A Summer Reading Camp will be offered to 20 five-year-olds this June. Children who begin reading early have a life-long advantage on their peers. The later a child begins reading, the more difficult their academic career will be. So, we want every child in our community to have this advantage in building a successful life. Florence School District 3 will select the children to participate in this reading camp. Why literacy matters – Educational Foundation of Lower Florence County (flo3foundation.org).
To accomplish our goal, each child will be individually tutored. Dr. Christopher Bullock of Francis Marion University @Applied Behavior Analysis | Francis Marion University (fmarion.edu) will train each tutor. His program will individualize reading instruction for each child. Progress will be measured daily, and the lessons adjusted to the child’s pace. Each child will have two reading sessions each morning with play time between sessions. These children will see that learning to read can be fun.
Breakfast will be provided for the children at 7:30am and tutoring begins at 8:00. We will finish at 12:00 each day. Parents will have to commit to having their child at Reading Camp every day. Camp dates are June 6 through July 1 and July 11-22. However, we will take a vacation break the week of July 4. Florence School District 3 @Home – Florence County School District Three (florence3.k12.sc.us will be arranging bus transportation for our camp.
We will continue teaching these students during the regular school year. Once they have completed the course and are reading well, we will select another group to tutor. Our plan calls for the bulk of our students to be successful readers prior to beginning first grade. See Teaching Four-Year-Old Children to Read – Educational Foundation of Lower Florence County (flo3foundation.org).