Recognizing and Coping with Grief

Grief, loss and death unfortunately are all a part of life. They can also be among the most difficult things to talk to children about. LCCAA Head Start staff has put together a few suggestions and resources to help make this process a little easier for parents.

First, as parents and caregivers ,recognize that you are also grieving. Be extra gentle to yourself and remember there’s no right or wrong way to grieve. Practice your own self-care and asking for what you need.

To begin talking with children:

Be honest. Use correct but simple words to describe what happened. “Grandma’s body stopped working and couldn’t be fixed. She died.”

Tell them it’s ok to ask questions. It’s also ok to say “I don’t know” or “let me think about that.”

Let them know its ok to cry and feel sad. Share your feelings with them.

Common grief feelings include anger, guilt, sadness and fear. Typical reactions can include:

Physical changes: with eating, sleeping and toileting issues.

Emotional changes: becoming easily overwhelmed or having difficulty separating from you.

Behavioral changes: more tantrums and regressed behaviors.

Cognitive changes: more fearful thoughts or mistaken beliefs that what happened was their fault.

Oftentimes, changes and adjustment difficulties improve over time. All of the above feelings and changes are normal during grief. Be concerned if they persist over a longer period of time.

For additional resources we recommend visiting Cornerstone of Hope’s website at https:// cornerstoneofhope.org.

Other good resources include the following:

When Dinosaurs Die by Laurie Krasny Brown and Marc Brown and read aloud here: https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=YM_WRhBmEdI

The Goodbye Book by Todd Parr, read aloud by the author here: https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=efWdOol5g6o

Sesame Street in Communities https://youtu.be/t2D9Ezh9sUE https://youtu.be/85OMNP1EQb8

For additional support, feel free to reach out to Head Start staff, or contracted Mental Health Consultant, Donna Jezewski at Donna.Jezewski@ohioguidestone. org or by phone at 440-204-3129 (Office Phone) or (440) 752-0039 (OGS Cell Phone).