Teaching little ones Tanach in all its details

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Forum -> Working Women -> Teachers' Room

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leah66 ↓

Tue, Dec 13 2011, 2:33 am

Do you think that children under 5 should be learning the "scary" parts of the Parshah, such as Akedas Yitzchak?

Should the teacher say it as it is?
"And as Avraham picked up the knife to cut off his son's head..."

Should she gloss over it?
"Avraham wanted to bring Yitzchak as a Karban." (As if a kid knows what that means.)

Or should it be skipped entirely?

On the one hand, we want our children to know the story or the Parshah, but the same time we may not want them to get used to hearing about death, war, punishment, fire, drowning, kidnapping, jail.... and all the other things we would never expose them to until an older age.

sequoia

Tue, Dec 13 2011, 3:22 am

I'm still traumatized.

I was five.

And from what I've read of memoirs and world literature, every child is traumatized by that story.

Isramom8 ↓

Tue, Dec 13 2011, 6:40 am

Tell them, explain, and support their reactions.

veganesther ↓

Tue, Dec 13 2011, 6:49 am

make sure the teacher does not portray Yitzchok as a little boy. He was a grown man at the time and he willingly yielded to his father, Avraham Avinu.
that point is vital.

Ruchel

Tue, Dec 13 2011, 8:04 am

My dd was 3 last year when she came home from cheder with detailed stories of Haman's hanging.
This year she told me the children with the dreidels were all killed.

What can I say, I don't know what is normal. DH told me it is normal.

AlwaysGrateful

Tue, Dec 13 2011, 9:01 am

My son is not yet four, so I might feel differently in another year or two.

We go with the "He brought Yitzchok as a karban" line. We skip things like Dina and Shchem, but we try to teach whatever we can in an age-appropriate way. To us, age-appropriate means glossing over the more violent details -- at least for a 3.5 year old.

What I've been wondering about is what happens with kids from families with older kids. Like if you're discussing akeidas yitzchok at a Shabbos table with a 13, 10, 7, and 3 year old, what level do you aim for?

↑ leah66 ↓

Tue, Dec 13 2011, 4:18 pm

It is a bit ironic because as parents we are careful to make sure our children never see or hear something that can 'scar' them, but then our children go to school and hear all about things that make me feel traumatized (especially when I look at them from a child's point of view.)

Parshas Bereshis seems like the only "child friendly" parsha, yet how can we say that Torah is not child friendly?

Now Chanuka is coming up with the story of the persecution, and the war, Chana and her sons, Yehudis...

↑ Isramom8

Tue, Dec 13 2011, 4:56 pm

veganesther wrote:

make sure the teacher does not portray Yitzchok as a little boy. He was a grown man at the time and he willingly yielded to his father, Avraham Avinu.
that point is vital.

Not all the meforshim in Mikraos Gedolos hold that way.

↑ veganesther

Tue, Dec 13 2011, 5:29 pm

and we also praise and thank shimon and levi for exacting revenge on the wicked child rapist and his enablers.

de_goldy

Tue, Dec 13 2011, 6:28 pm

I teach preschool and we work around the scary parts.

↑ leah66

Tue, Dec 13 2011, 8:51 pm

de_goldy wrote:

I teach preschool and we work around the scary parts.

Just curious how you teach the mabul, Avraham and the fire, Esav trying to kill Yakov.

Peanut2

Tue, Dec 13 2011, 10:59 pm

Akedat Yitzchak is particularly difficult.

Many other scary or difficult parts of Tanach can be explained in an age appropriate way by talented teachers.

Think of how much kids love learning about the plagues in egypt. most kids I know are much more upset about anything happening to animals, not about makat bechorot shock

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