Homesickness

This is something that every year we have to deal with and it is difficult for us to do, however if your child is prone to this (or you suspect may be if this is the first long period of time away from home) then we ask for you to do some work in advance to help your child make the most out of camp.

From doing a little bit of research online, there are plenty of tips of ways to help, some we can deal with on camp, however others we rely on you to provide. It is highly recommended to do your own research, there are a couple websites below that have some good ideas.

http://kidshealth.org/en/teens/homesickness.html

https://www.acacamps.org/press-room/how-to-choose-camp/homesickness

Some things we have found out are:

● Take a personal item (teddy bear, pillow or pictures etc.) to camp as a reminder of home

● Keep busy – we will provide this!

● Send your child with stamped addressed postcards that they can send to you to tell you what they have been doing

● If you wish to send letters to your child then please be positive, telling them you are missing them can often make problems worse, but telling them what you have been doing and that they must be having a great time is much better. Homesickness is one of the reasons we ban mobile phones from camp, as we can then be unaware if a situation is arising. If they are upset they can come to us and we will discuss the best course of action for them.

● Encourage them to talk to one of the others if they are upset

● Encourage them that they can stay and have fun; if they know there is the possibility of going home they live for that moment. We aim to give them time to settle in and will resist sending them home straight away to give them chance to find their feet, if you tell them they can come home that will be their focus.

We understand this can be quite hard for everyone, and if you think there might be issues or reasons why your child may get homesick then please tell us so that we can monitor the situation. If you have any other queries or want to go through anything to do with camp for example what they should expect then please get in touch.