Dear Campers and Families,

We understand the concerns that you may have sending your child off to a new, bigger school with older children. Your worries are valid, but we assure you that your child will be taken good (great!) care of and that we will do our best to adjust him/her to this new environment. It may help ease your fears to know that our Camp Manager (David Hughes) has worked in a number of different Kindergarten classes throughout Mill Valley and is especially understanding to their special needs. Additionally, he has completed numerous Early Childhood Education and Child Development courses, not to mention that he earned both a teaching credential and Masters Degree in Education from Dominican University. David has worked both as an elementary school teacher and principal. Needless to say, we have plenty of experience working with young children and the needs of our campers are always in the forefront of our minds!

In addition to the grade-specific information below, please also be sure to read through the more general information.

THE TRANSITION:
The transition to a new school with new adults and children can be quite intimidating for you and your child. When you arrive at camp, please let the front desk staff each day your child may need an extra boost getting adjusted and we will arrange for a buddy. After signing in, kindergarteners can go to a room where we have books, blocks, dolls, marbles, a doll-house, legoes and other fun hands on toys and educational manipulatives. We encourage parents to let their children know, in advance, a bit about what to expect when they first arrive at camp (below) and what a typical day will look like.

WHEN YOU FIRST ARRIVE:
With all of the excitement of the first day, the first 15-30 minutes can be overwhelming for our youngsters (and sometimes their families!). When you arrive you will enter the campus, walk into our main office/classroom and sign your child in using our computer system (we will help). A nametag label will print out for your child, and also includes some notes for the camp staff.

Their will be a nametag station setup where your child can draw a small picture on their "doodles nametag", to personalize it.

Backpacks should be left in any of the grade-specific areas and please make sure your child knows what their bag looks like and ideally help show them where you put it.

Once your child is checked-in, their backpack is put away (and/or you are registered for hot lunch), and their nametag is done, we can help them to get engaged in an activity. The more structured aspects of camp begin at 10:00am, and you are welcome to stay with your child until that time. Please be patient during your first minutes at camp as we are working as hard as we can to re-orient returning campers and families and welcome/orient our new families...this is a mighty task, and one that we love doing...it just takes extra time the first day!

ADDITIONAL CLOTHES:
All throughout the day we are taking water breaks. Camp Doodles is so much fun that we sometimes forget to use the bathrooms, even with regular reminders. If you think that your child might benefit from having an extra set of clothes at camp, please do bring a pair and leave them in their clearly labeled backpack. All campers attending Camp Doodles must be potty-trained, and brief regression is normal.

CHILL TIME:
Without adequate planning and advance thoughtfulness, participating in an entire camp day can be long for any young camper. After lunch, the younger campers have "Chill Time". This time is designed to allow them the opportunity to rest, lower their heartrate and stay out of the sun. The younger campers have the option to listen to a story or to rest on a comfy mat for about 30 minutes (many use this time to take an energizer/power nap). We also have the opportunity for campers to read quietly, play in the block or dramatic play area, make play-dough, etc. If your child is being asked to "rest" during this time, and after trying it out you feel they would benefit from being allowed to play quietly instead, please talk to a lead staff member.

OFF CAMPUS TRIPS:
We keep our youngest campers on-site for most, if not all, of the camp day. Some of our activities involve short hikes (e.g. nature hike) or perhaps a hike to the ice cream store.

SO MANY CHANGES:
It is important to realize that some entering Kindergarten are simply not quite ready for our camp program. Entering into a new location, larger school, bigger kids and all of the sudden being the youngest children can be quite a handful for anyone to deal with. In the event that wes feel your child might not be benefiting from our program, we will not hesitate to contact you and encourage parents to let us know of any concerns/comments/suggestions they may have in order to help their child adjust to our program. These children often come back the following year and find themselves right at home - it is amazing what one year can do!

GETTING STUCK:
Entering kindergarten and 1st grade families are typically the families that register a few months before camp starts...they are also the ones that don't have the experience of camps and often find themselves stuck in the end of August...between the last day of camp and the first day of school. There is a period of "no camp and no school" where the camps are shutting down and the teachers are preparing their classrooms. Experienced camp families often take this time as their vacation (or at least plan ahead for this). Thought you might want to know... :-)