The Alaska National Guard Child and Youth Program is here to help provide the support and resources youth need to deal with the separation from a parent, child care issues, difficulties with school and many other problems. Children of all ages can be affected at any phase of military life and our mission is to be a resource for you and them. We also provide children and youth ages 5-18 with various opportunities to develop their physical, social, emotional and cognitive abilities and to experience achievement, leadership, friendship and recognition. Some of the programs we offer are:
- 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens —for ages 11 – 18—Instructed by either or both LCYPC and CYPC. Based on Stephen Covey's original steps, his son Sean developed a geared down version for teens to address the things with which teens struggle, using a fun but helpful method, with the "7 Habits" model as the foundation. We often teach the class as a part of the Family Strong Bonds. It is also available to be scheduled as a "stand alone" class and we have used it as the basic curriculum for teen camps! It is usually all together about 6 – 8 hours of actual training time.
- 7 Habits of Happy Kids —for ages 6 – 10—Instructed by either or both LCYPC and CYPC. Another even more fun and deconstructed version of the 7 Habits model, in the form of a story book with cute drawings and supportive experiential education training offered alongside each of the habits. Often taught during the Family Strong Bonds, it can also be offered as a standalone…it takes about 6 – 8 hours to deliver it.
- radKIDS Personal Safety and Empowerment for children (resisting aggression defensively) —for ages 3.5 – 12 years—Instructed by the LCYPC, CYPC and other trained instructors, with support from others. The skills taught in this class not only physically instruct how a child could thwart an abduction, but also give children reasoning, simple language and skills to ALLOW them to stop bullying without fighting and most importantly, how to TELL about anything that happens to them without feeling that they are at fault. At school sometimes, children hesitate to tell about being bullied because they are afraid they too will "get in trouble"...radKIDS training removes the idea that telling equals tattling, and regardless of how a child is "hurt" or intimidated, they can tell because it is NOT their fault! If we think about it, the only person who will ALWAYS be with the child when any of those situations occurs is that individual child! It is all about preparing, not scaring our children! This class is at least 8 hours overall, and NOT taught all at one sitting. We are still looking at how best to deliver this to children AND their parents.
- RAD for Women (Rape Aggression Defense) —for females age 12 and older—Instructed by the CYPC and other trained instructors, with support from other appropriate staff.
- Four Lenses —for ages 12 and older—through adult!—Instructed by the LCYPC, CYPC, and a variety of other Warrior and Family Services Staff. A fun class that centers on learning about ones' own personality characteristics and how that can help with understanding other's personalities as well. Four colors represent four basic types of tendencies through which people approach life. The class can be taught in between 2 – 4 hours. Also has an additional segment that can be tailored to deployment-related issues.
- Resilience Training for Teens —for ages 12 – 18—Instructed by LCYPC and CYPC, with support from other RTAs, using a specifically-adapted and written curriculum Taught in a teen-friendly way, an objective of the Teen Curriculum is to offer a resilience curriculum that: is consistent with the language in the CSF2 current adult curriculum; fits within the Army National Guard adolescent culture; provides skills that get the whole Army National Guard Family speaking the same language when it comes to resilience. There are two separate ways the curriculum is being provided: as a 2 hour, 3 module training opportunity and as a 14 module training, spread over several training sessions. The longer version is slated to be offered as the basis for a Teen Leadership Winter Camp. The 2 hour class will be offered in various areas of the state!
- 1, 2, 3 Magic —for parents with children 2 – 12 years old—Facilitated by LCYPC with support from the CYPC. Parenting ideas for families with young to middle school age children, using the no emotion and no yelling, this helps to keep little things from becoming bigger, and big things from becoming HUGE. Class is about 6 – 8 hours, usually done over two evenings, with discussion in between viewing demonstrative videos. Parents receive a book to take home at the end of class to which they can refer back.
- Deployment Cycle Training —for various ages—as needed and requested—Instructed by the LCYPC and CYPC with assistance from Operation Military Kids, 4-H and other child related agencies!
Helpful Websites
Youth Camps
Multiple Youth Camps are conducted throughout the year and may focus on myriad categories such as Youth Resiliency, Team Building, Community Service, Dealing with Deployments, etc.