This elementary school curriculum guide is intended to develop an understanding of the emotions involved in stressful changes in life and to teach coping skills for dealing with those changes. The focus is on changes caused by divorce, remarriage, or death of a parent. The first 38 lessons are designed for the classroom. The remaining 15 are designed for small counseling groups. Most of the classroom lessons are presented twice, once for primary students and again for intermediate students. They are organized into the following seven units based on different stages of the coping process: introduction, denial, anger, bargaining, depression, acceptance, and hope. These stages are also the subjects of the counseling group lessons. The lessons are presented with a theatrical theme and include the following components: stage (lesson title), scene (lesson objective), focus (behavioral objective), props (materials needed), script (teacher information and instructions), action (activity), finale (closure activity), encore (transfer activity), and epilogue (optional activity). Many experiential, role-playing, and imagery exercises are used. Also included in this document are a school implementation guide which provides guidelines for implementing the STAGES program, a media resource list which cites filmstrips, fiction and nonfiction books, and a seven-item reference bibliography. (DC)