate into a full-blown science class. He was able to work more independently and was not intimidated by classes,” Kemmer said. “I feel Orton-Gillingham (training) was the missing link. For him, it opened the English code and made English understandable.”
Kristen Rosecrans, the school’s director of communications and marketing, said that gaining self-confidence is a happy by-product of the camp.
“When the campers leave, they feel so much better about themselves,” Rosecrans said. “They go to a regular school and just feel stress, and it is a daily struggle for them. Here they learn that they don’t have a disability, just a difference.”
Dunnabeck Camp runs for six weeks from June 26 to Aug. 7 and tuition is $9,500 for boarding students, $7,200 for day students and $4,800 for half-day students. Financial aid is available.
For information, contact the Kildonan admissions office at (845) 373-2012 or visit the Web site at www.kildonan.org.
You can contact cdparentpg@aol.com with any questions. Also, feel free to post comments below.
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Posted on Thu, April 23rd, 2009Written by: J.B. Baker, Editor
email: cdparentpg@aol.com
Camp Dunnabeck, offering 350 acres of green rolling grounds and an A-to-Z list of fun activities including archery, canoeing, ceramics, hiking, horseback riding, painting, sailing, soccer, softball, swimming, tennis, tubing, wakeboarding and yoga, is any summer camper’s dream come true. But Camp Dunnabeck, established in 1955, caters to a specific audience, children who are underachieving or failing in school because of dyslexia or language-based learning disabilities.
Dyslexia is an inherited neurological condition that makes it extremely difficult for a person to read, write and spell in their native language — despite their intelligence level.
Dunnabeck, the oldest residential program of its kind, is located at the Kildonan School in Amenia, Dutchess County. The school works with dyslexic students, ages 8 to 16, to help them “decode” language. And while the summer campers — either half-day, full-day or boarders, are at camp to get intensive one-on-one training using the Orton-Gillingham language-training philosophy, the program’s recreational activities were created to help the campers develop self-confidence and creativity since failure in school can inhibit creativity, as well as erode confidence.
Cameron Kemmer, now 12, from Holmes, spent the past two summers attending the day camp at the Dunnabeck. At first he was reluctant to give up his summer going to “a stupid educational camp,” his mother, Maura Kemmer said.
“Within one day he could not wait to go back,” Kemmer said. “It is the balance of activities; he had never been tubing, or speed-boating or horseback riding. Also, he got one-on-one time with the tutor. … They kept saying ‘You can do this, look how great you are.’ School can be overwhelming. Even though dyslexic kids are smart kids, they just have glitch.”
Kemmer said that she and her husband were amazed by the self-confidence and academic proficiency her son gained, especially since he first went to camp the summer before he entered middle school.
“His skills went up, and he was able to integrate into a full-blown science class. He was able to work more independently and was not intimidated by classes,” Kemmer said. “I feel Orton-Gillingham (training) was the missing link. For him, it opened the English code and made English understandable.”
Kristen Rosecrans, the school’s director of communications and marketing, said that gaining self-confidence is a happy by-product of the camp.
“When the campers leave, they feel so much better about themselves,” Rosecrans said. “They go to a regular school and just feel stress, and it is a daily struggle for them. Here they learn that they don’t have a disability, just a difference.”
Dunnabeck Camp runs for six weeks from June 26 to Aug. 7 and tuition is $9,500 for boarding students, $7,200 for day students and $4,800 for half-day students. Financial aid is available.
For information, contact the Kildonan admissions office at (845) 373-2012 or visit the Web site at www.kildonan.org.
You can contact cdparentpg@aol.com with any questions. Also, feel free to post comments below.
Readers had this to say
Nobody has made any comments about this yet... you could be the first. Comment about this article.