Titanic as a topic for 5/6 year olds?

My 3 yo is obsessed with boats and the sea. He has lots of books about shipwrecks and knows all about the titanic! We watch lots of diving documentaries about wrecks etc which he finds fascinating (amongst tractors/race cars/farms etc!) Do you ever explain even vaguely to your child what goes on in other places in the world? On the news etc? Surely they know what death is to some degree and that suffering exists. You just need to explain how sad it is; you don’t need to dwell on it etc. Like you say, engineering advances keep us safe every day in cars etc etc with care. Kindly I think you sound super precious.

But you can cover the same topic at different stages in your school life. I grew up near the plague village and we learnt about the plague in infant, junior and secondary school. My knowledge and understanding changed as I grew older.

Is it something the class are interested in? What is the learning driver? I don’t like any ‘doing the…(Ancient Greeks/Rainforests/Victorians)’ topics as they tend to be driven by activities rather than skills and focused content that is relevant and contextual.

If the Titanic was covered as part of a wider inquiry, such as, ‘what can we learn from disasters?’ or ‘what would be the best vehicle to explore the polar regions?’, then I can see more reason to study it.

I think it's fine. My daughter done Titanic just a little bit later than that there wasn't really a focus on the deaths. It wasn't some comprehensive telling where they would be expected to understand everything we understand about it - it's a knowledge they can build on as they get older.

What's your view op?

I teach reception and one of my pupils was really interested in The Titanic so I found a book for him which he really enjoyed. He was interested in the fact the cheaper bedrooms were lower down meaning those people were trapped in the sinking. His interest in it showed me that he was able to process the information.

Such a catalogue of different things that lead to such a catastrophic end, it really is important to learn about. It’s had me gripped for years.

They learn about events beyond living memory that are significant nationally or globally in year 1. It won't be about class so much. More that than this thing happened and a boat sank. They'll probably learn about icebergs, float and sink, probably make some junk modeling boats and test materials for floating and waterproofing, and they'll learn the names of continents and oceans.

They only had white flares, if I recall correctly, which were for celebrations. Red flares were to indicate distress. Another example of their hubris, sadly.

There is a really good, very thorough podcast about it on BBC Sounds at the moment which looks at the public enquiries carried out after the disaster as well as what happened. Just in case anyone is interested.

I think kids can handle it. It's a lesson in social history, engineering, maritime safety, the limits of technology, cancel culture. Even physics is in there- they only recently understood the weather conditions at the time would have created some distortions to the appearance of ships in the distance.

In our experience, it was a really interesting and engaging topic that both our dc really enjoyed learning about. I'd much rather they enjoyed learning and it captured their imagination. Plenty of sociological lessons in it too, which is positive.

It’s a year 1 (and a year 5 - separate infant and junior schools) topic here. I’ve had three go through it now and I’m still tempted to send them in with seaweed for dressing up day.

it was a huge tragedy for our local city, and mostly my kids have managed the conversations well. But I was perplexed the first time I came across it.

DS did the Titanic in year 1 and was fascinated. I think YABU - it will be done in an appropriate manner

And being able to radio other ships 24/7. The closest ship was the Californian, and the crew member in charge of the radio had clocked off and gone to bed and didn’t pick up the distress call. They saw the flares but didn’t make the connection that it could be the Titanic in peril. The captain decided it was probably a much smaller ship and if in difficulty, it would be safer to navigate the ice fields in daylight to offer assistance.

Also the international ice patrol; and that quite often, safety procedures are often in place because of a former disaster.

Echoing what others have said in that children learn about horrible things all the time: think of Horrible Histories. Lots of Bible stories are pretty horrible as well, although those have their own kind of controversiality on Mumsnet.

Having said that, I'd have to admit I'd be uneasy about children learning about air travel disasters at a young age. Many of us travel by plane far more than by ship, and we don't want to make children nervous about flying. My brother was really nervous about flying aged 8; he studied the safety card carefully, and talked so much about what might go wrong, that he made other passengers nervous, one of whom asked him to stop talking about it. My parents took care not to let us find out about Lockerbie, which happened a week before we went by plane.

The issue is that they'll give a sanitised version, which people think is the true cause of the sinking. I can remember being taught that women and children were kept out of wars and that's a narrative that is picked up on by misogynists. Likewise we were given sanitised versions of the commonwealth.

I'd prefer to wait and the children be an age were the farse of the investigations and the appointing of the people to oversee the investigations, could be discussed. Talk about it at home, but not in a school. Or you have to undo what you have taught. I'm from a seafarering/Merchant Navy family and had relatives die on the Lusitania and Titanic.

My DS did it.

He is now 16 and has a fear of open water but he says the two are not connected.

I was inappropriately obsessed with these sorts of things as a child.

Yes it was an engineering feat for its time and rules around lifeboats did change after the disaster. I find the whole story fascinating and I think year 1 kids would be gripped

Prime time to be fascinated with the titanic IME. Just when they move away from the dinosaur obsession. See also, volcanoes, hurricanes and tsunamis.

Also a lesson in humility.

Don't ever tell yourself that you have created something so wonderful and perfect that it's completely indestructible and as a result, you can behave with impunity on the sea.

My nearly four year old is VERY interested in the Titanic, and the sister ships, and a few other well known maritime disasters. In fact we are going to the museum in Belfast soon. We’ve been on the HMS Belfast which kept him. entertained for hours, and he also enjoyed the Cutty Sark. He loves popping on the Golden Hinde occasionally too. I count myself lucky to have such a bright, curious spark for a child who wants to learn about interesting topics.

That the rules around lifeboats were changed and now all liners are required to have enough for everyone on board.
That's something good that came out of a tragedy.