Younger than middle school it is doubtful that they (teachers) will talk about the attacks in school. Kids might say something to each other but I doubt it will be a big topic of conversation. People had the weekend to process and talk about these events at home.

Middle/high school is different. Our own middle school son learned about the attacks before we were even aware of them. I would be surprised if the vast majority of MS/HS kids didn't already know about it.

Anonymous wrote: We opted not to tell our kids because our son is anxious already and if we tell our daughter, she will tell him. We don't watch the news in front of them. I will probably share a simplified version tomorrow morning in case someone brings it up and just focus on all the things in place to keep them safe. I hope if some kids start discussing the details, it will be redirected or if they are traumatized they will get some time with the counselor.

You need to brace yourself for the future. On the scale of world tragedies, this is not one of the major ones.

My 6 year old in K is oblivious, but my 9 year old in 3rd grade is very much aware and has asked questions.

Anonymous wrote:I teach SS to seventh graders in MCPS. The other WS 7 teacher and I spent a couple hours at Starbucks this weekend planning a mini-lesson on the attacks in Paris, Kenya, and Beirut. The main focus is how terrorism relates to the 10 characteristics of culture (from the MCPS curriculum), but obviously we know that students hunger for facts and a framework for these current events. We consulted the Resource Counselor and her guidelines were no graphic photos or descriptions, no religious stereotyping, and no more than 20 minutes. We have Media Center passes for any student who doesn't want to participate in the discussion. They can work on their medieval African culture research project instead. I doubt many will opt out. Most 12 year olds realize on some level that this is the world they are inheriting and they want to understand it.

Some reason you left out the Russian airplane?

There's no reason to discuss it in the early ES grades, anyway.

Middle school and up, sure.

Kids need to be able to process it in a safe environment, with their peers, and under the guidance of thoughtful adults. Kudos to the teachers who put together lessons and planning for this.

I explained it to my 6 year old.

How old are your kids, OP?

If your child will need time with a counselor when learning the information, you did him a huge disservice by not having the discussion yourself.

Students should discuss it at school. This is a major current event. Stop sheltering.

You can't control everything, especially once your kids are in school, even preschool. My eldest was in preschool on 9-11 and the next day kids were talking about planes crashing into buildings and a few were drawing it in their pictures. You can be sure it will be a topic of discussion at school.

I teach SS to seventh graders in MCPS. The other WS 7 teacher and I spent a couple hours at Starbucks this weekend planning a mini-lesson on the attacks in Paris, Kenya, and Beirut. The main focus is how terrorism relates to the 10 characteristics of culture (from the MCPS curriculum), but obviously we know that students hunger for facts and a framework for these current events. We consulted the Resource Counselor and her guidelines were no graphic photos or descriptions, no religious stereotyping, and no more than 20 minutes. We have Media Center passes for any student who doesn't want to participate in the discussion. They can work on their medieval African culture research project instead. I doubt many will opt out. Most 12 year olds realize on some level that this is the world they are inheriting and they want to understand it.

I always tell my daughter about big things happening in the world so she can hear about them in private, can ask me any questions no matter how stupid, and she has time to process it. She's in seventh grade, but I've been doing this since she was about three.

Newsflash: even if teachers don't discuss it at school tomorrow formally, kids will talk about it.

Why aren't you saying how old your children are?

We opted not to tell our kids because our son is anxious already and if we tell our daughter, she will tell him. We don't watch the news in front of them. I will probably share a simplified version tomorrow morning in case someone brings it up and just focus on all the things in place to keep them safe. I hope if some kids start discussing the details, it will be redirected or if they are traumatized they will get some time with the counselor.