When to teach about the 9/11

That question has no answer as there is never a good time to introduce such a terrible subject; but with all the information that was out there as we reached the 10th anniversary it seemed to be a good time to find a gentle approach. After all, Hunter is a dear family friend and K's best friend and he has been off at war.  The girls have been taking care of his dog while he had to go fight the war. Hunter is a Marine.

So I did some searching and found two books I would use. Both books are written for 4-8 year old. One book I could not get from out local library system but this one came in right away.

It is a wonderful true story and we chose it because it is something the girls can relate to simply because being a firefighter in their local community is an important thing to their father.  They are that typical "firefighter family".  It permits an introduction that something terrible happened when the planes went into the twin towers but is more a story about the retired fireboat that pumped water to the firetrucks when the waterlines failed as the towers fell. It is a terrific story.  I had to convince G that it was a true story as she could not imagine the events to be real.  We did explain that it is because of the attack that Hunter is off fighting a war. 

I would recommend that this story book can be used anytime and not just in September.  Read it first as I did  before to your children as there is that single moment in the book that I choked.  It begins very light hearted as it tells of the events of the year the John J Harvey was built. 

The other book I am waiting on is call The Little Chapel that Stood. I heard about it from another home school mom and the reviews look promising.  It will take a few weeks to get it to me which will be nice as it is not necessary to give the young ones too much worry. It too is written for 4-8 year old.