In today's world, thousands upon thousands of young children have a parent deployed away from home for military service. Many of these children attend early childhood centers and family day care homes. Many other children enrolled in early childhood programs know children whose parents are away on military service. Teachers of these young children ponder effective ways to support children and adults coping with such absences.

Helpful resources on this topic appear in the March 2008 issue of NAEYC'S Beyond the Journal. Two categories of resources are listed: children's books and website links to resources for adults: “Resources for Children, Teachers, and Families Affected by Military Deployment.”

More information is also available at the bottom of the page at http://www.armymwr.com/portal/family/childandyouth/parent-info.asp. This army website includes links to army-sponsored deployment kits for toddlers, articles and videos for educators and families, and links to other helpful websites.

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