Communicate Compassion

• Welcome parents on arrival day with as much warmth and excitement as we have for the campers—recognize that they are concerned about many of the same things the camper is.
• Communicate that we are sensitive to meeting their child’s individual needs.
• Ask them about their expectations for the week both for themselves and for their child—find out if they have been apart before or recently; this will help you assess the difficulty of separation for both camper and parent and allow you to respond in a way that is helpful to both.
• Give them a way to be a part of their child’s week—give them a schedule; tell them about any ways they can communicate with their child through e-mails or letters. Let them know how to pray for their child—introduce them to the speaker and tell them about the theme. If the child has a sponsor at camp, give him strategies for sending updates to the parents.
• When the week ends, greet the parents warmly again and help them find their child quickly—support the reconnection; once this happens, reintroduce yourself and fill them in on highlights of the week, featuring accomplishments, decisions, and new friends. Reassure them that their child was safe, successful, and had fun.

Closing Thoughts

• When a camper hears you tell his parent a story about a highlight of his week, it reinforces the value of the week and helps him be able to fill in more details.
• Talk to the campers about their parents coming and prompt them to think about stories they would like to share with their parents. It is often overwhelming to try to answer the question, “How was your week?”
• Thank parents for sharing their child with us! Parents place a lot of trust in Ironwood by leaving their child in our care for a week. We need to communicate that it is our honor