Check It Out: Using Coming Together Around Military Families Board Books
at Your Site

Cindy Ashcraft, owner/operator of Bright Beginnings in Wetumpka, AL, writes about her experience with the ZERO TO THREE-CTAMF board books.

 “I have been working with the Alabama National Guard as a child care provider for two years. Many of the children I care for have an absent parent either due to divorce or deployment. Some children remember their parents, some have never met them, and some are seemingly too young to remember. The ZERO TO THREE-CTAMF books, Over There, Home Again, and I’m Here For You Now have been helpful to all of these children in many ways. First of all, the books get the remaining parent involved in remembering the parent who is far away. Home Again is great because it helps both the remaining parent and the Service member be aware of the variety of emotions our little ones experience. This book lets children know that any feeling they have is okay. And—of course—in every class, there is always a little one who says, ‘I sit under the table too!’ In the classroom setting, the children are able to have all the books within reach. We have Military Family Life Consultants who read the books with the children and share ZERO TO THREE resources with parents. When the parents pick up their children at the end of the day, the children have the books in hand and are ready to read them again.”

To order your copy of these board books, contact Military OneSource at www.militaryonesource.com

Spotlight on: Linking Your CTAMF Work to NAEYC Accreditation Criteria

The staff of many child care programs serving military families know how important it is to support infants, toddlers, and families during deployments and reunifications. But did you know that this support and family guidance is also part of demonstrating that yours is a high-quality program? Instituting systems to support military families helps to fulfill the Family and Community (and other) criteria in the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) accreditation interview. Click to ZERO TO THREE'S interview with Linda Hassan Anderson of NAEYC’s accreditation department, who explains these critical elements of quality care.

News You Can Use: Fact Sheet on
Military Marriages

In July 2010, the National Healthy Marriage Resource Center released a fact sheet highlighting marriage and divorce rates and trends for military families (including National Guard families). The resource also highlights strategies service providers may use to support healthy, lasting marriages in the military. To access the fact sheet, click here.

 
Grab & Go Resources: Preparing for a Service Member’s Rest and Recuperation Leave

Just when a family may have adjusted to their Service Member being away, along comes Rest and Recuperation (R&R) leave! As wonderful as it is to reconnect with their Service Members, R&R leave can also pose some challenges to very young children who are still trying to make sense of a parent’s deployment. To learn more about how to prepare young children for R&R leave, click here for the full article.