Teaching Young Children Optimism and Resilience During Challenging Times

The last few months have been filled with fear, worry, sadness, grief, and violence. It's been stressful for adults, so I can only imagine how our children are doing during this time.  I do enjoy my time off in the summer, but I miss creating a safe space for students to discuss issues that are going on in the world.  It helps to process events when they are discussed openly and honestly.  Our children need to know that despite COVID-19 and acts of injustice, they can make a difference in their community.   

What can we do to help our students or children who feel like there is nothing they can offer?  Make sure you don't dismiss what concerns or worries a child is having.  Let them know that you hear what they have to say and understand how they're feeling.  Be honest!  

Sarah Lynne Reul wrote The Breaking News (affiliate link) from a child's perspective of what happens after a community receives terrible news.  It also lets the reader know that small things can bring about significant change.  Our children have seen a variety of events that leave us all uncomfortable, but we need to talk about it.

The story doesn't have a lot of text.  The illustrations tell more than the words on each page.  You can review some vocabulary words that relate to the story and give meaning to what's going on in the world. 

Discussion questions can be used to get a productive conversation going or as writing prompts. 

Children can talk about the emotions and feelings that are displayed in the story through the illustrations.  Naming feelings is the first step in helping kids learn to identify them.  We want our children to develop an emotional vocabulary so they can identify emotions in others.  Empathy is crucial during times like this.  Make correlations between how the characters feel in the story to how their families are feeling in real-life.

Having children identify their strengths will show them how they can help out the community or their families.  They will realize that they have something to offer and that they can contribute things that no one else can.  Identifying these strengths is crucial to a healthy self-identity.  

We can teach our children that they can make a difference in their community, and small gestures have a big impact.  

Click Here for The Breaking News Activity

This story is a great ice breaker to get the conversation started. Leave a comment and let me know how you discussed what's going on in the world with your children. I would love to hear from you!