An important part of preparing children for deployment is communication and helping them understand why parents deploy. The Sesame Street Military Outreach Program helps children understand the reasons for deployment and living the military life.

Homeschooling today has become rather popular within the military community. The Department of Education has recently reported that there is currently over 2 million children learning at home, with 32 percent of that being military families. Homeschooling not only provides an ease in transition for children but also flexibility with military schedules.

I envy how easily children can learn almost anything. This was demonstrated on repeated occasions by my children every time we moved to a new base.

Has anyone ever come across a male military spouse? When people think about military spouses, they assume that they are women. Today, there are more than 6% of male military spouses, and still there is little to no recognition for them.

Sakennah Kilogi is a mother of two, Navy wife and a full time student. During her husband’s recent deployment, she dealt with many obstacles and the hardest one being a single mom.

Most people seem to forget that deployments are not only hard on the spouse and service member. Deployments are extremely hard on children. Children that endure deployment may actually experience the same effects as children that go through divorce.

If you have moved or will be moving, you know just how stressful this time can be. Moving is so much more than just packing and un-packing boxes. What you leave behind is what will be challenging for you.

Just as you feel like the world is coming to an end, deployment is over. Your soldier is returning home after a long 15 month deployment and all you feel is this bittersweet combination of both joy and stress. Why is that?

Even I can’t believe how much this last year has changed me. I never thought in just one year, I would be a different person. It occurred to me with all of the changes I’ve been through, I can’t imagine what it’s like for someone in the military to return home from active duty.

Unless you have experienced it first hand, there is no way to describe the way the family members of soldiers feel once their loved one has been deployed. Children in particular can experience immense amounts of stress during deployment.