Homesickness is a very normal and often temporary response to being away from home. With sensitive handling by you and our staff most homesickness can be prevented or overcome, leading your camper to feelings of independence, pride, and self-assurance.
Talk with your child before they leave for camp to create a game plan for homesickness. Here are some things you can encourage them to do if they feel homesick:
- Send an email home.
- Think of one thing they’re looking forward to at camp.
- Hold an item from home (such as a stuffed animal, picture, etc.)
- Focus on one activity at a time.
- Share how they’re feeling with their counselor or junior counselor.
Please do not tell your child they can call home or be picked up early, as this often makes homesickness worse and makes it hard for them to fully invest in the camp experience. It is also very difficult as a parent to hear your child feeling sad on the phone and not immediately plan to pick them up. Tell them they can email you for encouragement!
If your camper is experiencing homesickness to the point that it is significantly impacting their camp experience, we will call you to let you know and ask for your input on how you would like us to handle it.
Our staff is well-trained in handling homesickness and will work with your camper to keep them well occupied and having fun. We never dismiss how a camper is feeling but rather acknowledge their feelings as normal and help provide support for them to become comfortable and confident at camp.
Homesickness is a very normal and often temporary response to being away from home. With sensitive handling by you and our staff most homesickness can be prevented or overcome, leading your camper to feelings of independence, pride, and self-assurance.
Talk with your child before they leave for camp to help ease the transition. Speak of how exciting camp will be, how much fun you’re sure they will have, and how proud you are of them for trying something new. Further, let your child know that if they are feeling sad, afraid, or lonely, there is always someone they can reach out to, whether it is their counselor, another staff member, the First Aid Coordinator, or even the Camp Director.
Please do not tell your child they can call home or be picked up early, as this often makes homesickness worse, and leads to campers having trouble fully investing in the experience. Sometimes parents will receive an email from their camper talking about how homesick they are, or how they are not having fun at camp at all. Please know that whenever we observe a camper is experiencing a more difficult than average adjustment to camp, we will always call you to let you know and ask for your input.
Our staff is well-trained in handling these situations. We know that campers are most likely to feel a longing for home during “down” times, such as mealtimes and just before bed. Our staff takes intentional measures to keep campers well occupied during these times. We will work with your child to acknowledge that their feelings are normal and to provide support for them as they participate in our Christian camp community.