I’m happy to be a BookShark Ambassador. I received this year’s history curriculum free of charge in exchange for honest reviews. All opinions are my own.
I remember learning about the Holocaust in sixth grade. I was floored. Flabbergasted. I remember thinking, “But where were the adults? Why didn’t they do something about it? How could they let it happen?”
No one had any answers for me, but a dear teacher did provide me with lots of books– historical fiction and some nonfiction– that helped me learn all I could about the situation.
I didn’t know it then, but that experience would go on to shape how I wanted my own children to approach history; not through a textbook, but through stories.
When delving deeper into some of the harder realities of history (there’s a lot of death and destruction packed into all the centuries!), it can be difficult to balance telling truth with causing unnecessary fear or anxiety.
I am grateful for help from BookShark in knowing which people, places, and events to talk about when. This year we’re exploring world history with the Reading with History G Read-Alouds and Regular Readers.
Here are three ways that we’ve tried to handle hard historical realities with our kids.
1. Consider Sensitivity
We try not to give any information or topic that one of our children might find overwhelming. The child who cries for days about the death of a baby bird is probably not ready to hear about people of the French Revolution facing a guillotine.
While we will answer questions that the kids bring up, we don’t give explicit detail about anything violent or scary. If some topic is weighty, we allow the kids time to process the information, but we also are available to talk through what they are feeling.
2. Always Be Honest
We have always promised our kids that we will tell them the truth, even when it’s uncomfortable. While we have said, “You’ll better understand that answer when you’re older,” when a child presses an issue, we’ve never given incorrect information in order to make one of the kids feel better.
Everyone *does* die someday, and not everyone in the world is kind and loving. Those are unfortunate truths that the everyone has to learn. In our opinion, it’s better to learn it at home and through someone else’s story first.
By establishing that trust, we are more believable when we tell them that things are okay.
3. Offer Hope
So far, humanity has continued on after every obstacle faced. Knowing that things work out eventually can be helpful to kids. Seeing how wars, famines, and other struggles fit into the bigger picture, seeing how people and groups move on from suffering has merit. It’s not sugar-coating, but keeping perspective. And that perspective is a valuable tool for helping kids cope.
Quality historical fiction typically focuses on those who persevere. That means kids are introduced to the helpers, the change-makers, and those who work for justice. That inspiration tempers the gravity of the situation.
For kids particularly struck by the pain or suffering of people in history, finding a way to make a difference today is empowering. For example, the girls in our neighborhood made bracelets to sell with proceeds donated to the Haitian hurricane relief fund. Knowing that even as children their particular skills can be used to alleviate suffering brings hope.
The first step in raising little humans who strive to make the world a better place is cultivating understanding and empathy, and I’m grateful for the help living books offer in making that possible.