My Heart Remembers Companion Leader’s Guide: Supporting Children Ages 5-12 Through Grief with Faith, Compassion, and Care
My Heart Remembers: Companion Leader’s Guide helps caring adults use the Christian children’s grief book thoughtfully, safely, and effectively.
Created for parents, caregivers, ministry leaders, teachers, counselors, grief-support facilitators, and other trusted adults, the guide provides practical support for working with grieving children ages 5–12 in individual and group settings.
The guide includes 15 comprehensive sections covering childhood grief, faith-sensitive support, safe-space preparation, individual and group facilitation, difficult questions, caregiver communication, professional referrals, follow-up, and leader care.
Five detailed leader plans correspond with the children’s book:
- God Cares About My Feelings
- Remembering Someone Special
- Love Lives On in My Heart
- God’s Comfort & Healing
- Looking Forward with Faith and Love
Each plan includes:
- Session purpose
- Key NIV Scripture
- Materials
- Opening check-in
- Child-friendly teaching points
- Book-page connections
- Discussion questions
- Optional activity
- Closing prayer
- Caregiver connection
The guide also includes reproducible intake, planning, observation, caregiver, referral, special-day, emergency-contact, and leader-reflection resources.
This resource supports—but does not replace—licensed grief counseling, psychotherapy, medical care, or mental-health treatment.
