In identifying several subtopics for this assignment I finally chose the topic of Death of a Parent/Sibling or close Relative, and the powerful impact and traumatic effects it can and does have on a young child or children.
After reading the article, "Death Understanding and Fear of Death in Young children", by Virginia Slaughter & Maya Griffiths, I focused on this topic based on some of my own personal and professional experiences. Some experiences that unfortunately involved the tragic and traumatic death of a parent and a grandmother of two different children from our school. And in both cases the deaths were a result of two tragic and senseless murders. So it is because of my experiences with both these two children and their families throughout the years that this topic of Death, and the lasting and powerful effects it has on all the family members, especially the young children, that I came to this topic. And it was also through these two separate experiences that I was also very fortunate enough to be involved with a program through my agency that provided the Head-start children in need with the appropriate services to help them, as well as their families to deal with the loss of a loved one.
References: Retrieved from
After reading the article, "Death Understanding and Fear of Death in Young children", by Virginia Slaughter & Maya Griffiths, I focused on this topic based on some of my own personal and professional experiences. Some experiences that unfortunately involved the tragic and traumatic death of a parent and a grandmother of two different children from our school. And in both cases the deaths were a result of two tragic and senseless murders. So it is because of my experiences with both these two children and their families throughout the years that this topic of Death, and the lasting and powerful effects it has on all the family members, especially the young children, that I came to this topic. And it was also through these two separate experiences that I was also very fortunate enough to be involved with a program through my agency that provided the Head-start children in need with the appropriate services to help them, as well as their families to deal with the loss of a loved one.
References: Retrieved from
Sylvia,
ReplyDeleteI am glad you chose this topic, I did too. Although my choice was due to a personal experience with my children losing their father, I believe we, as educators, must have training in dealing with these issues due to the inevitability nature of death. As I have mentioned on my blog, my children were exposed to death well before the loss of their father. Furthermore, as a teacher, I had to deal with it as well. At the elementary school where my children attended and I worked, we lost three teachers due to cancer and a car accident, a kindergartner was stabbed to death by her father, and a first grader died overseas after contracting a disease. Not to mention the children who lost a parent, a relative, a sibling, or even a pet. It is extremely important to have the right words to deal with the issue. Having school psychologists is not always the answer, children grieve differently and they might feel closer to their teacher than a stranger. I look forward to reading your blog posts and sharing information throughout this journey, good luck!
Hello Sylvia,
ReplyDeleteDeath is a very deep topic. It has major effects on young children's lives. I hope to learn a lot from this topic. My son, when he was in first grade, witness a child get hit and killed by a car while waiting for the bus. I was standing at the bus stop with him but I was turned a different direction. To this day, I am not sure how it will affect his life but it was a very tramatic experience during his early childhood years. Pathfinders is a resource which gives tips to parents. One of the topics of discussion was explaining death to your child with unique needs. I had the pleasure of meeting Shelly, the author of the tips, during a transition fair. I am excited to read more about this topic because it is a fact of life and very difficult to understand or deal with.
I appreciate the fact that you are taking the experiences you have had to research further this topic. It is something that can change a child's entire life and we as educators and the people who spend the most time with children to be well suited to helping their individual needs.
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