It seems like we deal with tragedy on a daily basis anymore. However, some days definitely have a bigger impact than others! There are so many scary things that happen in our word – and sometimes in our own backyard – that it’s no wonder people are scared.
As a teacher (or parent), how do we help our children deal with these tragedies? Honestly, I don’t know if there is one “right” answer – but I recently found a resource that is going to make it easier for me in the future!
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After reading a post on another teaching blog, I knew I HAD to have this book! It recently arrived in the mail, and I couldn’t love it any more.
A young ant has lost his ant hill school, and he’s afraid of returning. The mother aunt goes on to tell him everything will be all right with comforting words that are repeated throughout the story. It truly brought tears to my eyes as I thought of the school shootings in Columbine and Sandy Hook and too many others…
This story is going to stay tucked away in my classroom with the hopes that I NEVER have to use it, but it’s also reassuring to know that it will be readily accessible if I ever have to deal with a tragedy again (whether in the classroom or with my own children).
How could you use this book with your own children or classroom kids?
I live in an area of the country that is unfortunately very prone to tornadoes (Alabama). I hope I never have to experience another tornado like we had in 2011 in Tuscaloosa, but if we did, this book would be great for helping kiddos work through those emotions in a very fragile time.
I would use the book to explain about disasters in areas around our world during tragic times.
We recently had a fire at our school. Fortunately, it happened very early in the morning, and no one was in the building or hurt. The firefighters were able to contain the fire to the gym, but the entire elementary side of the school had to be moved to a new location for the remainder of the day. I think this book would be a good way to help the younger kids understand what has happened and that we will all be okay, even though this was not in our plan.
We deal with bad storms and it would be helpful so that the children would understand how to deal.
Thanks Sherry
I think that I would use it to deal with a death in the family, as several of my students have experienced significant losses this year. It really is a difficult concept for young children to understand. Julia Cook's books are amazing, so I have no doubt that this would be a great help!!! Thank you for considering me =). [email protected].
I feel that this book could be used to help students at my school who are dealing with loss or tragedy.
Julia Cook is an awesome writer, speaker, and person. I had the pleasure of getting to know Julia quite well at a conference that I help coordinate. I have several of her books, and love them all. Her books always explain things in a way that we have difficulty doing. I live in Indiana where we have frequent tornadoes, but I would also use this to discuss other disasters in areas close to us. It is always difficult to explain tragedies to students. Thank you for giving this wonderful book away.
You never know when tragedy may strike. I think it could be useful for students to see that others can face difficult times successfully.
Because of media and having family living in many different locations, students nowadays are so much more aware of events and tragedies that happen around the world. These events compounded with the closer to home, more natural tragedies that can occur in their lives, makes the need for a book such as this even more vital. What a wonderful resource to have on hand to help 'our kids' through such difficult times. Thank you, Hojo, for sharing this wonderful book with us.
(Another great book, written specifically for 9-11, but which could be used for other tragic events, is Scholastic's September 12: We Knew Everything Would Be All Right.
http://store.scholastic.com/Books/eBooks/September-12th-We-Knew-Everything-Would-Be-All-Right-EBK
I used to teach in Oklahoma (near Moore) until I moved to Illinois and got a job teaching 3rd grade there. When the horrible tornadoes went through that area in spring 2013, my students were very upset by this and decided to raise money for the Red Cross. Our tiny school raised almost $2,000. I think this book would have been a nice addition to our discussion about the tornadoes and the lives lost (especially the school). The next year, tornadoes nearly leveled a town near our school. It seems that something is happening so often, and like another person commented, the children are very in tune to what is going on- whether they listen to their parents talking or watch the news with them. Thank you for sharing this resource.
We have a lot of tornadoes, I would use it to teach my kids that we can get through anything!
To deal with death in my family. We had a death in our family and it is difficult to understand how to cope and deal with adversity.
Laura
I would keep it in a special place, and if ever something happened that this book would be relevant I would pull it out to help my sons understand
I always try to find books that teach my son about things. This would a great way to teach him about disasters.