How to handle homesickness

 

One of the greatest issues parents are faced with these days are in fact, homesick kids. We've been having so many trust issues that most of us haven't even sent our kids away from home before the age of 12. This is becoming an issue, as the older our kids are growing only being exposed to their comfort zones, the greater their homesickness and the chances of them not being independent. 
 

If you have decided that the time is right to send your kids away from home. Here are 5 effective strategies to help the little ones grow their wings and soar away from home.



5 Ways to deal with Homesickness:

1. Prepare your child


Preparing your children before they leave for a vacation is the first step in dealing with homesickness. It needs to be established that missing home and finding it difficult to adjust to new situations is indeed a normality. The aim of this preparation helps kids to deal with and understand their emotions. Once they understand their emotions, they will be able to deal with it.



2. Be empathic 
 

It is essential that you allow your child to express his or her emotions, and do all that you can to reassure them about their insecurities. Your child needs to not feel like he or she has been forced to be away from home, without any consideration of their thoughts and feelings towards the matter. You should never let your child's fears of being away from home grow because of your own fears. Remember that if you are nervous about your child being away from you, elaborating on your fears will just make theirs worse.


3. Express and grow confidence 
 

Grow your child's confidence by showing them the confidence you have as a parent in them and in the experience they will have away from home. Show them that you trust them and that you're very enthusiastic about them going away for a while. Once they see that you're excited about them being away, they will automatically be all smiles too.



4. Bolster trust


Bolstering your child's insecurities with securities are one of the best strategies to get the kids to overcome homesickness. You need to reinforce the trust that you have in the people that will be available to your child while your child is away from you. Reassure your child that there will be other people to help and guide them and that they will be safe. Once the trust is established, there will be no more fears.



5. Establish what is going to be achieved


You need to remind your children why they're going away from home and encourage them to look for all the positives in being away. Tell them about the experience they will gain and how eagerly you will await their arrival just to hear about all the new things they have experienced. This will most definitely eliminate the anxiety your child has and get them packing right away. 

 
 

Here, at Sugar Bay, we deal with homesickness effectively. We take the children's minds off what they're missing at home and focus on what we have planned here at camp. We ensure that our activities get better and better with every passing day, giving the children something to look forward to. Kids are kept very busy with our interactive activities right up until bedtime. And for an extra touch of love and comfort, we ensure that our counselors make the time for a wonderful bedtime adventure story before the little ones close their eyes. 
 

If your child is one of the introverts who needs to gain some independence, you can, without doubt, send them to Sugar Bay for a first-time-away-from-home-experience that will be one of their best. We'll hold their hands and help them grow. Your kids will be strong, independent, young achievers by the time they get back to you.


Give us a call on 032 485 3778 to book a holiday camp for your little one away from home these upcoming June/July holidays. 

Let there be no excuses for you to miss camp. Head over to our website and book online to secure your place for another cool themed camp these Winter holidays. Wondering what our holiday camps are all about? Check out this playlist featuring all the highlights. To view the finer details for each of our themed holiday camps and prices, check out our rates and dates.

Like us on Facebook, Follow us on Twitter and Instagram, be inspired by our Pinterest picture collections, Review us on our Google Plus page, be apart of our experiences by becoming a subscriber to our YouTube Channel and keep commenting on all our blogs!
 

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