Every summer we rely on a deep partnership with you as parents and guardians. Before camp, you filled out forms, labeled clothes, and helped prepare your child for the transition to camp. Thank you for trusting us to care for your children. This session our campers had tons of fun, learned new skills, made new friends, strengthened existing relationships, and grew as individuals and as a community. Now that the session is coming to an end, we look again to partner with you as your camper adjusts to home life and routines. This can be emotionally and/or physically challenging; some campers will show signs of a post-camp phenomenon aptly named ‘camp sickness’. Campers may express a range of conflicting emotions, happy to be home but missing camp.
Here are some suggestions to help ease the transition back to home life:
- Listen to your children and ask them open-ended questions about their time at camp. Encourage your child to relive the experiences through storytelling. This can provide an entry into learning all about their summer. Help your camper ease back into the world of technology. Racing back to screens instead of taking the time to readjust can be a shock to the system after spending the past few weeks unplugged.
- Don’t take it personally if your campers may prefer to be holed up in their rooms, on social media, connecting with their camp friends, and want very little to do with you for a few days. Hang in there and don’t feel rejected. They’ll come around!
- Learn to connect with the “new” child in front of you and accept/recognize the changes that they have gone through. Your camper may look taller, tanner, or just more grown up than when they left for camp. It’s amazing what a few weeks can do. Aside from the physical changes, you may see that your child has developed emotionally as well. They have probably gained some confidence and independence while at camp. They’re made new friends, tried new activities, and figured it all out themselves—that’s a good thing!
- Ease into enforcing home rules and routines. At camp, your child was far more independent. Transitioning back to the “real world” will require time and patience.
- Don’t jump to conclusions. Many of our campers like to stay up later on the last night of camp in an attempt to make the magic of camp last a little bit longer. They may arrive home in need of a good shower, a nap, and a good meal. Also, your child may share some negative experiences from camp or even view the whole experience as just “good” or “ok”. Listen to your child, ask questions, and with time, a more accurate and actionable perspective will likely emerge.
- Encourage your child to connect with friends from both home and camp. When campers return home, they are often thinking about how much they already miss camp friends. Encourage your camper to stay connected and consider creating opportunities to get together, but remind your camper that there are great friends at home, too.
- Luggage and clothing require parental attention. Just like returning from a vacation, it is best to unpack luggage in a garage or mudroom. Wash all clothing including items that were not worn.
- As always, thank you for partnering with the CCRC team. Your collaboration with us is invaluable in making these pre and post-camp transitions as seamless as possible!
Adina, Caryn, Lauren, & Michelle
Session 1 Yoetzot