For some children, Technology Camp may be their first major time staying away from home. It is quite normal for them (and their parents!) to be a little nervous. Nobody can guarantee that homesickness won't occur, but we typically find that it is almost never an issue at Tech Camp, even with children who come in feeling quite nervous at the start.
There are several reasons for this. The most important is that the activities are designed to keep the children interested and excited, and that includes the evening activities. The most common time for homesickness is just before bed; it's very hard to be wishing you were at home at this time of night if you have just left the "Robot Wars" arena.
We also have staff supervising the residential campers who either have children of their own or are highly experienced in a boarding environment (or both), and are able to make everyone feel at ease if an issue arises.
Although we are all very friendly, one of the few things that we do insist upon is that lights-out time is observed, which is later for older campers. The children are very good about this when it is explained the importance of everyone (including staff) getting a good night's sleep, particularly given how active the days are. It is rare to find anyone awake half an hour after lights-out. Rest-assured that you can treat with suspicion any child returning home telling you that they were up until 2am chatting away in their rooms!
For the parents, there are daily updates via email about recent proceedings, with a bank of photographs to browse. It is often a welcome relief if you have been worried about your child to see some photographs of them involved happily in various activities throughout the day, and with the best of intentions, some children are too wrapped-up in the activities of the day and don't realise that their parents like to know what's happening as well.
We have had a number of children stay with us whose parents have used the camp to introduce them to the concept of boarding, or just to give them some experience of staying away from home for a few nights. It certainly makes a good introduction when the experience is so enjoyable for them.
