Check It Out: United Through Reading

United Through Reading is an organization providing deployed Service members with an opportunity to be videorecorded reading an age-appropriate book to their young child. The DVD is then sent home to the family so the child has her parent available “on demand” during the deployment. The mission of United Through Reading is to help families stay connected during separations and keep the bond between parent and child strong throughout a deployment. Learn more about this exciting program, or visit United Through Reading on the Web at www.unitedthroughreading.org/military/ 

Spotlight on: Linking Family Culture to Center-Based Holiday Celebrations

Eglin Air Force Base’s Child Development Centers make a practice of reaching out to parents to ensure that center-based celebrations for the holidays represent the cultures, languages, and traditions of the families they serve. Read more by clicking here.

News You Can Use: The Parenting Infants and Toddlers Today Survey

ZERO TO THREE recently conducted a national parent survey of 1,615 parents of children from birth to 3 years old. The survey was designed to explore the issues and challenges that parents of young children confront today, as well as to identify gaps in knowledge about early development and factors that influence their approaches to parenting. Here are just two of the many interesting findings:

• Babies are able to sense their parents’ moods. Babies, beginning from birth, are able to sense and be affected by their parents’ moods. The ZTT survey found that more than two thirds of parent respondents were not aware that young babies could be affected by their parents’ emotional states.
• Babies can experience emotions. Infants as young as 6 months old can experience emotions such as sadness and fear. However, 69% of parent survey respondents believed this milestone occurred later in their child’s development.

The findings of this study are particularly applicable to families experiencing the effects of deployment because the emotional state of the non-deployed parent who is serving as the primary caregiver can so profoundly impact infants and toddlers. For more information on findings from the Parenting Infants and Toddlers Today survey—and implications for service providers working with families—click here.

To learn more about the signs of stress in very young child, check out You Think You’re Stressed or Little Listeners. 

 
Grab & Go Resources: Coping With Deployments Over the Holidays

Download this article to learn how center-based programs can support families who have a Service member deployed over the holidays. Included are ideas for building connections and strengthening relationships with the deployed Service member during the holiday season, as well as suggestions for modifying holiday traditions in the Service member’s absence. To download, click here.