Remembering September 11th

How do you talk to your child/children about this day in history?

You may want to try to hide it from your children thinking that it is best not to discuss it with little kids. If you watch the news your child is going to hear or maybe even see what happened that day. It is our duty to never forget what happened that day and to talk with our kids about the tragic day we lost so many Americans.

When I taught first grade, I began discussing the events of September 11^th a few days before. I didn’t spend a lot of time talking about the terrorists, or the why’s? behind the attacks. I focused my discussion with my students about the heroes of that day and how our country came together to help one another. When talking about the “terrorists” I would use the term “people who had hate in their heart.” I would then go on to say, “The people who had hate in their hearts wanted to hurt our country. The decided to fly two airplanes in two large buildings in New York City, called the Twin Towers. When the planes hit the buildings, they made them fall to the ground. Many police officers, firefighters, EMT’s and other brave men and women went to the building to try to save the peoples lives that were inside the buildings.” A book that could be helpful to talk with your child is The Little Chapel That Stood by A.B. Curtiss.

I also recommend telling your child about where you were when you heard about the attacks and the feelings you felt in the days and weeks after the events of 9/11. Sadly this day will always be a day of remembrance similar to the attack on Pearl Harbor and the day Kennedy was assassinated.  

            Additional conversations you might want to have with your child are “What does America mean to you? “What does it mean to be patriotic?”

Book recommendation!

            The Little Chapel That Stood by A.B. Curtiss