OSU to offer reading camp for community children

Thursday, March 23, 2023

Media Contact: Elizabeth Gosney | CAS Marketing and Communications Manager | 405-744-7497 | egosney@okstate.edu

Oklahoma State University’s Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders (CDIS) will host its third-annual Reading Readiness Camp for 4- to 7-year-old children from June 6-9 on the OSU-Stillwater campus.  

“Participants will learn and practice the early fundamentals of reading in the areas of alphabetical skills, phonological awareness, simple decoding, early word recognition and print,” said Lisa Ashley, one of the camp’s speech-language pathologist instructors. “We make learning a fun experience for all the campers while trying to reach children in the community who are struggling with reading and who may need more intensive instruction.”

The four-day camp aims to foster confidence in reading through hands-on activities and small-group instruction. Campers are split into two sections: 4- and 5-year-olds during the morning sessions and 6- and 7-year-olds in the afternoon sessions.  
Ashley explained that starting the process of literacy at infancy and early childhood through different methods exposes children to language, print, emotion, sounds and letters.

“Nursery rhymes and childhood songs teach phonological skills such as rhyming and sound blending,” Ashley said. “These are early fundamental skills that must be in place before learning the mechanics of reading. Our camp’s major focus is on practicing these early skills and making the learning process enjoyable.”

Ashley will be joined by co-instructor Kristi Carpenter and several CDIS graduate students, making Reading Readiness Camp a learning experience for both the young participants and their OSU student instructors.

“At the camp, our graduate students learn how to develop and implement methods of teaching early reading skills under the guidance of licensed and experienced speech language pathologists,” Ashley said, adding that their time at Reading Readiness will also go toward the 400 clinical hours they need to graduate. “Because graduate students have minimal exposure to literacy in school, the camp is one way to increase their knowledge base of typical and nontypical reading skills.”

The camp is limited to 100 participants. Cost is $60 per child, with need-based scholarships available. Find out more information and register for Reading Readiness Camp at okla.st/reading-camp.