As Camp Experts we are often asked how parents can help their child with homesickness, before camp begins and when their child is away. Here are some tips that may help: We recommend that you visit the camp ahead of time and we can help to set up an orientation visit the summer before you intend to send your child to camp.

Help your child get mentally prepared for camp. In the weeks before your child leaves for camp, discuss what camp may be like and don’t offer to bring him or her home if it is not what was expected. You may be setting yourself and your child up for failure if you do so.

Four to six days before departure, send your child a letter at camp so that there is something waiting when your camper arrives.

Write a letter to the child’s counselor to provide them with information that may not have been requested on camp forms. The letter will serve as a “thank you in advance” for the special care they will be giving your child.

If your child is homesick, allow the camp staff to work it out without your intervention. Often, by the time you receive a letter indicating your child is homesick, the problem has been resolved.

And if your child is homesick, don’t insist on immediate communication with him or her as sometimes speaking on the phone does more harm than help. Remember that you had the confidence to send your child to camp, so permit the camp professionals to help.

Satisfied parents have relied on the expertise of The Camp Experts and Teen Summers for over 25 years. Call Shari Levine at 914-315-1077 or Joanne Paltrowitz at 914-472-4747 today for a personal consultation on selecting the right camp for your child.