MSU Extension 4-H Military Family Programs

Love Lizzie, Letters to a Military Mom

• Title: Love Lizzie, Letters to a Military Mom
• Author: Lisa Tucker McElroy
• Illustrator: Diane Paterson
• Publisher: Albert Whitman & Company, Morton Grove, Illinois
• Date of Publication: 2005
• Audience Age: 5-9 years

Summary 

In Love, Lizzie: Letters to a Military Mom, 9-year-old Lizzie writes to her mother, who is deployed overseas during wartime. Besides Lizzie’s letters, the book includes her maps that illustrate what she’s been doing and thinking while mom is away

Pre-Deployment Activities 

Draw a map with your child of your neighborhood as Lizzie did in one of her letters. Include all the important places. Use a virtual map computer program to view your neighborhood from the sky. As a family, pick out a star that your service member and family members can look up at while your service member is gone. Draw two maps of the star’s location. Keep one map to display in the house and give one to your service member to have while deployed. Then family members and the service member can look up at the same star in the sky even though you are far apart.

During-Deployment Activities 

Draw maps with pictures of trips that you take together as a family and send them to your service member. Include simple trips to the grocery store or to a park, or vacations that you take. Use the map that Lizzie drew of her soccer trip as an example. Make a special “hidey hole” in your house that your child can use when he or she needs some alone time. Place comfortable pillows and blankets in the hidey hole, and post pictures of your service member there to keep the child company. Fill a small photo album with pictures of everyday activities such as ball practice or a visit with Grandma to send to your service member. Help your child make captions for the photos.

Post-Deployment Activities 

As a family, draw a map of where your service member was deployed. Include general locations such as the meal tent or the place he or she slept. Make a picture list of all the things that your family will do with your service member such as get ice cream, look at pictures, watch a movie or play outside. Check them off as the family participates in them. Make an activity box. On small strips of paper, have family members write down free activities that they’d like the family to do such as ride bikes or participate in game night. Put the strips of paper in the box and have a family member choose one for family time.

Supporting Military Families During Deployment with Books & Activities

Deployment involves moving an individual or military unit within the country or to another country. A mission or task might include training, supporting communities during times of disaster, helping foreign countries or fighting in a war. The many changes happening with each departure and return create difficulties for both service members and their families.

Michigan State University (MSU) Extension and Michigan 4-H are committed to supporting the more than 20,000 Michigan military children and youth, and their families, through programming and community education. 

Programs for Military Families Include: 

• 4-H clubs on installations and in communities
• "4-H 101" and "4-H 201" training for military staff
• Operation: Military Kids (OMK) - supporting children of deployed soldiers
• Speak Out for Military Kids (SOMK) - preparing teens to speak on military life and deployment 
• Hero Packs - saying thank you to military children and youth
• Military 4-H Club Grants - supporting 4-H clubs for military youth and integrating them into county 4-H programs
• Community Awareness Training - educating the public on issues facing military families experiencing a deployment
• Special recognition events during Month of the Military Child and Month of the Military Family 
• Educational and recreational events and opportunities for military families 

4-H Military Family Book Sheets

The 4-H Military Family Book Sheets help parents and guardians find books and activities to help their children during various stages of their service members’ deployments. Each book sheet contains a summary of the book, author and publication details, and activities that they can use with their children pre-, during or post-deployment to extend the message of the book. To find each book, check with your local library, bookstore or online retailer. 

• Before reading: Show your child the front and back cover of the book. Ask him or her to guess what the book is about. 
• While reading: Stop at any time if something comes up that you or your child would like to talk about. 
• After reading: Spend time talking about the story. 

Learn More! 

Connect with us on Facebook: Search "Michigan Operation: Military Kids" and "Michigan 4-H." 

For more information on supporting military families, visit the following websites: 

• MSU Extension: (msue.anr.msu.edu)
• Michigan 4-H Youth Development: (www.4-hmilitarypartnerships.org)
• Operation: Military Kids: (http://www.operationmilitarykids.org)