Helping kids with learning disabilities
Learning Camp offers unique experience
Daily Staff Report - The Daily
April 6, 2001

As difficult as discovering her first-grade son suffered from dyslexia was finding public or private resources to help, recalls Ann Cathcart.

Like other parents, she quickly discovered that without academic support year-round, learning-disabled children often experience setbacks in learning skills, academic progress, and self-confidence.

"A summer without academics makes it impossible to start off the next year well," said Cathcart. "I searched everywhere for a program that would provide my son with critically needed summer tutoring and help him gain self confidence. I wanted a program that would actually make learning fun and enable him to experience the normal adventures of childhood summers. I found nothing that suited our needs."

So Cathcart found her own solution that could benefit her son and similar children. In 1996, she started The Learning Camp, the first summer program in Colorado developed exclusively to help children with learning disabilities maintain and grow academic skills while enjoying summer adventures.

Cathcart said her mission is to provide an environment where children who have lost self-esteem, socialization and academic progress because of learning differences can feel loved, accepted and develop the confidence needed to succeed in a learning-abled society.

"Achieving a personal breakthrough in self-confidence is critical to a child's future learning success and ongoing academic tutoring," said Cathcart.

The Learning Camp is located in Vail, and its staff members are certified special education teachers, traditional teachers, and recreation specialists. Campers complete academic tutoring in the morning, and engage in mountain recreational activities in the afternoons and on weekends. By interacting with other children who have similar disabilities, campers feel accepted, understood and secure, many for the first time in their lives, camp officials said.

"Children thrive in this setting," said camp director Tom Macht, a special education teacher working with The Learning Camp since its first overnight session in 1997. Macht said children develop leadership skills, as well as academic confidence.

Ben and Christopher

For Ben, the first day of each new school year was an agonizing event.

Unlike for most of his classmates, the first day of school did not mean regrouping with friends and embarking on new learning adventures. Instead, it meant another nine months of feeling stupid, scared and struggling to understand the teacher's lessons.

Ben, a 1O-year-old triplet struggling with visual and auditory processing issues, attended The Learning Camp, where he learned to explore outside his comfort level. His confidence carried over to the new school year, and his academic and social performances improved significantly.

The first time Chris, 11, tackled rock climbing he admitted his legs were shaking uncontrollably, but he conquered that fear. The experience, along with many others, helped Chris discover a new sense of self-confidence.

"When children are placed in a safe, comfortable setting, confidence soars," said Cathcart. "And that is the most important achievement of all."

For more information on The Learning Camp, visit www.learningcamp.com, or call (970) 926-2706.

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