Six tips to help parents limit their child’s potential for homesickness
Learn About Camp
Weeks before hand, start talking about camp, explore the camp’s website, and share any fun details you know about the camp.
Prior Experiences
Explain how long they will be at camp by comparing it to another experience they have had before: “Remember that trip we took to Colorado last year? Well, camp will be a little shorter than that.” This helps children have a benchmark for how long they will be away.
Practice A Time Away From Home
Try sending your child overnight to a friend’s house or to their grandparents’ for a few nights. Children will then get used to being away from home for a while if they haven’t done so before.
Connect To Home
When the time comes to begin camp, encourage them to bring a favorite bedtime comfort item (stuffed animal, book, headphones or photo).
Write A Letter For Each Day
A letter from a parent, relative or even the family dog can help. We encourage you to drop off one letter for each day of camp, and we’ll deliver one each day. Don’t rely on the mail, just put them in our little mailboxes when you arrive. Try not to speak about how much you “miss them”, but wish them a great time.
Bedtime Routine
Please write down your camper’s traditional bedtime routine (if they have one). Our counselors will try to imitate your routine to make everyone feel at home.
It’s been our experience parents generally feel the homesickness much more than a prepared camper. If we have any questions, or homesickness persists, we will likely call home just to say “hi” and tell you the fun activities we did. As they say, No News is Good News. We’ll call if we have any questions or concerns.
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