Divorce

Divorce is becoming more and more common as we continue to grow as a nation. According to the Public Discourse on average 40-50% of couples entering their first marriage will end up divorced. Divorce has many stages and children cope with divorce in different ways. In most classes we will have students who are at one of the points of the divorce process. Some students will be in the beginning where the parents have just separated. Others may be in the middle where they are learning how to navigate between two parents. Then the final stage where they are having to adjust between the two parents and moving on. The students will lean on us as their teachers to help them through this process.

  One book that I have found that is great for approaching this topic is Dinosaurs Divorce by Laurene Krasny Brown and Marc Brown.  Marc Brown is the author of the beloved children’s book Arthur, so students can already relate to his illustrations. This picture book has different “chapters” that will help the student relate to the story. The great thing about this book is no mater what stage of divorce students are in they can use this book to see what to do next. The different “chapters” are Why Parents Divorce, What about You?, After the Divorce, Living with One Parent, Visiting Your Parent, Having Two Homes, Celebrating Holidays and Special Occasions, Telling Your Friends, Meeting Parents’ New Friends, Living with Stepparents, Having Stepsisters and Stepbrothers. In each chapter Brown has pictures that explain what the students might be going through. You don't have to read this book straight through you can only use certain pages or chapters. This is one reason why I fount this book to be most helpful. 

It also has a spread of feelings across two pages. It shows the students how they are entitled to have feelings and encourages them to share them with their parents. This shows students that they can be sad, happy, upset, about the divorce and it is ok to share that with their parents. Children can use this book as a starting point and draw their feelings. 

Divorce is a topic that we have a lot of resources for some websites that I found helpful are listed below:

This website has 11 picture books about the modern family.  http://www.parenting.com/gallery/divorce-books-children?page=7. This website isn’t just about divorce but about many modern topics.

This website is about all different types of books that are strictly about divorce. http://www.parents.com/parenting/divorce/children/books-about-divorce/.

This website has mediation and recourse that you can find helpful. This page lists books that will help explain divorce to children of all ages. http://www.mediationmatters.com/resources/recommended-books-on-divorce/recommended-books-for-children-experiencing-divorce/.

This last website is more for parents and how to support the child. http://www.helpguide.org/articles/family-divorce/children-and-divorce.htm. 

Teachers and educators can use these books as a resource to use with select students or the entire class. Students need to feel comfortable talking about divorce. They will want to express themselves by talking, drawing, or possibly even acting out.