Pre-Camp Parent Video Calls

Camp at Home

The Camp at Home pre camp call is a video call with ALL families. This will take place on Thursdays and run from 4:30pm to 5:00pm. Hopefully all families are able to attend but if they are not, they can call your director with any questions. You will use the below script to run the conversation.

Make sure to speak with confidence about the plan for the week ahead. We invite parents to share their suggestions for the session (locations for biking/hiking, etc.) and we want to make it clear that whether they have suggestions or not, we know places to go and are prepared to run an awesome session of Camp at Home for them!

*Note: If all invitations to the pre-camp video call have been rejected and no one from the group is able to attend, make a phone call to the host family instead to connect. If the host family is not able to attend the video call but other families are, run the meeting as normal, and then afterwards call the host family to try and make contact over the phone. It is very important that you touch base with your CAH group host family before your week begins so you as the instructor and they as the host family can become more familiar with one another and set expectations for what to expect for the upcoming week.

Step 1: Get to know them via the video call...

1. Introduce yourself: Hi, my name is _________________ . I’ll be your group's instructor next week at Avid4 Adventure.

2. Get to know their child: I am really excited to work with (each kids name). What drew you to Avid4 Adventure’s Camp at Home? Tell me about (child’s name).

3. Find out their goals: What is the main thing you would like campers to get out of this camp experience? Is there anything more about that you’d like to share with me?

4. Share our mission: Our goal is to help (child’s name) gain the skills and confidence so he is active outdoors for life. I want to make sure that we have a great week so I will be asking a few questions to help me customize the program for (child’s name(s)

Step 2: I’d like to take a moment to review a few logistics with you

• Just a reminder that camp is from 9:00am-3:00pm. On Monday, I will arrive around 8:45am and will depart your (host family’s) house around 3:15pm. The address I have is______.

• I have a bunch of fun ideas for lessons we can do throughout the session entire program and we have some freedom to customize the activities (hiking vs. biking) as you prefer. Typically we plan 3 days of biking and 2 days of hiking each week. Would you like to make any changes there?

  • We also have the option for the group to meet directly at _______ park for an entire camp day. Would you like to do that? If so, for what day(s)?

• For the days at the park, you will need to drop off/pick up your child(ren) at the park. The address is _______. Do you know where that is? Dropoff will be at 9:00am and pickup at 3:00pm.

• I want to make sure that we respect your home this week. I will have a few questions for you Monday morning during a 15 minute walk through so think about what you would like the ground rules to be when we are at your home. Things like:

  • Any areas that are off limits? Any house rules I should know? Any pets that I should be aware of and anything I need to know about them while I am at your house?

• I’d also like to chat about a few biking-related topics:

  • Do all of your children have a bike and helmet to use for the program? If not, we can do hiking activities instead. (We are not able to provide camper biking gear for this program).

• • If possible, we like to practice bike skills at home and go on neighborhood bike rides or rides at the park.

    • Is it okay if we bike in your yard/driveway?

    • Can you tell me about the available biking areas in your neighborhood? Does everyone feel comfortable with your child(ren) going on a neighborhood bike ride?

    • Are there trails/parks nearby that we could ride to?

• We will be cooking on a camp stove outside, do your children have any food allergies or dietary restrictions?

• Covid-19 screening questions:

  • Has your camper had a fever, cough or shortness of breath or any other symptoms in the past week?

  • Have they felt tired or lost their sense of taste or smell?

  • Have they spent time with someone that has been sick with Covid-19 or some other infectious or communicable illness?

  • Please continue to monitor your child’s health in accordance with our health screening reminder email.

  • Please keep your child home if they are sick, starting to feel sick or if they have a fever.

• Details about preparing for the program can all be found in the Pre-Camp Guide on our website. The Pre-Camp Guide link is a button in the top right corner of our website’s home page. It was also emailed to you.

Step 3: Do you have any questions for me? Thanks for talking. I am really looking forward to seeing your children at camp next week.

After the call:

If you received any important information during the call that is different than what you see on your group list, schedule, or health history forms, please make note and share with your Camp Director to discuss further and make adjustments accordingly.

Pre-Camp Call Pro-Tips

How to get ideas from parents regarding locations:

Try saying “I would love to start with your suggestions and learn what spaces you and the kids are familiar with. I can adapt my activities to many locations and find that families often have the best idea of locations that work for their families”

Avoid saying “I don’t know the area, I was hoping you could provide some suggestions for the parks in the area.”

If they don’t have many ideas for locations:

Try this approach: “If you don’t have any go-to spots, that’s absolutely ok, let’s focus on activities and then I’ll plan out locations based on what I think would work well. We can touch base on Monday, when we’ll be at the home, to finalize a location plan for the week. So, what are your kids most interested in? This program is designed for them, so I’m excited to craft a week around their interests.”

If they want to hear about your plans right away:

Parents want to hear your thoughts first? “Sure, I’d be stoked to tell you about all the things we can do, I’ll stick to categories so that I can work on specifics after I hear more about your kids. With Camp at Home, we can do outdoor cooking, learn about Leave No Trace, play team building games, work on neighborhood or trail riding, we can meet at trailheads and spend the day hiking, and I can teach survival activities. Furthermore, on Monday, the kids and I will spend time together developing our ‘adventure plan’ for the session, it’s important to me that they feel empowered to help with the planning of their own adventures during camp (within reason of course!).”