How do I explain Coronavirus to my children?
Here at Acorn Educational we’ve hand selected two of our favourite social stories, made especially for educating children about Covid-19, to help families communicate about why it is so important to stay at home.
Social stories are great because they’re familiar to children (we use them in school regularly). They teach children about issues which are topical and which affect them (such as the Coronavirus), and they allow children to draw comparisons between their lives and the lives of the characters.
Firstly we chose this beautiful video titled Sylvie Bloom ‘Corona, Corona, Corona’.
This story was developed by a family unit, consisting of Dr. Michael Carter and his wife Gail, both of who are medical professionals, and is narrated wonderfully by their daughter Rosie.
Click the image to see how the life that Sylvie lived has now been flipped on its head and how she manages during these strange times. We see how she deals with her boredom and most of all how she copes with missing her family and friends.
In this story, Sylvie’s teaches her pet Trua about the virus, what it is, how we keep ourselves safe and why we need to keep distance between some members of society. But, by continuing to do what she is doing Sylvie is being a SUPERHERO!! Her power…. “staying at home and keeping people safe!”
We also love the short story ‘Why We Stay Home: Suzie Learns about Coronavirus’.
This beautiful story was written by Samantha Harris and Devon Scott, two medical students which helps the readers to understand more about germs and how this one can make people very sick. It discusses symptoms, quarantine and prevention methods (such as hand washing, social distancing and wearing a mask) but mostly importantly Millie reminds Suzie that “it will get better. We just have to keep sticking together”.
For more social stories visit our Instagram @AcornEducational
