The Sky's the Limit!
Happy New Year wishes to everyone from the Kildonan team. We look forward to all that is new to us in the 2021 new year. Our new partnership with the Marvelwood School not only provides us with a new location from which to launch our services; it also provides new opportunities to collaborate and navigate safely in 2021.

To begin the new year, we are now accepting applications for our in-person Camp Dunnabeck and our online Camp Dunnabeck 2.1. This newsletter is dedicated to exploring both of Kildonan's summer camps for 2021. We invite you to explore the possibilities; the sky's the limit!
July 5 thru August 14
Kildonan's Camp Dunnabeck was unable to open during the summer of 2020 due to COVID-19; therefore, our online Camp Dunnabeck 2.0 was established to continue our mission. We are excited to offer our traditional in-person camp this summer 2021, as well as our new online camp, Camp Dunnabeck 2.1, for those students who cannot attend camp in person. Camp Dunnabeck 2.1 offers the same one-to-one online tutoring as our in-person camp while enjoying online community activities and optional camp programs
Everyone Learns Differently
Everyone learns differently. No two brains are alike. The brain is made up of many different networks that help learning. Some people learn better by seeing, others learn better by hearing, and still others need to do something to really learn new information. Kildonan supports each child's different way of learning. Our one-to-one tutoring is not merely about reading or writing. All language skills are involved to varying degrees: listening, speaking, oral reading, silent reading comprehension, vocabulary, spelling, and expository writing. During the daily tutoring session, skills are taught in isolation, and instruction is tailored to meet each camper's personal needs.

Our 1:1 Orton-Gillingham tutoring provides intensive language remediation which is diagnostic and prescriptive; each camper’s instruction is crafted to meet their individual needs. Our highly trained Orton-Gillingham practitioners use standardized and criterion-based testing to determine what each learner needs in terms of skill-building and provide intervention that is supportive, structured, and multi-sensory—so it sticks!

Other skills learned in our one-to-one tailored program:

  • risk-taking
  • perseverance
  • confidence
  • self-advocacy
  • study strategies
  • success
Many students are working to recover academic skills lost during school closures, and remote learning can benefit from our summer program.  Pre- and post-battery of standardized and criterion-based testing will help families gauge progress and determine readiness for school in the fall. Camp Dunnabeck, now on the Marvelwood campus in Kent, CT, balances 1:1 Orton-Gillingham language remediation with outstanding recreational activities for six full weeks of school-readiness and FUN! 
FUN, Guaranteed!
Fun, guaranteed; it is summer camp after all! Our structured summer camp programs and age-appropriate activities foster positive values, teach campers valuable life skills, and build confidence. A summer filled with new adventures, new experiences, and a new sense of pride and self-esteem. Our trained and nurturing staff provide a safe environment. Campers enjoy a wide array of activities that harness the area's natural resources. Your child will take home the memory of a wonderful summer and new friendships.
Kildonan's Camp Dunnabeck 2.1
Online Summer Camp
July 5 thru August 14
(3 and 6-week options available)
Kildonan's Camp Dunnabeck 2.1, now in its second year, is an online academic summer camp for students ages 8 to 16 years old with dyslexia and language-based learning differences. Students receive daily one-to-one Orton-Gillingham tutoring while enjoying online community activities and optional camp programs. Camp Dunnabeck 2.1 is an innovative, immersive, and interactive camp experience. Campers create their own avatar to navigate our virtual campus building new skills and contributing to online community events. Students are connected with highly skilled professionals trained to help dyslexic students prevent summer slip. Every camper is paired with an Orton-Gillingham tutor for a one-to-one one-hour language training session five days a week. Learn new, fun, and interactive technologies and make new friends without spatial restrictions.
Help your child explore the possibilities this summer.
The sky's the limit!
A place of laughter, love, and deep learning!
Kildonan's Camp Dunnabeck
Many students are working to recover skills lost during school closures; choosing a summer camp for your child may be one of the most important decisions you will make this year. You know your child best – their unique personality traits, strengths, challenges, hopes, and dreams. When you choose a summer camp, you choose a home-away-from-home, a place that aligns with your family values, where they will spend most of their formative hours and days learning and having summer fun.

You have many questions. Is the camp safe? How experienced are the teachers? How does the camp handle bullying? How big are the groups, and will my child have individual attention? We’d love to answer all your questions in person and show you how we deliver our comprehensive program to provide whole-child education and camp experience to every single child in a safe, engaging, and joyful environment.
 
Currently, we cannot walk you through our school while classes are in action due to our strict COVID-19 protocol. However, we can take you on a virtual tour to answer your individual questions and show you the highlights of our campus.
 
Join us for our Open House and Virtual Tour, where we can help you envision your child at Kildonan’s Camp Dunnabeck. We are looking forward to meeting you in person!
 
Kildonan's Camp Dunnabeck Team
Our Story
Over the years, our address has changed, our students/campers have changed, and the staff has changed. Yet, our mission remains the same: Our mission is to reveal and illuminate the strengths of individuals with dyslexia or language-based learning differences.

Founded by Diana Hanbury King in 1955, Camp Dunnabeck was established in the foothills of Bucks County, Pennsylvania, until its move to the small hamlet of Amenia, NY, in 1983. Now, in 2021, to the quaint little town of Kent, Connecticut, on the Marvelwood School's beautiful campus on top of Skiff Mountain. Camp Dunnabeck will celebrate its 66th year helping dyslexic students and students with language-based differences achieve academic success.
 
Camp Dunnabeck is the oldest residential program of its kind that balances dedicated language remediation with outstanding recreational activities. We pair every camper with an Orton-Gillingham tutor for a one-to-one, one hour Language Training session every day, Monday - Friday. Each camper completes tutoring-based assignments in study hall, the length of which varies based on the child's age. When they're not studying, campers can choose from among a wide array of fun camp activities and weekend excursions that tap into the campus's natural resources and the beauty of the surrounding area. When campers return to school in the fall, they discover that they're rested, relaxed, and ready for success.
Keep Kildonan Hopping!
Ah, to be a video game character: questing for glory, rescuing princesses, racing at top speeds, fighting off monsters and aliens, exploring vast and beautiful underground worlds, battling end-of-level bosses, saving the world . . . the action and adventure are without compare.  

One key element of it all, of course, is the omnipresent "re-spawn" -- the ability to, after one poorly-timed leap, a wrong turn, or an errant laser beam, to reappear, unscathed and unblemished, ready to try again. 

The children of the past several decades know this trope well - so many of us grew up playing video games. Pac-Man and Frogger for some, Super Mario and Sonic the Hedgehog for others, Halo and Warcraft in the new century, and today's kids with Fortnite and Skyrim. In all of these games, the hero risks life and limb for their objective, and in the event of failure, BLOOP! Start over! No biggie! Ready player one!

This is a perfect metaphor for the Kildonan experience.  

Our students learn the value of taking risks, the inevitability of roadblocks and failure, and the delight of starting again with new knowledge and experience to help them go further and accomplish more.

Kildonan itself faced down a major "boss" this past year, and, just like in the video games, after a few knocks on the chin and shots across our bow, now here we are, re-spawned at 476 Skiff Mountain Road, Kent, CT, tackling challenges and getting ready for an exciting summer where kids are excited about learning every day!

Your generous support of Kildonan is what allows us to "hit continue" each year and play the game all over again. Everyone wins the grand prize in this game; a lifetime of learning, kindness, and success for children!
Your contributions help today's students and everyone's future.

Keep Kildonan Hopping!
We can't do it without YOU!