Suggestions for a Successful Start to Camp  7 Add a little bit of body text You’ve signed your camper up for the full camp experience. The camp experience ebbs and flows over the course of seven weeks. Under no circumstances should you promise that you’ll take your camper home mid-summer. Reassure your camper that everything at home will be the same as when they left. This means that pets will be cared for, possessions will be protected from siblings, and that their room will stay as it was left. If for any reason this cannot be promised (e.g. you’ll be moving or re-decorating), please let us know – we can be most helpful when we are informed. Please reassure your camper that you and any younger siblings will be going about the normal routine while they are away at camp. Please notify the office of any upsetting event that may have occurred prior to camp or is to occur during the summer. In this category would be an illness or death in the family, poor school grades, divorce, or moving to a new house or city. Please discuss with the camp directors if your camper has been under any psychological/psychiatric care at any time prior to camp. Camp Echo Lake is more than adequately prepared to deal with most campers and the common problems of growing up. Our knowledge of the facts will give your camper the best chance of success. Please tell us if your camper has any special interests or talents that should be encouraged at camp. While the camp program is designed to If your camper is having on-going adjustment issues, we’ll be in contact with you. We have a very developed and well-practiced approach to helping campers deal with homesickness. A “try it out” approach does not work. You may think it’s comforting to tell them if they’re unhappy you’ll come get them, but it actually gives them a sense of your own insecurity that it may not work. If your camper is showing an initial struggle with adjustment to camp, won’t it be a wonderful accomplishment and confidence builder when he or she does adjust! provide basic skills in many activities, certain campers may have a more rewarding summer if encouraged in a specific area. The pointers below are designed to help prepare your child for the enriching and fruitful experiences that camp provides.