What age is appropriate for children to learn about WW1/WW2?

[lepoppo]

Ds 8.5 watched the WW2 documentary on Netflix with me over the weekend and seems very interested, I mentioned to DP I would get him some books and things about the wars and he said he thinks he's a little bit too young, I hadn't considered this and he didn't seem affected by what we watched and I think he considered the wars to be just as in the past as the ancient Greeks for example. Is 8/9 too young to learn about such things?

Irrelevant background info:

I loved history growing up, from 12-17 I flirted between children's homes, failed attempts to be placed back with my alcoholic mother, grandparents home (who really didn't want me there!) and friends houses. I loved history but was never encouraged to do well at school and missed a lot of time off, I passed my history GCSE with an A despite all of this but left education when I was give a council flat at 17 and the reality of running a household set in. DS seems to have inherited my love of history and learning in general and I am keen to facilitate this as much as I can, when he shows a particular interest in a topic I will buy him books, collect any resources we can and find documentaries we can watch together about it, DP things I go a bit over board and I likely do. He's a bright boy, of course I think he's a genius but in reality his end of year report shows he is average in all but one subject (exceeding in maths), although I still think this is amazing considering the impact of covid etc.

My DD touched on it in Yr1 (learning about the history of their school). Plus its discussed around Remembrance Sunday.

I'd be surprised atan 8yo not knowing the basics really (as in they were wars between Germany and France/UK/allies, thousands died, now we are all friends sort of level.

I don’t think it’s too young in general but I’d maybe not focus on the really distressing bits (eg concentration camps) save that for when he’s older but the general facts / home front stuff would be fine at that age.

I would say it is more about choosing materials that present the history at an appropriate level for his age. My DC is younger than yours and knows that there were world wars and some basic information. He is interested in planes so we have talked a bit about the different types of planes. We have the Horrible History books (from when I was a kid!) and have read bits from them. But I read them to him - that way I can skip any bits I don't think he is ready to learn about yet as well as sharing an interest with him

Focus on the home front, rationing, evacuation etc. Films like good night mister Tom or carries war

@PuttingDownRoots that's interesting, he had no idea about either war, he knew the UK had a war with Germany but had no idea of any details.

@SamanthaVimes yes I don't think he would cope knowing about Nazi German atrocities, he seemed to be most fascinated by the geography of it all, how countries have changed since etc rather than the actual details of war and also the vehicles involved.

And obviously horrible histories

My DCs did a whole term around WW2 in Y4 so aged 8-9.

Evacuees, dig for victory, rationing, land girls etc.

I have a real aversion to the way that young children are sucked into remembrance Sunday. Let them retain an innocence about the cruelties of people as long as possible. I can't get my head round it - why should they be able to?

I have no idea how I forgot horrible histories!! I am surprised he's not come across it at school. We don't have cable TV just Netflix/Prime etc but I've just seen it's on BBC iPlayer, thank you all so much that will be amazing for us over the school holidays.

He's in Y3 so maybe it is something he'll learn about next year.

In any detail, I'd say 10+.

The Holocaust, 12/13+.

There is a picture book - Archie’s War which approaches the subject of 1
WW1 through a child on the home front. It’s aimed at exactly that age group.

Hello (primary school teacher here) Children don’t tend to be taught about those wars in primary school until year 6 in history lessons but they do come across it every year for remembrance day and in some literacy lessons. But many children see the news and have discussion in the classroom with their peers- the war in Ukraine has sparked a lot of war discussion in classes and linked to ww1&2.
At the end of the day YOU know YOUR child and know if he can handle some of it- he doesn’t need to know every detail of the wars and some films/books may not be right for his age currently but he may be interested in rationing, evacuation and the country working together?
Hope you both enjoy exploring history together!

Well, we took our DDs along to Remembrance day from when they were tiny.
We talked bout the brave people who died keeping our country safe and free.
And then you move on from there. Details of the holocaust coming later than say evacuation.

For children today it is history. My parents who are still alive were children in the war, but many families won't have anyone who lived through those times.

Love carries war!

I would stay clear of goodnight mister Tom for a little while (watched with year 6 recently and the mothers abuse and the baby’s death was very distressing for them) the rest of the story was perfect so you could fast forward (you can watch it for free on YouTube and I think carries war was on there too)

Horrible history books
is there an usborne book?
the silver sword by Ian serrailier
war time farm series though beware they suddenly start breeding sheep rather in depth (I was looking for a relaxing watch on rationing not an impromptu birds and bees lesson)
Carrie’s war
dominic sandbrook adventures in time one on both wars

@MrsN3 that's really useful, thank you! Yes the Russian/Ukraine war may have sparked this, he watches newsround at school so is aware of the basics of the situation. He's a very straightforward child, he will never get upset at a film for example and if I tear up he'll say 'it's not real you know?!'

I remember good night mister Tom and I don't think I could watch that again, never mind DS!

@1400spincycle I have ordered that book, it looks like something DS would love. Thank you

@begonebegone amazing, thank you! I'll check all of them out

My son is just doing it in year 6

The Home Front, the Blitz, and evacuation are often touched on in LKS2. Goodnight Mr Tom is often read in UKS2 but it is very distressing in parts. By the end of KS2 some children will have encountered the Diary of Anne Frank or When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit but the detail of the history isn't usually taught until secondary. Thankfully increasing numbers of people are learning why The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas is criticised by Holocaust education charities and it is gradually disappearing from the curriculum.

Out of curiosity, does anyone know if there are books which show pre war and post war maps as that seems to be mainly where his interest lies? We have an atlas and a globe as he loves looking on maps, but something that shows all of the changes between 1900s-2023 would be interesting for him. I know you can get these bits online but would prefer to be off a screen for it, I have googled but can't seem to find what I'm looking for. Thank you.

@ThanksItHasPockets I can't believe The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas was ever used in education, completely understandable that it is being removed!

Y5 at the DCs' primary learn about the Home Front in WW2.
The Holocaust tends to be y9.

DS1 has been interested since 4. We went to a living museum and there was a 1940s day. You could see his eyes light up and his brain kick into action. At 6, we had an hour's conversation in a traffic jam because he was asking about "Titler" and why he invaded so we had to work back from WW1 and the Treaty of Versailles to explain why Germany felt hard done by and why the Nazis felt they had to invade their neighbours.
It turns out that DS1 is autistic and loves the strategy/ technology side of it, and this is one of his long lasting areas of interest.

DS2's interests are far more typical for age!

Both have done Remembrance parade since Beavers and it is important to know that peace in Europe was hard-won and can't be taken for granted. Their great-,
grandma was a war child, but the toll of WW2 on her does reverbrate through the family. They know that she was bombed out as a child and her father sustained serious injuries.

It is an essential influence shaping the way we live. The foundations of the EU were formed out of working together in co-operation and recovery and avoiding a third major conflict. While Britain isn't in the EU, it has at least all been conducted through diplomacy, and it is still an influential organisation that affects us.

The big thing is keep it age appropriate and to their interests. Horrible Histories are great at capturing interest for many children.

My son is y3 and doing all about the blitz at the moment. He is fascinated. Both my dc have read the horrible histories books repeatedly since they were about 5. Ds and I looked on twinkle - they have a lot of age appropriate resources for learning about ww1 and 2.

You sound like a lovely mum, OP.

I used to be a Brownie leader (ages 7-10) and because the Brownies were involved in the remembrance parades, we would do activities around the world wars in the weeks leading up to Remembrance Day. This was a few years ago and we still had a number of veterans as well as current armed forces personnel, so part of this was to explain why those people were important - the Brownies are / were quite a patriotic organisation. We kept it quite surface level and focused on things like the marching songs the soldiers would sing and the ‘horrible history’ type elements too like life in the trenches.

What we steered clear of was the Holocaust and wider ethnic cleansing and mass murder. I went to school in Manchester and my school had a very large proportion of Jews. Every year, a Holocaust survivor would come to do an assembly for the whole school and there were funded trips to the camps for GCSE students studying history. We ‘did’ World War Two in year 9 and again, the Holocaust was a focus. I think it’s incredibly important to learn about - and even more so now there are fewer and fewer living survivors - but I think it is too brutal from 11. From my experience, I think 13 is the youngest that kids should probably be exposed to the realities of ethnic cleansing and genocide of any kind. So when looking at the world wars with your young son, maybe just be aware of and consider steering clear of that.

DS1 brought home a Biff, Chip & Kipper book about the Blitz aged 6. I ended up having to explain to him what the war was about, which was difficult, but he took it entirely calmly. He was very interested, so I ended up buying him a children's history book about it.

He was much more worried about the prospect of being separated from parents during an air raid, like Biff & co, than he was by the Holocaust. I think children process things on a level relevant to them no matter their age.

WW1 I think was Y1 (was the centenary, I think?), but I know it was largely the focus of an entire term's topic project. We definitely covered some of WW2 and the Holocaust during lockdown, which I think would have been Y2-3? But I'm Jewish, so the Holocaust, in an age appropriate way, has never been an off-limits topic.