MEASURING page 39

TO) wild a campfire!

r'■ e in the Triathalon!

a kayak!
g lse ncover
your hidden talents!

mprove your backhand!
magine yourself climbing the Alpine Tower!

augh with your friends!
ight Shabbat candles!

D

LISA BRODY SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH NEWS

!stover great new friends!
ream under the stars!

For information about the great summer programs at
Olin-Sang-Ruby Union Institute see your synagogue
office or call OSRUI at
847-509-0990 x25.

WHICH
SUMMER
EXPERIENCE
IS BEST
FOR YOUR
CHILD?

A Free Service
Since 1970

LET ME HELP YOU MAKE
THE RIGHT CHOICE

TH E AP P L E TR E E

•Overnight Camp

40

•Specialty Camp

•Language-Cultural
Exchange

•Teen Camp

•Community Service

•Teen Tour

•Hiking - Biking -
Wilderness - Sailing

•School-US & Abroad

(

Homesickness:
Fighting The Bugaboo

Student Camp & Trip Advisors, inc.

SUSIE PAPPAS (810) 540-9885

The first time my daughter
went away to camp, every let-
ter I anxiously received told
me all of the activities she was
doing, all of the people in her
cabin, how much she liked her
counselors, and how she
missed us "s00000000000"
much.
The first couple letters even
emphasized how she would _
cry at night going to sleep, and
in the morning when she
woke up, before she got
dressed.
While the activities certainly
sounded like fun, all the miss-
ing of me, while flattering, wor-
ried my neurotic Jewish heart.
I waited a week, and then
called the camp director to
make sure thing were OK.
They were, and when we
picked her up at the end of the
session, she couldn't wait to go
back the next year
Turns out I had handled it
right. "React carefully to those
fast letters," advises Larry
Stevens, owner of Camp
Walden.
"I ask my staff to be very
aware of homesickness, and
very sensitive to it," says Lau-
rence Cohn of Camp Maple-
hurst "It usually is minimal,
because the kids want to go to
camp. The first two or three
days, we keep them busy and
are with them all of the time.
The counselors sleep in the
first couple of nights, because
night time is when it's most
important"
Night time and quiet times

are the toughest on kids away
from home, because that's
when children have the oppor-
tunity to think about mom,
dad and home. "It's usually the
first three or four nights, and
then they're over it," says Sid
Friedman of Camp Tanuga.
The number one way to get
over it is to keep that child oc-
cupied, to keep their mind off
their homesickness."
Mr. Friedman emphasizes
that parents play a key role,
and they need to give the child
and the camp a lot of support.
"Parents sometimes set the
kids up by saying, 'If you don't
like it, you can come home.'
That really can sabotage the ad-
justment"
Susie Zaks, assistant director
of Tamarack Camps, advises
parents: "Send letters to your
kids four days before they leave
for camp so there is mail there
for them at the beginning.
Send a Walkma.n up with mu-
sic they like to listen to Let
them }mow it's OK to bring a
favorite bear, blanket or pillow
from home, anything that's
part of the bedtime ritual. I tell
them that even counselors
bring theirs!
"We also have a fax system
that parents can sign up for. It's
really great for the younger
kidS who are only at camp a
short while. This way kids can
get mail every day, and parents
can get answers to their ques-
tions really quickly
"But most of all, when
working with the kids, it's im-

portant to keep everything on
the positive side," she says.
In rare cases, a child's home-
sickness can affect his cabin-
mates' camp experience.
"You have to find out what
the reasons are" for the ex-
treme homesickness, says
Mr. Stevens of Camp
Walden. "It can be a serious
case of separation anxiety, or
fears of what may be going
on at home" — for example,
if the parents are in the midst
of a divorce.
"Sometimes, if you take that
child out of camp, and do
something fun, and then come
back, camp becomes a place
like home," says Mr. Stevens.
"Occasionally, a child just was-
n't ready, and may need to go
home."
But that is rare. Most chil-
dren go through early home-
sickness, then adjust just fine.
Adrienne Ruby, whose son Eric
experienced homesickness at
the beginning of some camp
sessions, notes, "You have to
remember that they're writing
it at the moment when they're
upset, and by the time you get
the letter, they could be fine.
When you respond to the
child, you cannot show how
concerned you are.
"When I wrote Eric back, I
wrote him that he'd be flne, he
would have fun, and I wrote
him about all of the positive ex-
periences he would have," she
says. "The key is to stay up-
beat, even though inside you're
eating your heart out El