Sending notes home

[Dave]

How does your camp go about sending notes home?

On the first day of camp, we put zip-lock bags on our kids' backpacks. Any time we need to send notes home, or the parents need to send notes in to camp, that bag is used. Everyday, the first thing we check when a camper arrives is their zip-lock bag.

This has worked really well, and if your camp is having problems with notes you should try this. I can explain more if you want.

[EchoLaker]

I'm curious, do you have the parent sign a slip to say they've recieved it ? Otherwise how do you know that camper A, knowing that this is a means of communication, isn't taking out messages that he/she doesn't want to get home ?

[Dave]

I'm curious, do you have the parent sign a slip to say they've recieved it ? Otherwise how do you know that camper A, knowing that this is a means of communication, isn't taking out messages that he/she doesn't want to get home ?
The campers know that whatever goes in the bag is for the parents or counselors only. Usually if the parent sends in a note (even if it's something the kid wouldn't want the counselors to see), the kid tells us right away that there's a note for us. I'm assuming they do the same thing when they go home. When we send a note home asking a question, the parents will write back so we know they got it.

But sometimes the parents don't check the bag. That's the problem. I've had kids who have full bags by the end of the summer because the parents never check them. Our division heads tell us that if the note/announcement/flyer/whatever isn't read the night we send it home, we put it in the backpack itself.

So basically we're doing our parts. It's up to the parents and the camper to make sure the notes get delivered. As far as I know, we've never had complaints that notes were never received.

[CAMPFRIEND]

We send notes home with parents. When the parents sign out the camper they pick up any notes on their child.

[speedx5xracer]

Since we are a sleep away camp our kids must hand write 3 letters a week and email 1 time a week to their parents. If the administration needs to send something htey do it through the office staff

[Dave]

Since we are a sleep away camp our kids must hand write 3 letters a week and email 1 time a week to their parents. If the administration needs to send something htey do it through the office staff
The kids are required to write letters?

[EchoLaker]

The kids are required to write letters?

Thats not unusual at overnight camps - we also require our campers to write home at least 3 times a week.

[camper]

kids are required to write letters at my camp too, dave. we don't really keep track of it for the upper camp, especially seniors (by upper camp their parents are usually comfortable enough w/us and their kids being at camp that they don't really need to know that their kids are ok by getting positive letters from them, and the seniors get phone privileges in the evenings probably about twice a week for each bunk so the kids just call), but for lower camp we really keep track of it. they're supposed to write a letter home each day. we have letter writing period every day, so they always have time. we have a string w/clothespins, one for each camper w/each camper's name on them, hanging up for them to hang their letters so we can see that they're sending one home each day. after that, they're free to write to whoever they want. if a kid misses a day, its no big deal, but after 2 or 3 days if a kid hasn't written at all we make them, even if it's just a fill-in postcard. we only have one-way email, so the kids can't email their parents back, so thats not an issue.

i think dave's system for the ziplocs for day camps would work really well, especially if the parents know about it. that way they know to check the kid's bag each day. i think it would be good to also require the parent to send back a note saying they got the what was sent. if the parent didn't send something back, i'd have the UL follow up w/a phone call to the parents to see if they read it.

[rockinsmiles]

I dont know how notes are arranged at our day camp but I think it is really strange for the overnighters to be required to write home. I know we are suppose to encourge it (well in a way it is said that that is one thing parents complain about if they send their campers with stuff to write home with) but it is far from being required.

[speedx5xracer]

kids are required to write letters at my camp too, dave. we don't really keep track of it for the upper camp, especially seniors (by upper camp their parents are usually comfortable enough w/us and their kids being at camp that they don't really need to know that their kids are ok by getting positive letters from them, and the seniors get phone privileges in the evenings probably about twice a week for each bunk so the kids just call), but for lower camp we really keep track of it. they're supposed to write a letter home each day. we have letter writing period every day, so they always have time. we have a string w/clothespins, one for each camper w/each camper's name on them, hanging up for them to hang their letters so we can see that they're sending one home each day. after that, they're free to write to whoever they want. if a kid misses a day, its no big deal, but after 2 or 3 days if a kid hasn't written at all we make them, even if it's just a fill-in postcard. we only have one-way email, so the kids can't email their parents back, so thats not an issue.

i think dave's system for the ziplocs for day camps would work really well, especially if the parents know about it. that way they know to check the kid's bag each day. i think it would be good to also require the parent to send back a note saying they got the what was sent. if the parent didn't send something back, i'd have the UL follow up w/a phone call to the parents to see if they read it.


The older campers are the ones we have to force to write they usually use their cellphones (not allowed) to call their parents but usually activities or special programs are held hostage for letters.

[daisy]

We don't require kids to write home, but on the last night of each week, the counselors write a letter to the parents of each child in the cabin--just a few sentences about the week and how things went, what the child really enjoyed, etc.

[camper]

THANK GOODNESS we don't have cell service at my camp. most of the parents don't even let their kids bring their cells, and the for the ones that do it serves no purpose b/c...no service! there's actually a camp around mine that's also a conference center in the winter so they have a cell tower, but have the service cut off within a mile radius of their camp so their kids can't use cell phones.

some of the older kids' parents bring their phones up on visiting day and sneak it to them b/c they're nervous about the kids being on their 3 day trip to either boston niagara or cape cod...and sometimes on those trips in their hotel rooms the kids will try to sneak cell phone calls...but they usually get caught by whatever counselor is walking around. we assure the parents that they will be notified in the event of the slightest thing about the trip changing or going wrong, but some parents are crazy about it.

anyway, back to letters...i guess its more common to have letter writing requirements at 7, 8, or 4 week camps...b/c its not a big deal if the kid is only away for a week to send letters. but when parents are sending their kids away for a long time, they REALLY want to know what is going on w/them. they like to know by the tone of the letter how their kid is doing. it works both ways for us...parents tell us very happily on visiting day and after camp that they got nothing but "good" letters, or they call us every day that they got another "bad" letter from their child. sometimes kids will write in a letter to their parents saying something that they won't tell us is bothering them, so it's very important that the parents communicate w/us about anything that seems unusual or "bad" in a child's letter so we can fix it.

[KiwiCRB]

The worst thing is when the parents don't write their kids while they are at camp. Even though it is only a week long most of the kids get letters and it really upsets some campers. When that happens one of the staff members usually writes a little note to them so they can get something at the mail counter. The one summer I was a camper I never got mail, but I don't remember it bothering. I also had a lot going on in my life right then and I've basically blocked about a good year and a half out of my mind but i guess it really depends on the camper and how independent they are.

[audur]

Yeah, my camp also has mostly week-long sessions, and I feel SO bad for the kids who don't get mail from their parents at all. It wouldn't kill the parents to send a short email or a post card or something...

We try to encourage the kids to write home a couple of times during the week, but since it *is* only a week we don't require them to do it. At the end of the session the parents get a package that includes a couple of comments on what their child enjoyed, what we did during the week, that sort of stuff.

I work at an after-school program during the winter - it's for kids with mental disabilities, and all of them have a little notebook in their backpack. Since my kids come from all over the city and surrounding towns, most of them ride a schoolbus (which is really just a van) to school, and back home from the after-school program. Since we rarely see the parents, we communicate by using the notebooks... parents will write us messages in there, as will school, and at the end of the day we write a couple of sentences, telling them what we did that day (since most of the kids can't/won't talk about their day once they get home), and any questions/messages we have. So it's kinda like the ziplock bag system, only we have notebooks :)

[CAMPFRIEND]

I have day campers whos parents send them with cell phones. The kids are having a great time and then the parents call. If the campers don't answer they call me!! I just can't win.

[runrachrunn]

I have day campers whos parents send them with cell phones. The kids are having a great time and then the parents call. If the campers don't answer they call me!! I just can't win.

Campfriend, we've had that problem as well at our day camp. What our directors did was institute a policy where they would take the phone away if needbe (if the camper was always on the phone, or it was ringing more than just occasionally). We also give the parents a call and let them know that little susie was on her cellphone all through drama or whatever.

In terms of sending letters home, our issue has been that parents don't even bother to READ the things, which bothers me to no end. What's the point of sending info home if the parents will just pick up the phone to call the camp to find out info that was EXACTLY written on the note. I think that's probably about 20-30% of the calls we get after the first week of the summer.

[Sparkes]

Our kids also have to write letters, though they get paid in candy if they write, so we never ever have a problem with it. Kids will do just about anything for chocolate! I can't believe kids are actually allowed to bring cell phones to your camps! Their the first things we take if a kid is spotted with them. But I know what you mean campfriend when you say about parents calling you - our kids have one night a week where they call home, and if that kid forgets to call the office is harassed by the parents.

[CAMPFRIEND]

Campfriend, we've had that problem as well at our day camp. What our directors did was institute a policy where they would take the phone away if needbe (if the camper was always on the phone, or it was ringing more than just occasionally). We also give the parents a call and let them know that little susie was on her cellphone all through drama or whatever.

In terms of sending letters home, our issue has been that parents don't even bother to READ the things, which bothers me to no end. What's the point of sending info home if the parents will just pick up the phone to call the camp to find out info that was EXACTLY written on the note. I think that's probably about 20-30% of the calls we get after the first week of the summer.

It kills me to see a 5 year old on a cell phone! I have had to ask campers parents not to bring their child to camp if they had to have a cell phone. I hate when parents call every half hour! It also talkes away from the campers enjoying camp.

[camper]

o wow sparkes...its possible that the kids forget to call? we have 3 scheduled phone calls for each age group all summer and we run it VERY strictly...we call the kids down bunk by bunk and check them off as they call. they get a max of 10 minutes on the phone. counselors are down there monitoring the entire process, including crying kids afterwords. we're also supposed to listen for anything out of the ordinary that a kid says on the phone. counselors are not allowed to be put on the phone w/the parents, as much as they might want to speak to us. only groupheads are allowed to speak to the parents.

[CAMPFRIEND]

o wow sparkes...its possible that the kids forget to call? we have 3 scheduled phone calls for each age group all summer and we run it VERY strictly...we call the kids down bunk by bunk and check them off as they call. they get a max of 10 minutes on the phone. counselors are down there monitoring the entire process, including crying kids afterwords. we're also supposed to listen for anything out of the ordinary that a kid says on the phone. counselors are not allowed to be put on the phone w/the parents, as much as they might want to speak to us. only groupheads are allowed to speak to the parents.

Camper-I hate to say it but not talking to the parents is not a bad thing for you! I know that it's not one of the things on the top of my list!

[camper]

haha don't worry i know. it's the parents that usually want to talk to the counselors, they say "is your counselor there? put her on the phone." but we're not allowed to so we're supposed to say no. i'm not quick enough on my feet yet to be able to talk to parents on the phone and make sense and sound professional. i guess it's one of those things about being a director that i'll learn with experience!

[CAMPFRIEND]

You will get very good very fast!

[Flukie]

Hahahaha. I dislike talking to parents on the phone immensley. This summer, I had an issue where confirmation packets were not sent to parents - so they called looking for info and if their daughters were in the same tent. I had the old roster from two days ago - couldn't find the kids! I had to call the mothers back and reassure them their daughters were registered. Lol. Let's hope that the camp registrar doesn't go on vacation again. :)

[CAMPFRIEND]

Hahahaha. I dislike talking to parents on the phone immensley. This summer, I had an issue where confirmation packets were not sent to parents - so they called looking for info and if their daughters were in the same tent. I had the old roster from two days ago - couldn't find the kids! I had to call the mothers back and reassure them their daughters were registered. Lol. Let's hope that the camp registrar doesn't go on vacation again. :)

Your registrar left in the middle of the summer? Thats crazy!

[Flukie]

Heh. Well, it isn't her only job - she does other stuff for the GS office too. And she a replacement... who she trained. It just didn't quite work out the way it was supposed too. :) Were we glad when she got back! Lol.

[CAMPFRIEND]

It's good to see you made it!

[runrachrunn]

You will get very good very fast!

Campfriend is completely right. As long as you stay calm, empathise with a parent and reassure them, you really can't do any harm. At least, 75% of the time. The other 25% comprises of parents that a) don't speak english (yes, funny but it's true), b) aren't satisfired no matter what you say, or c) if you worked at a day camp like me, show up instead of call. Then you can't hang up, compose yourself and call them bacK!

[CAMPFRIEND]

Campfriend is completely right. As long as you stay calm, empathise with a parent and reassure them, you really can't do any harm. At least, 75% of the time. The other 25% comprises of parents that a) don't speak english (yes, funny but it's true), b) aren't satisfired no matter what you say, or c) if you worked at a day camp like me, show up instead of call. Then you can't hang up, compose yourself and call them bacK!

This is when it's great to have a good director who know when to step in and help you out. Thats our job!

[Orion]

I cannot believe that your camps allow children to call their parents, especially if the session is only a week or two long. Maybe if it's an all-summer camp, I could understand a little. But still...

Talking on the phone with their parents is what makes campers homesick. Part of being at camp is learning how to take care of yourself a little and gain some independance from your parents. I've had problems in the past with campers being homesick. They begged and pleaded to call home but our policy was that they could not. At the end of the week, they were so happy they stuck it out and realized that they could have fun and would be ok even if they weren't able to call or be around their mom or dad.

[camper]

my camp is a 7 week camp. the kids have 2 calls before visiting day and 1 after. it's really not as big of a deal as you might think, orion...its usually pretty painless. there are 1 or 2 kids in each age group who always cry when they get off the phone, and we know who they are and how to deal with them.

[ArtisticEric]

I agree with camper....thats pretty much how they did it where i was last summer an no problems that i know of. We even had 2 counselors on OD by the office so that the few campers who got homesick had someone to make sure they were fine. They were there for either 3 weeks , 3weeks ,2 weeks or a combination of those.

[Sparkes]

we always have counsellors on phone od, but it is hell. Our campers can call once a week (most of them are there all summer) and I have parents calling me all day long trying to get their kids pulled out of an activity to talk to them on the phone (no dice there). I actually had a parent blame me for her kid being homesick, cause I couldn't go get him out of an activity (besides it being against the rules, its just not possible - we don't hav a speaker system and with 300 odd campers I don't know everyones schedule).