By Allison M. Lothrop
OneOp seeks to provide practitioners with resources that support the important work they do with military families. The guided discussion questions below, based on 8 different children’s books, are designed to be used with children from ages 3-6 at home or in preschool settings. These books and the accompanying questions can be used with children who have a loved one in the military or children who want to gain a better understanding of military life. Guided discussion questions can be used in large or small group settings or with individual children.
For each book we developed between 7-11 questions. These discussion questions are meant to help facilitate a conversation with a child, extending the book content beyond simply reading the story. Most questions are open-ended to elicit conversation. Questions range from specific topics related to military life to more general questions related to emotions that a child might face. Though each question covers a different aspect of the book, adults can select questions from this list; there is no need to ask all of the questions for it is important to keep children engaged and make sure that story reading is a fun and positive experience. These guided discussion questions also can be shared with parents as a resource.
Please click each title to view and/or print the discussion guide associated with each book.
- Daddy’s Home by Carolina Nadel
- Hero Mom by Melinda Hardin
- Home Again by Dorinda Silver Williams
- Love Spots by Karen Panier
- My Father’s Shirt by Sally Huss
- My Mother’s Wings by Sally Huss
- Why is Dad So Mad by Seth Kastle
- Why is Mom So Mad by Seth Kastle
Image from Pixabay.com, CC0