The American Camping Association has a great web page of advice on preventing homesickness and working on coping strategies at home, as well as ways we will help at outdoor school. Below is some advice in brief:

Parents: Even the most well-adjusted child can get homesick, so don't assume your child is immune. Talk about homesickness and strategies for coping with it before outdoor school, but do NOT tell your child you will pick them up if they are homesick. This is a recipe for failure. Do work with your child to create positive expectations. If you are feeling anxious, try not to let this show to your child, as this will increase the chances they will be homesick. THEY worry about YOU, you know! Other things you can do at home include:

-working together as a family to plan, and pack

-spending practice time away from home, such as a long weekend at a friend's house

-experimenting with the best coping strategies during this practice separation

-preparing pre-stamped, pre-addressed envelopes to bring to camp.

Students: Focus on the positive - you are going to have a great time and learn a lot, but not if all you think about is how homesick you are. You are only at outdoor school for 5 short days and 4 nights, make the most of it! We will help by keeping you busy and making it fun, but you have to help, too. We will ~not~ let you call home if you feel homesick - can you guess why? That's right - it only makes it worse, and we want to make it better and make this one of the best weeks of school ever! We don't want you to miss out!

Cabin Leaders: You can help a great deal by keeping the students busy and organized in the cabin. Have study hall times so they can finish their homework, skit practice times so you'll have a great skit - encourage working together and everyone's involvement! Assign buddies and rotate them if needed to break up cliques, including moving bunks if it helps. Play games with the group, make up songs, stories, read stories to them. Assign duties to each student for clean up procedures. And most importantly, focus on the positive! Spend time each day having each student share what was fun, what they learned, what they are excited about for tomorrow. Keep them focused on those positive experiences and that is what they will remember most!

Teachers: Prepare the students in the classroom for homesickness. Go over policies - we won't let you call home or let your parents pick you up just because you are homesick. Go over coping procedures: stay busy, focus on positive, bring pre-addressed, stamped envelopes and write home every day. Build up positive expectations for students. If you have students you are concerned will be homesick, work with their parents on coping strategies and what to say and not to say at home (no Pick-Up Deals!) Surprisingly, having a friend in the cabin with them isn't necessarily protection against homesickness. Even having a parent come up as a cabin leader doesn't always help. Positive expectations, attitudes, focus, and keeping busy and involved are the best remedies. Read this article for more prevention and coping strategies for homesickness.