Registration Open for Spring Literacy Camp for Grade-school Children

Heather D. Young, Ph.D.

Teacher candidates Kristin Epstein (left) and Hayden Alexander (right) work with two schoolchildren at a recent Literacy Camp.

Registration is now open for children to enroll in the Spring Literacy Camp of the University of Arkansas Clinic for Literacy.

The camp will meet for 10 Thursdays after school beginning in early February. It is open to kindergarteners through sixth-graders. The fee is $99 per child and includes a snack at each session.

The camp is held on campus in Peabody Hall and the adjacent Graduate Education Building. Parents drop the children off at 3:15 p.m. in the circular drive of Grad Ed building and pick them up at 4:30 p.m..

Each child is paired with a U of A graduate education student, matched to target learning areas in reading and/or writing that need the most improvement or enrichment, clinic coordinator Linda Eilers said. One-on-one, individualized and closely monitored tutoring ensures students' unique needs are met. Participants receive literacy lessons from the teacher candidates and also interact with other students on their developmental levels.

Registration is online. Scholarships are available, and that form as well as further details are available at the program's web page. Professor Eilers can be reached at litcamp@uark.edu.

The tentative dates are Feb. 7, 14 and 28; March 7, 14 and 28; and April 4, 11, 18 and 25. The schedule will be confirmed in January. The final parent-tutor conferences will be in early May.

The clinic offers the weekly literacy camp each fall and spring as well as a two-week session in the late summer before the term. Eilers encouraged registering soon as the program always fills up quickly. Students at public or private schools as well as home-schoolers are welcome.