"I don't miss TV!"

Cleveland Camp, Day 3:
One of our campers declared that "this is the only camp I've been to where I didn't miss TV or watching sports." Despite the collective groan before camp about not watching any tv, the campers haven't asked once about it. Instead they are eager to share how many books they have read. One camper, who really struggled with reading at the beginning of the week, has made great progress in just a few short days. She has been eager to share with anyone and everyone that she read 7 books in just 3 days! More books than she has ever read in 3 days. Her counselor decided to make her a chart that says "Look how many books I have read!" so she can record them to show grandma when she gets home.

We've seen other children blossom as the week has gone on. One boy, who struggled to focus during centers on Monday and Tuesday, declared on Wednesday, when asked which center was his favorite, that "decoding, comprehension, writing, phonics, and strategies" were all his favorites.

The eagerness in the children to learn new things and read new books is wonderful to watch. From making their own ice cream to battling the "alligators" in the river during tubing, they have taken on new things, facing their fears and trying new things with just the right amount of encouragement from the wonderful reading camp staff. As the day ended yesterday you could find a group of boys quietly reading in the library with the teachers and another group crowded around a support staff reading them the next chapter in "Prates Past Noon." What a joyous sight!

Cleveland, Day Three!

The second full day of reading centers is over! At the writing center all the campers wrote letters
to their counselors. The counselors of course loved the parts talking about how tall, pretty or
buff they were, but the more telling parts talked about how the campers liked them because
they were funny, treated everybody equally, and probably worked with kids for a job because
they love kids so much. In the afternoon everybody went to Lake Farm Park, a real working
farm setup with different stations for children to learn about the animals. We learned about bees
and tasted honey, pet lots of different animals, including one particularly noisy sheep, and milked
a cow! All the kids were very excited to be able to interact so closely with the animals.

In the evening we had a special performance by a local dance company. Everyone had a great
time and the kids were an excellent audience. Afterwards they had a chance to get up and dance
with the dancers. They had obviously paid attention because they started reenacting some of
the moves from the show, as well as showing off some of their own moves. At night when the
teachers read the camp story before bed, you could hear some of the kids begging for one more
chapter! I have the feeling we'll all be begging for that at the end of this week.

Cleveland: Second day was a splash!

Swimming, hiking, fishing, and water games galore The kids had a blast! Today was the first full day of reading centers and all the kids were very engaged, that is until the gong sounds and they all scramble to the next one. After lunch they had their first day of swimming. Everyone had written about wanting to go swimming the first day they arrived so they all had fun splashing around. Several of our campers were eager to learn to swim. Thanks to our wonderful volunteer, Betsy, many of them had the opportunity to learn how to hold their breath under water and kick! Quishay, reluctant at first to try, was excited to show off her new skill! After that was hiking and fishing. Two fish were caught with sausage from breakfast and the kids squealed at the sliminess of the fish! Walking around the woods we saw frogs, snails and deer tracks. After dinner and journaling the counselors led the kids through a number of fun water games. No one was spared, campers, counselors and staff all were soaked by the end of the night.

Report from Cleveland's first Reading Camp!

The first day of Reading Camp Cleveland was a success! 15 kids from four different schools
in the Cleveland area arrived at Cedar Hills yesterday. They were met by a very enthusiastic
group of volunteers and have already settled in to camp. Within the first hour we had children
asking if they could take books back to their rooms to read. So much preparation has gone into
this week, it will be sad to see them go in just 6 days.

After the first day a camper was already lamenting that he was too old to come back next year.
I suggested he come back in a couple years as a junior counselor. He got very excited at the idea,
and started calculating how many years he'd have to wait to come back. He also started tackling
the logistics, asking how the application process worked and how he'd get an application when
the time came. Another camper voiced his opinion that reading camp should be two weeks, one
week just isn't enough.

The campers spent 10 minutes in each of the reading centers meeting their teachers and finding
out what they would be doing all week. In the writing center the kids worked on short stories
about their first day at camp. One camper wrote "Here at last! I am so very happy. I really
want to go swimming. I like my room it is colorful." Another camper wrote " Here at last!
I enjoy being here because it's about learning and having fun, I can't wait to go hiking and
swimming." A third wrote, " Here at last! I can tell I will have fun! There are many nice,
fun people here!" The campers enthusiasm for camp (and swimming) is incredible!
We are ready for a fun week of reading!

From directors Karen and Carl Carter