News

June 14, 2010

‘Boot camp’ gets kids ready for kindergarten

Summer course in Hazle Twp. will use occupational therapy

By Steve Mocarsky smocarsky@timesleader.com
Staff Writer
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HAZLE TWP. – An occupational therapist with the Hazleton Area School District has noticed that more students are arriving for kindergarten unprepared to meet increased expectations created by No Child Left Behind standards.

Her response: a pre-K “boot camp.”

It’s not really a camp, and it’s certainly not as rigorous as the training that military personnel experience.

But the six-week summer course that Jennifer Hoffman Dessoye designed will take place in a classroom setting and will better prepare students – especially those who might be a little behind their peers – for an unfamiliar routine and expectations. Skills include such things as being able to print the alphabet on a line before entering first grade, Dessoye said.

“What I’ve seen is that we had an increasing number of kids in kindergarten through second grade that were being referred for my treatment because they aren’t developmentally ready for school or were slightly behind developmentally,” said Dessoye, 32, of Butler Township.

“There is a great deal of research that shows a correlation between success in kindergarten and high school graduation rates. And we have a definite need in Hazleton where a good number of children are just not ready for kindergarten,” she said.

So, Dessoye, who received her doctorate in occupational therapy from Misericordia University in May, established Kindergarten Readiness Program (KRP) with her sister, Kristen Beurmann, a fourth-grade teacher for the gifted in the Fairfax County (Va.) School District.

“I completed my capstone project at Misericordia on the relationship between fine motor skills and letter writing, and how the two relate to success in kindergarten,” Dessoye said.

“Through KRP, we have incorporated occupational therapy training with a pre-kindergarten curriculum to help students develop the fine motor skills needed to print letters such as ‘a’ and ‘b,’ which are naturally harder to write than straight line letters. Helping them over a few of these types of hurdles makes the entry into kindergarten much easier,” she said.

Dessoye was the only Misericordia student invited to present at the recent American Occupational Therapy Association Conference in Orlando, Fla., where she shared the results of her research with practicing occupational therapists from across the country, Misericordia spokesman Paul Krzywicki said.

“The business we have developed is based on the doctoral research I have done and is a result of a course I took on program development,” Dessoye said. “I definitely feel that a successful start to kindergarten is something that will help a child throughout their educational career.”

The new business is located next to The Learning Tree educational store on the Airport Beltway. KRP’s grand opening was on Saturday.

Dessoye said she is accepting only 24 students this year for the program, which will offer half-day or full-day instruction three to five days a week from July 5 through Aug. 13. The cost ranges between $20 and $35 per day, depending on whether the child attends a full- or half-day three days or five days per week.

Because of the apparent interest the program, Dessoye said she expects to expand it to two classes for next summer.

A native of Farmingdale, N. J., Dessoye earned her bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees from Misericordia University, where she also met her husband, Bill Dessoye, a Pittston native who completed his doctorate of physical therapy at the university in 2009 and is employed as a physical therapist for Omni Home Health in Hazleton. The couple has two daughters – Brianna, 4, and Julia, 2.

Steve Mocarsky, a Times Leader staff writer, may be reached at 970-7311.

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