A cure for homesickness?

Hey Parents! It may only be January, but school (online or otherwise) will be over before you know it and soon you'll be packing the kids up to come to Camp Foley! While everyone is super excited right now, including us, a very common ailment that can strike campers when they least expect it is homesickness. Its a natural feeling, especially for our campers who are coming to camp for the first time.

But is there a cure for homesickness? The short answer is no, but there are many methods for helping relieve some stress and fear that comes with coming to an overnight camp. Check out some tips on how to stop homesickness in its tracks...

• Include your child in the planning process. Have your child describe the geographic location where they would like to go to camp and what kind of activities they would like to participate in
• Talk it out. Tell your child that while they might get homesick, you believe they can get through the sad feelings if they keep themselves busy, talk to their counselors and try to make friends. Try to avoid spreading any feelings of sadness or anxiety you may be feeling over them going to camp
• Create stamped envelopes addressed to home so your child can send you letters once a week updating you on how they are doing
• Get excited with your child. Talk about all the activities that they will experience during camp and ask them which ones they are looking forward to the most

Check out this article for more tips to prepare your child for camp. And at the end of the day remember that homesickness is completely normal, and actually a good sign! It means your child misses the happy safe home you created for them. They may not understand how important learning to be comfortable leaving home might help them in the long run, you can take comfort in knowing you are giving your child the tools to develop independence and confidence that will help them for the rest of their lives. 

Dive Right In!

This week I thought we could "dive in" on a very popular activity here at camp... DIVING!

Here at Camp Foley, we have a diving tower that is installed every summer right before campers arrive, then taken down and stored in the winter... so it doesn't freeze! Our first diving tower was a metal standing tower, that had to be walked out to its location by several counselors, walking on the bottom of the lake. In 2011 we replaced this tower with a new floating diving tower. It is much easier to get in and out of the water, and is much easier to install as part of the swim dock, which all the counselors are grateful for!

There are 3 awards you can recieve in diving here at Camp Foley, the springboard basic, the springboard master, and the very difficult Flying Eagle. Campers must gain each award sequentially, no skipping around! The awards focus on  mastering a variety of dives like the tuck, back, and leg straight dive. To earn these awards you must also be familiar with the mechanics of diving. These

include your body alignment, your approach when diving, and even what the appropriate settings on the diving board should be. The last award in diving, the Flying Eagle, is considered one of the hardest awards to earn at Foley. It includes front and back dives, flips and even a 720 degree spin. There is an added difficulty of having to perform all these dives with an audience! That's right, Flying Eagle recipients must complete a dive show in front of campers and staff in order to get everything checked off.

Our most current recipient of the Flying Eagle is Ben Scholtz, who earned the award in 2019! Check out pictures from his dive show below...

Video Creativity - Third & Fourth Session

Our second four weeks of camp had some REALY awesome Video Creativity classes! Check out the videos from Third and Fourth Session below and on the Foley Youtube Channel!

Third Session

Fourth Session