Children aged 0 to 4 and dying, farewell and funerals
A two-year-old cannot tell you what is going on. They can only show you that something is. That is why the youngest children are so often left out of a farewell, on the thinking that they will not take it in anyway. This online course on young children shows why that is wrong, and what you can do instead.
What you will learn
- What a child aged 0 to 4 picks up from a death, even without words.
- How to describe behaviour without immediately interpreting it, and always name more than one explanation.
- Which words to use, and which cause confusion.
- How to help a family decide and prepare: a supporter, a back-up, a place and a rhythm.
- How to explain why feeling and preparing help, and how to prepare a child of 3 or 4 step by step for a cremation.
Who it is for
Professionals who support families around dying, farewell and funerals, such as funeral directors and people working in care, palliative care and social work.
A deepening course
This online course on young children looks more closely at the youngest than our course Involving children in a funeral and our other courses on children and funerals. If you have taken those, it builds on them. You do not need to have taken them first.
How the course works
Five lessons of about 20 to 30 minutes, fully written out, each with an exercise, and a final quiz at the end of the course. Each lesson ends with a note on what the content rests on: research, practice wisdom or hypothesis. That way you know what stands firm and what is experience from practice.
About the author
Richard Hattink is an educationalist who has worked since 1999 with children, young people and families in grief and loss. He is the founder of KC To The Point, an international knowledge centre on grief in children and young people.
Price and access
The course costs €59 and you take it online. You can buy it with the button on this page.