Brooklyn Letters’ friend, The Drake Bennett Summer School (http://www.drakebennett.org) is coming to Park Slope this summer! Students have six classes daily, plus four hours of rest and recreation. The morning classes are in English, math or geography, and science. The afternoon classes are drama, art, and sports and the Drake Bennett Summer School takes recess seriously.

They offer an enrichment track for thriving students, and an Orton-based support track for students who are smart but need explicit multisensory support.

A Speech & Language Pathologist will be on staff for 1-on-1 and small group therapy. We don’t want students to miss any of the morning core curriculum classes, so kids needing speech therapy see the SLP in daily pull-out sessions during the afternoon.

• Ages: Children rising to 1st-6th grades in 2013-14

• Hours: 8:00am-6:00pm (early dismissal optional)

• Class size: Maximum 12 students/teacher

• August in Brooklyn: August 5th-30th at The Park Slope Jewish Center, 1320 8th Avenue (at 14th Street)

Full-day (8:00am-6:00pm) tuition is $2,800- $14/hour for 200 hours over 20 days

They are a 501c3 non-profit, with a limited number of means-tested scholarships to offer, covering 30-90% of tuition, for families qualified for public school free lunch.

Applications with a 33% deposit are accepted in the order received; the balance is due by May 31. We offer a discount of…

• 10% for deposits paid by April 15

Mention code Brooklyn Letters and receive an additional $100 discount (offer only available to the first 5 parents to sign up)!

The Advanced Literacy Skills Hour is for students reading and writing at or above grade level. Every day we work on oral expression/elocution, informed-ear spelling strategies, vocabulary development, and reading comprehension. Older students study Latin roots, suffix and prefix usage, poetry, Aesop’s Fables, grammar, and syntax. We still diagram sentences.

The Geography Hour covers a subject that is rarely taught at most elementary schools. Kids doing well in math take geography instead. We have a globe for every student, lots of mapping puzzles, geography games, and a rare collection of geographical and historical atlases. Students learn the geographical significance of wet, dry, and moist environments. The continents and oceans are introduced, along with major rivers, mountain ranges, and agricultural lands. Older students learn about latitude and longitude.

During the Science Hour students conduct experiments in chemistry, microscopy, or physics. On microscopy days, we examine plant, animal, or mineral specimens, and record our observations. On chemistry days we make concoctions like white-glue silly putty, cornstarch quicksand, polymer worms, and borax slime. On physics days, we celebrate Newton by launching objects from catapults, crashing things together, and experimenting with inertia and gravity.

The MultiSensory Literacy Hour is for students not yet reading and writing at grade level. We focus on speech development, vocabulary building, phonics, spelling, decoding, fluency, reading comprehension, and penmanship. These concepts are taught in a structured and explicit manner, with all the patience that struggling students deserve, using Orton-based lesson planning and procedures.
The MultiSensory Math Hour is for kids who don’t like math, and have difficulty grasping math concepts. Students not yet performing at grade level in math should benefit from these classes. New learnings are introduced explicitly, patiently, and with real-world applications. Tactile teaching tools are used to create clear mental pictures of math procedures. Color coding helps students understand place value and time telling concepts. We play math games so students can see that math can be fun.
Afternoon Program for All Students

Why play Chess? Chess builds memory. Chess improves concentration. Chess develops logical thinking. Chess promotes imagination and creativity. Chess teaches children to look both ways before crossing the street. Chess develops the scientific way of thinking. Chess is cheap. Chess is fun. The Chess & Puzzles Hour combines chess with other spatial-skill activities.

The focus of the Art Hour is art appreciation, drawing, and painting. Students learn basic color theory, and how to blend in order to achieve rich layers of color. They learn to mix paint, layer colors, and use wet and dry brush techniques. Students who lack fine motor dexterity are patiently helped with their abstract brushwork creations.

The Drama Hour gives students a chance to be somebody else for an hour each day. Kids warm up with improvisational activities, and theater games, then work with Reader’s Theater plays – dramatic presentations read and recited by the players from printed scripts.

The Sports Hour is a PE program providing fundamental-skills instruction in one sport each day over a ten-day cycle. Students learn throwology, basketball, touch football, softball, soccer, tennis, table tennis, fencing, ultimate frisbee, and miniature golf – with no scorekeeping or competition.

Interactive Discovery Consulting and Psychological Services will be giving a workshop for parents on Wednesday, December 5th from 7:00 – 9:00pm. They will focus on such salient topics as

• Strengthening your relationship with your child
• Preventing negative behaviors before they occur
• Dealing with behavior concerns in the moment

The workshop will be held at their Park Slope offices, 163 Prospect Park West (at 11th Street), Brooklyn, NY 11215.

Please RSVP as space is limited; call Melissa Malakoff, Psy.D. at (646) 481-1489 to do so.

Offering professional reading support in the comfort of your home. Our reading tutors work with all types of reading needs, e.g. dyslexia. We are trained in Orton Gillingham and Wilson, and we travel to:
Manhattan- Upper East Side, Midtown East, Murray Hill, Gramercy, Union Square, East Village, Soho, Upper West Side, Midtown, Chelsea, West Village, Chinatown, Lower East Side.
Brooklyn- Kensington, Midwood, Windsor Terrace, Park Slope, Ditmas Park, Boro Park, Clinton Hill, Fort Greene, Prospect Heights, Carroll Gardens, Cobble Hill, Boerum Hill, Brooklyn Heights, Downtown Brooklyn, Ditmas Park, Kensington, Prospect Park South, Midwood, Canarsie, Flatbush, Crown Heights, Greenpoint, Williamsburg, Prospect Heights, Bay Ridge, and Dyker Heights.
Queens– Sunnyside, Woodside, Long Island City, Astoria
Long Island- near Baldwin.

For more information: http://brooklynletters.com/services/reading-specialists-and-interventionists/

If you are interested in a licensed speech language therapist (pathologist) coming to your home, please contact us, craig@brooklynletters.com or call us at 347-394-3485.

We work with all ages (babies-adolescents) and all types of speech and language delays and concerns. We service many neighborhoods in Manhattan, Brooklyn, and Queens. We travel to the following neighborhoods:

Manhattan- Upper East Side, Midtown East, Murray Hill, Gramercy, Union Square, East Village, Soho, Upper West Side, Midtown, Chelsea, West Village, Chinatown, Lower East Side.

Brooklyn- Kensington, Midwood, Windsor Terrace, Park Slope, Ditmas Park, Boro Park, Clinton Hill, Fort Greene, Prospect Heights, Carroll Gardens, Cobble Hill, Boerum Hill, Brooklyn Heights, Downtown Brooklyn, DUMBO, Ditmas Park, Kensington, Prospect Park South, Midwood, Canarsie, Flatbush, Crown Heights, Greenpoint, Williamsburg, Prospect Heights, Bay Ridge, and Dyker Heights.

Queens-- Sunnyside, Woodside, Long Island City, Astoria

We look forward to working with you!

Many of the families I am working with right now are preparing for one of the most significant milestones in the life of the adolescent—going away to college.

There are several stages of logistical, emotional and psychological preparation inherent in this transitional time, which begins with the college application process. What is notable from the perspective of many of the parents I work with today is how much more intense and rigorous it is for our teens than it was for ourselves ‘back in the day.’ Whether it’s high school juniors working their tails off for good grades, padding their transcripts with extra-curriculars, and working with tutors to obtain the SAT/ACT scores they need to apply to their colleges of choice, or seniors polishing their personal essays, completing their applications, and suffering the waiting game from submission to acceptance, the trials and tribulations of this process affects not only the adolescent, but the family as a whole.

What is important for parents to remain mindful of during this time is that the college process itself is the developmental equivalent of crossing the threshold from from adolescence to young adulthood. As such, the ways in which you support (“I think those are terrific choices of colleges! You go for it!”), encourage (“If you work a little harder, I bet you can get into that ‘reach’ school after all!”), and limit-set (“There is no way I am sending you to the ‘#1 Party School in America!’”) will not only guide your teen toward a positive college experience, but toward independence, self-reliance, and the ability to take responsibility for his actions — all critical skills for the young adult venturing out on his own.

So what does this mean for the emotional life of the parent-teen relationship? Expect the process to parallel earlier stages of adolescence—rebellion (“Just because you and dad want me to go to that college does NOT mean I have to want to go there!”), resistance (“What’s the big deal?! The deadline is not until tomorrow…!”), and fear (“Forget it. I’ll just stay home and work at McDonald’s!”). There will also be that characteristic tug and pull between their desire to be a child (“I don’t waaaaaant to learn how to do my own laundry.”), and a grownup (“Why shouldn’t I have my own credit card for college. I’m practically an adult!”). Sound familiar? If it does, just remember: Don’t give up on being a strong, loving, and consistent parent.

The college-bound teen will push your buttons, push the limits of authority and control, and then push herself right back into your lap when you least expect it. Be patient. Be clear and direct. Be ready for anything. And as ever, don’t take it personally when they express love and affection to their peers and save their temperamental and moody selves for you. This dynamic serves a purpose. First, it is a necessary training ground for them as they learn how and when to express uncomfortable feelings. It is in the ‘safety’ of their own homes where they can release said emotions without fear of rejection (like they might experience with their peers), and it is with the help of parental patience, support and guidance that they will learn to regulate and express their feelings appropriately. It is also developmentally appropriate as they continue their trajectory away from their families and toward their social and romantic relationships, which will be necessary for them to live satisfying adult lives.

Do let them know when they have crossed a line and hurt the feelings of others, but don’t belabor the point and make them feel responsible for your feelings. You can (and should!) talk to your therapist, your partner or your friends about that. Do trust that you are planting the seeds not only of independence, but also of respect for you and your parenting. Don’t expect immediate gratitude, but do look for the signs that they have internalized what you have taught them. Look for self-reliance, their ability to use dryer sheets, and the fact that they will probably call, text, email or Skype with you more in the first few months they are away than in their entire adolescent lives. Let that be your reward.

Good luck to you parents, to the graduating class of 2012, and to our future graduates who– as we speak– are making macaroni necklaces and pouring glitter in their hair.

Fara is a psychotherapist with a private practice in Park Slope where she specializes in working with children, adolescents, parents and families, coping with trauma, addictions, anxiety and depression. Utilizing both traditional psychotherapy and creative arts therapy in her work, she provides individual, couples and family counseling and has developed and implemented psychotherapy, psycho-education and creative arts therapy groups for children, adolescents and adults. She can be reached at: fara@brooklynletters.com or by phone at 917-359-3335.