Research shows that up to 40 percent of children in the United States have problems learning to read. Since 1995, the Cooper Learning Center has helped thousands of children learn to read—and has changed their lives.
As a division of the Department of Pediatrics at Cooper University Hospital, the Cooper Learning Center uses the proven, evidence-based methods that are the most effective way to teach children to read.
This summer, the Cooper Learning Center is offering two four-week sessions of an innovative Summer Reading Camp that helps children who have reading difficulties and gives other children reading enrichment for the coming school year. The program is designed to actively engage children ages 5 to 12 while developing their reading skills by using multi-sensory materials to teach them how to segment sounds within words.
“We utilize the best components of the best methods,” said Richard Selznick, Ph.D., Director of the Cooper Learning Center and a psychologist.
In addition to improving reading skills through individualized teaching methods, the program offers children a nurturing environment in which to learn, have fun and make friends.
“Children love coming to our summer camp because of the relationship they develop with their teachers and the other children,” Selznick said. He added that special activities, such as weekly visits from the Garden State Discovery Museum, provide supplemental reinforcement to the program.
Pamela Goldberger, Director of the Summer Reading Camp and an Educational Coordinator at the Cooper Learning Center, stressed the program’s benefits for early readers. “The program focuses on developing adequate decoding skills within the foundation of early reading development,” she said. “The program is especially beneficial for children whose skills are in need of more intensive development.”
The Cooper Learning Center’s Summer Reading Camp, located in Voorhees, New Jersey, offers two sessions: June 30 to July 24 and July 28 to August 21. Children can attend one or both sessions. Camp runs Monday through Thursday, from 9 a.m. to noon.
All children receive highly individualized attention, with a student-teacher ratio of no more than five to one. In order to maintain this ratio, the program limits enrollment to ensure individual attention for every child. Children are grouped both by age and ability, providing a comfortable environment that promotes learning success.
Each four-week session provides 48 hours of concentrated instruction—the equivalent of about a year’s worth of weekly, one-hour tutoring sessions during the school year. At the end of each session, parents receive a progress report on their child’s reading performance.
“Parents who send their children to our camp are giving them a gift of learning. They are helping to strengthen their children’s reading foundation, which is of utmost importance in school and in life. Everything revolves around reading,” Goldberger said.
Cooper Learning Center’s Two-Session Summer Reading Camp Program:
- For children ages 5 to 12
- Small groups, organized by age and ability
- Two four-week sessions
- Children can attend one or both sessions: June 30 to July 24 or July 28 to August 21
- Monday through Thursday, 9 a.m. to noon
- Voorhees, New Jersey
Program Details:
- For 5- to 6-year-olds—Rookie Readers: Rookie Readers addresses emerging reading skills in young children. This program enhances young readers’ ability to read in a whole language or phonics-based program targeting: phonemic awareness, letter and sound knowledge, auditory discrimination, sound blending and segmentation, and listening skills.
- For 7- to 12-year-olds—Beginning and Advanced Decoders: The decoders program uses multi-sensory instruction emphasizing phonemic awareness, phonological decoding, fluency, vocabulary and comprehension strategies. This program focuses on building decoding, fluency, and reading comprehension skills.