Dealing With My Grief

With children returning to school, how can we prepare schools to deal with children who've experienced loss over the summer?

I've received some listener feedback from a lady whose husband has died over the summer and their child is returning to school in a few weeks. she'd like to know how best to prepare her child. In my opinion it's best to prepare the environment first.

Here are just a few things that I would do:

Contact the school an let them know the situation. You have experienced a loss in the family and your child may exhibit behaviors that are not usually associated with them. Discuss ways engage the child when this happens.
Get students\school community involved. This could be a teachable moment for all involved. Students can learn that active grieving comes and goes I don't show "signs of grief" only in the immediate aftermath of the event. This is a perfect time to let the class know exactly how to support their grieving classmate.
Let your child know that it's normal to grieve and whoto talk to at school if they need to talk to someone during the school day (teacher, counselor, etc.)

If you have things that have helped you cope, pklease let me know.

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