Is this appropriate for 3 graders?
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| Mon, 02-06-2006 - 3:02am |
Okay, so this isn't strictly about ASD's, but it involves my kid. David is in the 2nd grade, and they have been given a "book report" assignment. Okay, that's fine. It's basically to read a book and fill out a one-page form about it. In this particular case, the book has to be a biography.
So, we went to the bookstore, and I found a couple of biographies of people I thought he might be interested in (as much as he CAN be interested in someone who isn't a Bionicle or a space alien). In case you're wondering why *he* didn't pick them out...he refuses to read anything that is non-fiction, so that's a hurdle we'll have to climb when the assignment gets closer.) Each of these books claimed to be at a 3rd grade reading level, but he can handle that. There was Albert Einstein, Charles Darwin, and Leonardo da Vinci. I got them all, and figured we'd just have them on the shelf with his 700 other books, and he could choose whichever one appealed the most.
Well, this evening I decided to thumb through the "Albert Einstein" one just to see what it was like. There is a page or two in the book about the atom bomb being dropped on Hiroshima. It's not *terribly* graphic, but it's there, and it says how many people died that day. I felt kind of sick at the idea of my little boy knowing about that just yet. Am I being over protective? I don't think 8 or 9 is old enough to be told about weapons of mass destruction. It's not that I want to censor everything he reads, but I was surprised that that information was in a book aimed at 3rd graders.
Maybe it's just me. Yesterday, DH was building Legos w/ David, and DH built two little towers and kept referring to it as something that "Used to be in New York." David never questioned the "used to be" part, but I was just churning up inside, thinking, "No, DH, don't start talking about THAT." He tends to say just enough about something to pique David's curiousity, and then he digs himself into a whole where he *has* to say too much. (DH wasn't making light of the 911 tragedy or anything. He just loves architecture, so that's why he made the towers.)
Anyway, I decided to put the Einstein book on a high shelf for now. What do you all think?
Evelyn

I would let my child read it. ...But, this is coming from a mom of a boy who until this year wouldn't read anything but the newspaper and non-fiction books (Weston is 9 and in 4th grade and will finally read Hardy Boys, Bionicles, starwars). My older son (now 14) was the same. he would ck-out anything and everything about war from the library from 1st grade on. He's fascinated by anything and everything related to war-- from medival times on, he can discuss in great detail all parts of a castle and how it worked to parts of a current tank and why they've designed them the way they have and how they've changed over time. Having the history doesn't always make them bad-- sometimes it makes them more understanding. He might not even fixate on that point-- but then again he might and you can tell him what an awful time in our history it was.
I do think you know your child best and you know whether he can handle the information. You're probably a much better judge of how he'll react and continue to react later down the line as he processes this info than anyone else.
Betsy
I agree with Betsy. I would likely let my kids read it. It is history and factual. There are some parts of history that just aren't roses. So long as it wasn't too graphic.
In fact all my kids know about 911. The older ones remember the day and the younger ones learned from the older ones. Cait and Mike didn't understand then what was going on and I was careful to shelter them but soon enough they heard it from friends and at school so I had to talk to them about it in a way they would understand and be ok with.
We even bought a book called "September 12". It was written by a class of first graders at the time. Basically the point of the story was that on Sept 12, everything was still ok. They still went to school, still ate dinner with mom and dad, still had thier same bedtime stories, etc even after the horrible tradgedy. My daughter (2nd grade) brought it to school this year to read on September 11 because the kids were talking about it anyway.
We have visited Oklahoma City Memorial with them as well as civil war monuments when we travelled cross country. We have visited the smithsonian museum as well. Unfortunately, death is part of life and some of that stuff is part of our history. I try to teach it in ways that my kids will understand adn it won't upset or freak and is appropriate for kids thier age.
Renee
Ditto to everything Betsy said. Kyle's book of choice this week and last is Veitnam War.
Samantha
Evelyn,
I also agree with the others. Tyler is in the 3rd too, and I'd let him read it. But I think it does vary from child to child as to what they are capable of understanding. Now with that being said, Nathan being HFA means I do have to be a bit more careful with things. I keep things pretty general for him, so he doesn't get more info than he can handle right now. He'd worry excessively!! I don't know how he will be though when he's in 3rd grade, but right now he's younger emotionally than his peers.
michelle
I'd let my son. He is 9 and in the 3rd grade. The poor little guy has had a hard and fast introduction to war and the atrocities that come along with it.
We had to cancel his 5th birthday party because it was 2 days after Sept.11 and all of his friend's daddy's were on high alert. We didn't know how much longer we weould all have our DH's home so we enjoyed as much family time as possible.
And then in March 2003, DH went to Iraq for a year. When the city you live in deploys 25,000 soldiers, it doesn't take long for kids to start asking very pointed questions. Such as. " "Susie's" daddy went to Iraq, he is fighting over there. Is my daddy fighting, too?" Or the one that really got me, " "Johnny's" daddy was killed in Iraq, is my daddy going to die too?"
We had some very long talks about daddy's job and the life of a soldier, and the soldier's famliy. We talked about the terribly harsh realities of life and war.
He wants to become president and change the world. He wants everyone to get along.
I guess my point is, only you can decide what is appropriate for your child. It is just really sad that I *had* to explain the harshness of life to mine at the age of 7.
Crystal