Resources

Children

• Fit Family FitFamily is a family fitness website that provides resources, ideas and goal setting tools to help families be active, make healthy nutrition choices and have fun in an effort to promote overall wellness.  The goal-incentive program is open to all active duty, Reserve and Guard members, Department of Defense and civilian families, retired military members, honorably discharged veterans with 100 percent service-connected disability, and former or surviving military spouses and their family members.
  
• Guide for Helping Children and Youth Cope with Separation (DOD) This guide was created for parents, relatives, teachers, service members, and community members to help children and youth cope with separation from a parent due to military deployment. 
• Operation Purple Camps (800) 260-0218
  
  The Operation Purple program currently includes traditional summer camps, teen camps, teen leadership camps, family retreats, camps for families of the wounded, and day clinics in overseas locations.  You experience fun activities, support for dealing with the difficulties of deployment and friendships to last a lifetime.
  
• Our Military Kids (866) 691-6654
  
  Our Military Kids provides tangible support to children of deployed National Guard and Reserve personnel as well as to children of severely injured service members through grants for enrichment activities and tutoring. Such activities help these children cope with the stress of having a parent in a war zone or recovering from injury at home. Our Military Kids grants are made to honor the sacrifices that military families make and to ensure that their children have access to sports, fine arts, or academic tutoring programs.
• Sesame Street Family Connections The Defense Centers of Excellence for Psychological Health and Traumatic Brain Injury (DCoE) in collaboration with Sesame Street Workshop recently unveiled the "Sesame Street Family Connections" website. This interactive website -- similar to the social networking site Facebook -- allows Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, Marines and their families to stay connected in a safe and nurturing environment surrounded by their favorite Sesame Street friends.
• Sesame Workshop - Talk, Listen, Connect A multiphase, bilingual, multimedia initiative that guides families through multiple challenges, such as deployments, homecomings, and changes that occur when a parent comes home.
  
• The Sisterhood of the Traveling BDUs Our mission is to bring together 400 girls ages 13 to 18 with immediate family members in any branch of the military in California and 100 female service members as mentors with the common purpose of boosting self esteem, growing in leadership and confidence, and uniting together in sisterly support.
• Time to Talk Designed specifically for military parents of tweens and teens, this kit provides ideas on how to start the conversation about drugs and alcohol, scripts to help you find the right words, and tips for answering tough questions and getting support from other adults around you.
• TumbleBooks A library of 3-books for kids ages 4-12.  These books help youth learn to read and build their vocabulary through picture books, classic fairy tales and best sellers.  The website also has games, puzzles and offers books in Spanish and French. 
  
  *To access - register at Military One Source and select "TumbleBook Library" under "Online Libraries".
• TumbleReadables This is an online collection of read-along titles for elementary, middle and high school students.  These books are chapter books and novels for the older readers.  TumbleReadables features adjustable online text and complete audio narration.  The sentences are highlighted as they are narrated.
  
  *To access - register at Military One Source and select "TumbleReadables" under "Online Libraries".
  
• Tutor.com All U.S. military families have unlimited access to Tutor.com provided by the Department of Defense. Military service members and their dependents around the world can work with a certified, professional tutor online 24/7 to get help with homework, studying, test prep, resume writing and more.
• United Through Reading The United Through Reading® Military Program helps ease the stress of separation for military families by having deployed parents read children’s books aloud via DVD for their child to watch at home. This powerful program is available to all deploying military units and at select USO locations. It provides parents a chance to make powerful and lasting connections with their children and parent from afar.
• Zero to Three Dedicated to increasing the awareness of parents and professionals about the impact of trauma, grief and loss on very young children, and building the knowledge and capacity of professionals in mental health, child care, family support and health care to support families so they can promote positive development and emotional health in their very young children during the course of these stressful experiences. Our work is also designed to increase awareness and collaboration throughout the military community to more effectively serve young children and their families impacted by deployment-related issues.