Prior to working for JPS, I taught Hebrew School throughout my 4 years in college. I switched grades a few times but stayed within the K-2nd age range. For me, one of the hardest topics to teach students that young was the Holocaust.
When I was younger, facts about the Holocaust were gradually exposed. I probably knew a little more than other kids because my parents told me when I was little that my grandmother was a survivor. She sailed to the US in 1940 from Wuppertal, Germany with her brothers and arrived just a couple weeks before her 6th birthday. I knew she had been adopted because her parents had to stay behind and never made it out. I can’t remember exactly what I learned at what age, but I remember certain books I read before I turned 10 such as A Picture Book of Anne Frank and Terrible Things (coincidently published by JPS), which both used age appropriate descriptions. While one book tells one recount of the Holocaust, the other teaches a lesson about standing up to discrimination. I took both approaches when teaching the Holocaust to my students. I revealed only as much as I thought was appropriate and turned the lesson into how we can deal with discrimination. I was always impressed by the advanced level of their responses. Some of my students knew a lot of specifics and would want to discuss them with the class, but I would have to cut them off and let them share their thoughts with me privately if I felt that the information was more than some of the other students to handle.
While we want to protect the innocence of our children, it’s not as easy as it used to be. Today, kids are exposed to a lot more information than I was as a kid now that the internet is so easily accessible.
In addition, more parents now want their children to be aware of their communities and global issues at a younger age. The situation begs the question: how do we teach our young students about the Holocaust and how much is too much? While this question has been asked so many times and schools have their own Holocaust curriculums, maybe the solution isn’t as rigid as it used to be. How can we as teachers and Jewish educators adapt to the changing trends?
-Jill Finkelstein
—
There are many Holocaust Education Centers, museums, and teaching aids for educators, including this one: http://holocausteducationctr.org/ and the clearinghouse for all Holocaust organizations, the AHO: http://www.ahoinfo.org/ —
#1 by Elyssa on April 10, 2010 - 11:46 am
Here is an article from the Center of Holocaust & Genocide Studies with an opinion on this question you pose. http://chgs.umn.edu/educational/totten.html
#2 by Alan Finkelstein on April 18, 2010 - 9:21 pm
Jill,
A good place to start is by recommending Holocaust sites that are geared specifically towards children. I highly recommend Daniel’s story on the US Holocaust Memorial Museum’s website. It’s not too intense for kids, and provides an ideal perspective so children can be better prepared to discuss the topic in class with their teachers, or at home with their parents. http://www.ushmm.org/museum/exhibit/exhibit/