deployment

Deployment Support for Families McNair School would like to support our military families who experience deployments, separations and stress. This page offers information and links to sites that may be helpful to you.

Parent Tips In Time Of Stress action figure made by a McNair student

Discuss ways to keep in touch.
Plan a special activity with your child before deployment.
Swap an important personal belonging with your child to keep during deployment.
Involve your child's teacher.
Offer to send postcards to the class.
Give your child a picture of you.
Read library books appropriate to your child's age on the subject of separation.
Use maps to follow the deployed parent during separation.
Use calendars to record special thoughts or events and track time.
Before the deployment, plan family activities to occur during separation and for homecoming.
Assign a family historian and keep a scrapbook of activities to share with the deployed parent.
Send mail to each child individually.
Give lots of hugs.

1. If you see your child becoming anxious or overly stressed, please let the school know. We are here to help you and your child.

2. Your children need their daily routine to stay the same. There is comfort in normalcy. Attending school each day, with friends, is important.

3. Limit TV news reports for your children.

4. Be careful of rumors and what you say around your children. Children need only factual, honest information. Also, don't overload your children with too much information. Keep things simple.

5. Proper rest and nutrition are very important. You may see an increase in aches and pains. Children may also have trouble sleeping or experience bad dreams.

6. Provide lots of opportunity for exercise. It's a great stress reliever.

7. Take a little extra time to do something fun with your child. Give your child uninterrupted time to talk with you.

8. Children may need reassurance that they are safe.

9. Acknowledge your child's feelings... "I know you are feeling scared ** worried ** sad ** lonely, etc.."

10. Children may play-act and/or fantasize the events that are taking place. This is normal.

American flag

This is a site where families can record messages for loved ones overseas.

http://www.aafes.com/Patriot_Family/home.asp

Printed materials and videos appropriate for young children:
http://www.sesameworkshop.org/tlc/index_old.php

This site offers suggestions to help children deal with fear and anxiety:
http://www.dodea.edu/instruction/crisis/resources/fear_anxiety.htm

http://www.teachersandfamilies.com/open/deploy/deploy3.cfm

http://aoshs.wichita.edu/famous.html

http://www.deploymentkids.com/

http://www.wsbtv.com/patriotism/2107168/detail.html

http://www.adusa.com/MFamilies.htm

http://www.bratzone.net/

http://www.marriedtothearmy.com/army_kids_deployment.htm

http://www.militaryonesource.com/skins/MOS/home.aspx

http://www.emilitary.org/

http://flatdaddies.com/

Flat Daddies and Flat Mommies are life-size printed posters of parents who are actively serving overseas in the military. These posters are made available free to the spouse of a deployed service person through the generous support of sponsors. FlatDaddies.com is dedicated to helping make this possible.

http://read2kids.org/united.htm

United Through Reading, an underway quality-of-life program for military families, helps keep parents and children connected while separated during long deployments, through the medium of reading aloud on videotape. This program can be utilized by all deployed personnel as they may choose to read aloud to a younger brother or sister, grandchild, or even a child they are mentoring.

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page updated2-27-07
clipart from free sites