Many children who have a parent serving in the military live through the experience of having that parent leave on deployment. The months leading up to the parent’s departure and the often lengthy time that the parent is away are difficult times for the whole family. In this lesson, providers will learn about these two uniquely difficult experiences from children’s perspectives, and how to provide support to children in the child care environment. (2 hours)
Objectives
- Identify and define the phases of the emotional cycle of deployment.
- Learn about the unique stressors on military-connected parents during the pre-deployment and deployment phases and how those stressors impact parent-child relationships.
- Explore the thoughts, feelings and behaviors of children in response to the significant changes before and during deployment of a parent.
- Learn strategies for meeting the needs of children of differing ages before and during deployment.
