Monday, 7 March 2022

How to talk to children about Ukraine, by Dawn Finch

I have struggled to find something to write this blog about for this monthly slot. I have been back and forth over the book pile, and crossed off everything on my blogging subject list because everything seemed trite and unimportant. The news fills every corner of my mind and it's so hard to gain perspective and to not feel guilty about the pleasant and calm aspects of my life while others are in such horrific situations. If I'm feeling like this, I dread to think how children are feeling.

In these times of digital flooding it is hardly surprising that children are exposed to the news in a way that often causes distress. With the current news being so difficult to understand as an adult, it is obviously even more distressing to a child.

It is incredibly difficult to talk to children about matters like this and to help with this situation the School Library Association has gathered together a few resources that will help both families and teachers to better understand the situation and communicate with youngsters.

You can can access these resources (including a very comprehensive padlet collection) via this link.

https://www.sla.org.uk/article/wendy-cooling-mbe/ukraine-news

It is also worth taking the time to explore the Supporting Wellbeing resources from the National Literacy Trust. These resources are essentially for educators, but they are so useful that they offer an insight into the thinking of children and to ways of communicating better with them and to supporting their mental health.

You can access these resource via this link (below)

https://literacytrust.org.uk/primary/literacy-wellbeing/

I hope that these resources are helpful, and please do add more in the comments


Dawn Finch is poet and children's author. She is the current chair of the Children's Writers and Illustrators Group (CWIG) at the Society of Authors. 

1 comment:

Anne Booth said...

I will definitely share this on twitter and facebook - I am sure these links will be a great help.