LETTERS, EMAILS & A PHONE CALL
Campers will write home each week to their immediate family. To make it easier, please pre-address and stamp envelopes (Camper Name - P.O. Box 548, Kent, CT 06757). Many letters get returned to us due to illegible addresses or inadequate postage which creates a delay in receiving mail from your children.
International families, please note that we will be happy to scan and email your child’s letters home for faster delivery. Thank you for understanding that we are not able to accommodate emailing letters to our domestic families who are traveling. Please discuss this with your camper ahead of time.
Please write as frequently as you can. It is a great idea to send mail prior to your child’s arrival at camp so they receive it right away, or pack a surprise letter in their baggage! Note: if traveling while your child is at camp, when writing letters (or emails), please do not focus too much on your experiences and happenings abroad; your child might get upset that he or she is not with you.
Mail will be delivered to campers once daily, except Sunday. Please be aware that we are in a small town, with a small post office and mail moves slower than usual, both to and from campers.
Address mail to:
Your Child’s Name and Group Name
KenMont and KenWood Camps
P.O. Box 548
Kent, CT 06757
Please do not send care packages (of any kind) while your child is at camp. Throughout the years, allowing packages at camp has only proven to be a source of disappointment for those campers who did not receive anything from home. We provide games in the bunks and you can certainly send any fun items in your child’s baggage ahead of time.
ANY AND ALL PACKAGES RECEIVED DURING CAMP WILL NOT BE DELIVERED. PACKAGES WILL BE HELD IN STORAGE AND THEN PACKED IN YOUR CAMPERS’ BAGS FOR DEPARTURE DAY.
This includes photos*, novelty items, magazines, comic books, etc. All envelopes that are thick and/or larger than letter size will need to be opened for inspection because of our camp policy. Please note: Food/Candy/Gatorade (Packets) will not be stored and is discarded. Thank you for your cooperation.
* We understand that campers like to receive (and parents like to send) photos while their campers are with us. Over the past few summers, more and more parents have been sending photos via the Postagram and Ink Apps. They are free to download and user-friendly. Pictures arrive in a postcard sized format, which we gladly accept and deliver! However, please note, sometimes these take even longer to arrive at camp vs. traditional mail.
If you forgot to pack a necessary item (i.e. contact lenses, glasses) and need to send to camp, please call the office so we know to expect the package and we will deliver to your camper.
If your camper is celebrating a birthday while at camp, we do allow birthday packages to be sent. If you are sending a package, please write Birthday Package on the box so we can store accordingly. Send to ATTN: Michele Troche along with your camper’s name. Please, do not send food or candy as it is not allowed at camp and please, no gifts for bunkmates.
Campers can receive emails from their immediate family (parents and siblings); please limit emails to 3 per week per camper, thank you! Unfortunately, we are not equipped to handle the volume created by e-mails from friends and other relatives; no attachments/photos please. REMEMBER: Campers LOVE to get regular mail!
You can send your camper an email to Put their name and group in the subject area and we will deliver to them. We will send an email with additional instructions/reminders as it gets closer to the start of camp.
Note: Note: The email ‘week’ is from Wednesday to Tuesday for 1st session and Thursday to Wednesday for 2nd session. E-mails sent by parents will be printed and delivered to our campers once daily with the regular mail (except on Sundays).
All emails received after 12pm will be delivered the next day. In addition, if you send an e-mail Saturday after 12pm, since we don’t deliver mail on Sundays, your child won’t be receiving it until Monday. Thank you for your understanding. Please note, starting (2) days prior to the end of your child’s session, emails will no longer be delivered as we will need to start preparing for Camper Departure Day.
Scheduling your child’s phone call home is easy and can be done via the online phone call form found on your camper’s dashboard.
Each camper group has one pre-assigned day with 2-3 time slots to choose from (based on availability and camp program). Camper calls to parents are 10 minutes long.
Remember to write down the date and time you selected for each child.
Times are scheduled as such so that campers do not miss any of their activities. If you need to change your phone time, please feel free to call / email the office. We prefer if siblings do not call together. We have found from past experience that this creates more upset than comfort for siblings. For parents who do not live together, each parent receives a 10 minute call; please have the parent living in a separate househould call the main office at 845-262-1090 to schedule his/her phone call.
Campers get an ‘extra’ call on their birthday and on birthdays of immediate family members. Please submit this information via the phone call form. Birthday calls can be scheduled between 9am-9:30am Monday — Saturday; 9:30am-10am Sunday OR between 7-7:30 pm every night.
As much as campers look forward to camp each summer, it is often with some trepidation that they face the separation from their parents. It is often equally difficult for parents to part with their children for the summer, but they do so hoping to give their children the gift of a wonderful summer camp experience. As seasoned camp professionals and parents, we offer the following advice in helping ready your child for their summer at sleep-away camp.
Never force your child to go to camp. Children that take part in their decision to come to camp own that decision and make better campers.
If your child asks you before coming to camp if they are free to go home if they don’t like it, do not answer “yes.” Say that it won’t be a problem, or that camp will be so much fun and go by so quickly, that they won’t want to come home. Stress the positive. Campers will quote their parents and say, “My mom said I could come home if I don’t like it, etc.” This is faulty thinking for a successful camp experience and will interfere with your child’s adjustment.
Practice separations. For example, sleepovers at friends or weekends at grandma’s house will help to encourage your child’s independence.
Discuss what camp will be like before your child leaves. Watching the videos on our website, sharing your own camp experiences or first adventure away from home, simulating the camp environment by using flashlights and sleeping bags, all help in the process of getting the “mind-set” necessary to have a successful camp experience.
Reassure your child that you will write or e-mail often and stick to it. Children really love getting mail, and knowing that you take time from your busy schedule to write letters letting them know that you are thinking of them. However, if traveling, please do not focus too much on your experiences and happenings abroad; your child might get upset that he or she is not with you.
Phone calls are trickier. Calls for younger campers should be scheduled in the morning. This way, even if your child is teary or sad on the phone, the tears dry quickly when children are out having fun with their friends and participating in activities. Evening calls are fine for older campers. PARENTS- please remember that children will cry on the phone when they hear your voice, but this doesn’t mean that their camp experience isn’t great. YOU CAN MISS YOUR PARENTS TERRIBLY AND STILL HAVE A GREAT TIME.
Feel free to reach the camp regarding your child’s adjustment. If there are any adjustment issues, the camp will notify you immediately and employ your help. IF PARENTS TELL THEIR CHILDREN, THAT IN THE EVENT OF HOMESICKNESS THEY CAN COME HOME, WE HAVE NO RECOURSE IN HELPING YOUR CHILD. Several children had a difficult adjustment last summer, but the parents who remained firm and supportive helped to turn around their child’s homesickness. Most incidences of homesickness pass in a few days; the experience can be an important step toward independence in your child’s growth and development. Please give them the opportunity to make it through.
Parents often feel guilty about encouraging homesick campers to remain at camp. It is very tempting to want to “rescue” your child. Please trust our judgment. We know when children are having fun and when they are genuinely upset. It is our policy to be completely open and share any important issues with you that will impact the success of your child’s summer experience. Don’t undermine your child’s experience by setting up secret signals with them for photos (not smiling, thumbs up or down). These signs only cause more anxiety for you as a parent. Ultimately, you have to trust your instincts, and be assured that we will not let your child suffer or be miserable.
Honor your promises to your child. If you make up a phone time, stick to it; if you say that you will write 3 times weekly, do so. This trust issue can be sorely tested at camp and your child will feel more secure if they know you keep your word to them.
Be positive in all your conversations and correspondence. For example, it is fine to say, “I miss you, but I know that you are having a great time at camp.”
If you get a distressing letter, please call the camp — but remember that there is at least a four day lapse from the time that the letter is written to being received. Bouts of homesickness may already be clearing. Often bunkmate altercations or a hard day on the playing field clears up within a few hours. When parents ask the child what the problem was about, often the camper doesn’t even remember it!
Don’t keep secrets from us. If there is information that can help your child at camp, please share it. It is very obvious to our staff of trained professionals when there is a child with emotional or behavioral issues. We better serve your child if this information, which is confidential, is shared with our senior staff members.
Please read and re-read this information. If you have any questions, feel free to call the directors at the camp office
Show your child encouragement and enthusiasm prior to the start of camp. Make your good-byes on the first day of camp quick and positive. If your child is coming to camp on their own, without a friend and you would like to arrange a get together/skype, please call to get names and emails of other new campers in your area. Write frequently. All campers love getting mail. A letter sent in advance and waiting for them on arrival day is a great idea. Be in touch without making your child feel he or she is missing out on something by not being at home. Especially, if traveling, please do not focus too much on your experiences and happenings abroad; your child might get upset that he or she is not with you.