Chloe has always been advanced academically and done well socially, but this past school year laid bare two problems.

Her spelling was just not sorting itself out. We had known she’d had an issue with spelling since second grade, but I thought something would click and she would start being able to work it out. Nothing seemed to be working. In fact, her spelling was getting worse.

This past year she also lost two of her best friends due to moves. She was lonely and lacking good solid connections and friendships.

Sometime in the spring a brochure came from The Delphian School for their Summer Camp Program. Her eyes lit up. She said, “This is the place for me, these are my people.” Well, right then I knew I had to work out sending her.

Chloe drove up to Oregon with her dad. I stayed behind because I had booked a commercial that same weekend.

The Delphian School’s camp program is different than other traditional camps. It is a sleep away camp up in Northern Oregon at a school that runs a regular pre-K through high school curriculum during the school year. I graduated from their high school program in 1996. They host traditional camping activities like art, ceramics, camping, river rafting and horseback riding, but they also do daily school work to help each child work on individual interests or address specific needs.

Chloe had an amazing time. She had her own assigned faculty advisor who assisted her in feeling at home and hosted evening activities with other campers. She did art, ceramics, archery and every day I received a call about how her day went.

Chloe with art she had created in her afternoon art exploration class.

Every day she worked in the morning on her special program to assist her in sorting out her spelling. I received routine updates from her teacher. They were able to isolate the exact basic elements Chloe had missed in her spelling education. This is what Chloe said to me when she got back:

I have never had a teacher like that before. She actually taught me how to spell. She didn’t just give me test after test and tell me I didn’t know how to do it. I feel like I actually understand spelling now.”

She went on to explain to me the different rules she learned about consonants and vowels. She felt confident for the first time ever in this area. Just that alone was worth the price of admission.

She also expressed excitement over some excellent friendships she built. Her roommates were two girls from China! She came back with many new friends who she was able to grow rather close to in those short two weeks.

I am so glad she convinced me to work out the logistics so she could attend this fantastic program. I highly recommend it to all parents.

Singing at the talent show.

Please note: I was not compensated in any way to write this post besides the amazing job they did with my daughter. We paid the full rate for her trip there and it was worth every penny. The Delphian School uses education research and tools developed by Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard.

Google+

Jennifer Latch