MSU Extension 4-H Military Family Programs

You and Your Military Hero 

• Title: You and Your Military Hero 
• Author: Sara Jensen-Fritz, Paula JonesJohnson, Thea L. Zitzow
• Illustrator: Ryan Scheife
• Publisher: Beaver's Pond Press 
• Date of Publication: 2009 
• Audience Age: 5-12 years 

Summary 

You and Your Military Hero: Building Positive Thinking Skills During Your Hero’s Deployment is an activity book that helps children understand their feelings, learn relaxation techniques and helps them think good thoughts while their service member is deployed. The activities are designed to be done with a trusted adult.

Pre-Deployment Activities 

Take pictures of your family with your service member to use in the activities in the book. Take a variety of pictures with your service member and take some of your service member alone that can be used in activities throughout the book. Learn about where your service member is going to be living. Where is it located on a map? What will they eat while they are there? Where will they sleep? What will the weather be like? You can use this information for an activity in the book.

During-Deployment Activities 

Use the feeling ladder idea from the book and keep a feeling journal or chart. You can use it each day to check in with your family to see how everyone is feeling. This will help everyone know who might need a little extra attention or some alone time. Use some of the ideas in the book to help you stay in touch with your service member. Write a letter, draw a picture, send a video message or mail a care package to your service member.

Post-Deployment Activities 

Take pictures of your family with your service member. Compare them with the ones that you took before they left. Talk about what is different and what is still the same. Go through your “You and Your Military Hero” book with your service member. Show them the activities that you completed and tell them about each of the activities.

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)