2009 Summer Camp

August 10^th  to August 21^st

Campers will experience a fun, engaging, multi-sensory method to learn the fundamentals of handwriting. Proper handwriting is essential to succeed in school. Our goal is to equip children with the necessary tools to write with confidence and ease. The end result is better academic performance. A wide range of methods will be used to obtain this goal of good handwriting habits and skills to an automatic level. Handwriting Without Tears’ handwriting curriculum will be utilized. This award-winning style of learning has helped millions of children obtain successful school readiness and handwriting skills. Loops and Other Groups: A Kinesthetic Writing System will be utilized to teach cursive. In addition to formal handwriting instruction, fine motor skills, eye hand coordination skills, pencil grasp, posture, and more will be addressed in a unique and interesting way!!!!!  Each camper will have a personalized assessment and plan implemented to maximize the benefit of learning.

Printing Camp:

This camp emphasizes pencil grasp development, letter formation using the award winning Handwriting without Tears curriculum and multi-sensory strategies. This class is for beginner printers and for students who have difficulty with sequencing letters, writing within handwriting spaces, and/or with letter formation.  This is a two-hour a day class for 10 sessions. The cost of this camp is $225 to 300, which includes the camp cost, initial assessment, and workbook/material fees.

Cursive Camp:

This camp teaches cursive letters formation using Mary Benbow, MS, OTR/L’s Loops and Other Groups: A Kinesthetic Writing System. Letters are taught in groups that share common movement patterns. Easy-to-remember motor and memory cues help the children visualize and verbalize while they experience the "feel" of the letter. Lower case letters will only be addressed in this camp. This is a one-hour a day class for 10 sessions. The cost of this camp is $150, which includes the camp cost, initial assessment, and workbook/material fees.

• Printing Camp - Hyde Park Neighborhood Club: 5480 South Kenwood Ave. - 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. -$300
• Printing Camp - Our Office: 4429 South Berkeley Ave. - 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. - $225
  
• Cursive Camp - Our Office: 4429 south Berkeley Ave. - 3:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.  - $150

Discount programs and payment plans are also available.

Registration for camps requires a nonrefundable $100 deposit, although this fee will be deducted on the first day of class, when total payment is due. This also allows us to keep camp staff/student ratios low. Money will be refunded if the therapist cancels the camp. All campers are required to have a handwriting assessment prior to first day of camp. The cost of this assessment is included in the camp fees.  Registration deadline is August 1, 2009.  For more information please call 773-507-5076 or e-mail WriteNow.Reid@gmail.com. 

Private individual sessions and home school group sessions are also available.  Alternative dates available upon request.

Referrals:

"Tiffany Powers-Reid helped my son to significantly improve his handwriting.   She developed a program tailored to his specific needs and designed to help him correct problems and consolidate his writing skills.  Responsive, flexible, and patient, she found ways to overcome his reluctance and made the work fun for him.  She is friendly and professional, and she brings parents and teachers into the process." - Sandra, mother of a 4th grade University of Chicago Laboratory student

Handwriting in the media

Handwriting in the media:

"You do not learn to do handwriting like you learn how to talk. You need instruction," Jan Olsen said. "With the investment, good handwriting becomes a habit, like shoe-tying."- Kameel Stanley, The Washington Post, September 2, 2008 

" The truth is that mastering handwriting sets children up for other learning successes. Handwriting builds confidence, teaches children to have an organized approach and enhances their ability to communicate." - Jan Olsen, Curious Parents, February 2008

"Failure to attain handwriting competency during the school-age years often has far-reaching negative effects on both academic success and self-esteem…Studies of handwriting remediation suggest that intervention is effective. There is evidence to indicate that handwriting difficulties do not resolve without intervention and affect between 10 and 30% of school-aged children. Despite the widespread use of computers, legible handwriting remains an important life skill that deserves greater attention from educators and health practitioners." - Katya P. Feder PhD OT(C) Annette Majnemer PhD OT(C), Developmental Medicine and Child Neurology, April 2007

"Illegible handwriting is found to have secondary 

effects on achievement and self-esteem. " 

-Malloy-Miller, Canadian Journal of 

Occupational Therapy  

Research from Vanderbilt University  demonstrates that a "majority of primary-school teachers believe that students with fluent handwriting produced written assignments that were superior in quantity and quality and resulted in higher grades—aside from being easier to read. The College Board recognized this in 2005 when it added a handwritten essay to the SAT—an effort to reverse the de-emphasis on handwriting and composition that may be adversely affecting children's learning all the way through high school and beyond." – By Raina Kelley, Newsweek, Nov 12, 2007 Issue

"Research shows that children with good handwriting skills at a young age can express their thoughts better than those who don't. And those good habits can pay off later."-WABC, Friday, November 17, 2006