Last time I gave you a
gift. This time I am presenting you with a question. As I'm sure you know, Monday is Martin Luther King Jr. Day. My daughter is now in Kindergarten and doesn't have school that day. I think that it's very important for her to understand why she's getting the day off. I want to talk with her about the civil rights movement, activism, slavery, etc. That's where my question to you comes in: How do I do this without it being over her head, without scaring her, and without me getting overly passionate (and using too many bad words?)
She has the American Girl doll,
Addy and we started to read her book. I had to put it away though because, frankly, it was truly upsetting and scaring her. Not that I necessarily think that this is such a bad thing (it's an upsetting and scary topic)... But I think I'll try bringing it out again in a year or two.
Have you had this talk with your kid(s)? What did you say? Even if you don't have kids or they're too young yet - how would you go about talking with them about this important subject? I'd really like to know.
Happy Birthday, Dr. King.
10 comments:
We've touched the surface because they discussed MLK Jr and Rosa Parks in school. Apparently they discussed MLK over the course of two days because one day she talked about what a great man he was, and the next day at bedtime she was sad because she learned he'd been killed. (And wanted to know why someone killed him.) It scared her a little bit that he had been killed. I didn't really have adequate words to explain why myself. I mainly just said that some people didn't agree with MLK's message, but that in today's world we understand that all people should be equal and that we know violence is no way to solve problems. (It probably didn't come out as a cohesive message.)
So I'm not much help. ;-)
We have a children's book about Martin Luther King entitled "Martin Luther King, Jr. A Man of Peace". However it's written on a level for 2nd and 3rd graders.
My kindergartner knows he was a man who was against violence, and helped all kinds of people like African Americans and women get treated better. He also knows he was killed by "a bad guy".
It's such a difficult subject to help children understand, when even we as adults don't understand how such things could happen.
That's a great idea. Instead of explaining to her what the civil rights movement is (because it may be a little too much), maybe a better way to show case MLK is to read her his "I Have a Dream" speech and to answer any questions she may have along the way. Not only would she be hearing an AWESOME speech, from one of the best orators of the 20th century, but she'd be learning a lot about him just by hearing his words.
I am sure you daughter is very aware that there are students of different nationalities in her classroom. You could discuss the similarities and then the differences. Ask her how she would feel if her friends were not allowed in the classroom. Explain to her that there was a time a long time ago when children were not allowed in classrooms because they were different. Then talk about the general segregation that occurred at the time and that MLK did not think it was fair. And he did his best to change people minds. You may not have to go into the details about slavery and MLK death until she is older. But you may be surprised about what she is told in school and then you may have to use that information to figure out what to say. Kids are a lot smarter than we think. give her a chance to explain to you what she already knows.
I'm loving this! Thank you all for the great suggestions!
I don't know what I would do. I think it would really depend on the personality of your daughter, and whether the issue has ever been approached before.
That being said, we don't have MLK day in Canada, so I've never really had to explain anything like that. We have Victoria Day in May, but that just celebrates Queen Victoria for being a cool queen, I guess.
I never thought about this.
I would agree with the comments above, maybe give info that's age-appropriate
My son is in Kindergarten too, and basically, I built on what he was learning in school about MLK day. In school they wrote what their dream would be to make the world a better place. It gave us a good starting point, and we talked about it more at home.
is all well? miss ya.
You still around?
BTW- I talk about my Debbie Gibson story. I know you were interested in it awhile back...
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