Walking and Talking with Kids about Death and Dying

Hi everyone,

I just want to give you all a heads- up about one of the online courses I’m teaching again this year.

 “Misconceptions about kids’ experience with loss, grief and death/dying and fear of doing or saying the “wrong thing” may prevent us from engaging with kids about these topics.”

This statement from the intro to the course “Walking and Talking with Kids about Death and Dying” probably describes how many of us feel when we hear about a student’s loss.

However, having some basic knowledge and some sound strategies with which to help grieving kids may give us confidence to walk alongside students as they cope and grow through their loss.

Kath and I designed this 3 week online course to combine theory and practice for teachers and counselors who need efficient, hands-on interventions for working with bereaved students.

The goals of the course are to:

1.      Recognize and identify personal fears or hesitancy in talking with kids about death and dying.

2.      Explain common misconceptions about kids and loss, grief, death and dying.

3.      Explain and discuss common concerns brought forth by children who are losing a loved one to death.

4.      Discuss current theory and guidelines on ways to best support kids who are facing loss, grief, and death.

5.      Identify resources for use in the schools to support teachers who are supporting children who are grieving.

The assignments are focused and brief, the interaction with other students is extremely thought-provoking, supportive and instructive, and most students find the course time requirement easily manageable – the 3 weeks go by quickly.

For those of you who attended my session “The Compassionate Counselor” at the Guidance Council Conference in Banff, or the teacher conventions in Lethbridge or Edmonton, this course offers a more comprehensive study of the material from my presentation.

There’s more information about the course which starts on May 10 at www.ldmonline.ca.  Registering earlier certainly helps ensure a spot in this course which we only offer once a year. If you have colleagues which would find this course helpful, please feel free to share this info.

In the meantime, I’m here if you need some ideas, or resources for your current work with grieving kids. Please email me anytime.  wendy@educationingrief.ca I’m always happy to help or support you in any way I can.

Take care,

Wendy