Resources for Globally-Mobile
Military Kids and Families

   April is Month of the Military Child! 🥳  

#PURPLEUP
This is a community that we care for deeply - through the research we’ve conducted with hundreds of adult military kid respondents, and through countless conversations we’ve heard the need for so many more resources for military families raising children abroad.

Therefore, in honor of Month of the Military Child, we’re specifically highlighting resources from our own organization as well as others in order to spread awareness of the needs and to let you know you’re not alone! 🫂

Military kids being raised outside of their passport country are TCKs. 
A TCK (Third Culture Kid) is an individual who spent their developmental years outside their parents' passport country due to their parent's occupation or service, including roles in the military, missionary work, foreign service, NGOs, and related fields. If this description applies to you, your child, or someone you love, we invite them (or you) into this unique community! 🥳

While the majority of the resources we are aware of are for American military families OCONUS (outside the continental U.S.), we support military families from any nationality raising their children outside their passport country. We also realize that some of these resources are for military families in general, not specifically those raising children abroad...because there are SO FEW of those! Our hope and goal is to be able to support this community by creating more resources that fit your needs!

Click on these buttons to scroll through the page!
 

Our Free Resources

 Workshops

Raising Thriving Military Kids Abroad: Check out our workshop by an adult military kid, Chris O’Shaughnessy, in support of globally-mobile military families! Using our research with hundreds of adult military kid respondents, we'll address some of the unique challenges of raising military kids abroad, and what practical tools parents can use to help their kids thrive.
If you want to check out a few more workshops, we would recommend these three for military families: 

All of these are included in our TCK Parent Membership with many more workshops, exclusive content, & monthly parent coaching!

 Recommended Resources

Military One Source

Military One Source's Youth Sponsorship and School Liaison Program has connections all around the world at various stations and schools to help military TCKs throughout their PCS transition!

Check out these articles for practical tips! 

Sesame Street for Military Families

Check out their FREE downloadable packets and coloring sheets for military kids that address things like emotions, grief, and transition, including these

It's a Military Child Life (IMCL)

It's a Military Child Life (IMCL) promotes literacy by featuring books that help military kids navigate the unique challenges of military life. From deployments to frequent relocations, their curated selections empower children to understand and manage the emotions tied to these experiences while fostering resilience and connection.

Check out their extensive list of recommended children's books for military kids, and their instagram account @itsamilitarychildlife.

Monica Reintjes, PhD

Dr. Monica Reintjes is a military therapist and educator specializing in the mental health and well-being of military families. She offers evidence-based resources, courses, and support tailored to help military spouses, children, and service members navigate the unique challenges of military life.
Check out her:

Military Mom Collective

Military Mom Collective is a space for moms in any military branch to find community and support together.

Check out their Red White & Boo Podcast (especially The PCS Pull Away episode and the Guide to Deployment: Kids Edition episode) and their instagram account @militarymomcollective

Military Child Education Coalition

Check out their Military Child Well-Being Toolkit for resources about social-emotional education and supports for military families.

Their Military Student Consultants provide personalized concierge support directly to students, parents, or professionals who serve military-connected (Active-Duty, National Guard, Reserve, ROTC cadre, recruiter, and veteran) families.

By & For Adult Military Kids

Please know that we have not vetted every episode of these podcasts, but because there are so few resources available for adult military kids specifically, we wanted to share what we knew of so then you can decide if it's helpful and relevant to you! 

 Find more resources specifically for adult TCKs here

 Recommended Books

If you need a place to start, we'd recommend Raising Up a Generation of Healthy Third Culture Kids for Parents and My Tower is Tumbling for kids.

Here's some other books we'd recommend...

More Books for Adults

 Research about Globally-Mobile Military Kids

In 2021 we conducted our first research study with over 1,900 adult TCKs represented (250+ of which were adult military kids!). We share our research freely because we want TCK families to know what challenges they might face and what hope there is to navigating those and building resilience for their children. Here are a few articles we've written breaking down the statistics:

We do this research and share these statistics not to scare anyone from becoming a globally-mobile military family, but because we have seen that families who are aware of the challenges and have the right resources to combat them can raise thriving military kids who become thriving adults! 

In 2024 we had another survey specifically looking for what resources and supports in childhood lead to thriving in adulthood for TCKs.

An article outlining some of our newest findings specifically about globally-mobile military kids is coming April 30, 2025!

Keep up with what's new!

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