Year 1 class are doing WW1 as their main topic next half-term

[ZucchiniPie]

Has anyone else's Year 1 child been taught WW1 as their main topic in class? I'm slightly appalled that DD, who doesn't even turn 6 till June, is going to spend six weeks focusing on something that surely is going to raise some very difficult questions. I realise they can draw poppies and talk about the Xmas Day Truce, etc. but it won't take much scratching beneath the surface to bring up some issues that, frankly, I'd rather she didn't have to confront just yet - the senseless killing of millions of young men and no remotely easy way to explain what it was for, even if she could understand the geopolitics. I just think 5/6 is too young and just because it's the centenary doesn't mean that they should be taught it in this way (I wouldn't necessarily object to them doing a couple of lessons on it, but this involves WW1 being the theme of all their learning for weeks on end.)

Anyway, my other question is how to make the best of this, unless there's a way of getting them to change the topic (slim chance, I'd have thought). DD is supposed to do her own research over the Easter holidays so any ideas about how to go about this in an age-appropriate way would be very much appreciated. I notice that the Imperial War Museum's schools programme only starts with KS2, so even they are not encouraging younger kids being taught this in school.

My y1 dd is totally freaked out by the idea of death. Although there are somethings that bother her more than others (generally anything vaguely to do with parents/family dying). I think war as a topic might stress her out at the moment.

Thanks for the new comments. What I can't quite decide is whether to go ahead and do the homework task with DD, meaning at least the difficult questions are tackled at home and I can see how she reacts - or wait to speak to her teacher the week after next. I doubt it will be possible to get the topic changed at that stage but what do people think?

I wouldn't expect the school to change the topic.

www.greatwar.co.uk/research/education/teacher-ww1-resources.htm

Mrz is right that children are usually pretty unfazed by historic events like the Plague, crucifixion, Great Fire etc

Most children have had exposure to murder, savagery, poisoning, hatred etc via fairy stories, nursery rhymes.

They'd be more upset about something that happening in their life now, like the class guinea pig dying tbh.

In terms of the homework topic, why not draw/collage some poppies?

Ds and I are going to climb the Monument in the week, which they handily give you a certificate for. Project done!

DS did ww2 at a similar age - they built Anderson shelters, cooked food from the time and were given facts about the war and that there are casualties on both sides. He loved it

I go into schools to talk about WW1 and 2. We spoke to lots of children last year, and the thing that I found was that it's very, very difficult for them to differentiate between 1 and 2. Some of the teachers also seemed to have the same problem. We had to explain to some that the Holocaust was not WW1. It is hard for the very young children to understand - I talk about the home front, and how different things were for people. Of all the things that I have taken with me to talk about the one thing that has caused most interest was a fruit cake, which I was sending to my brothers unit in the trenches! "is that a real cake?" maybe no one eats fruit cake anymore! But it was a good starting point to discuss how people lived 100 years ago

Well it turns out they've already started talking about the subject at school. This emerged at breakfast when I asked if she'd heard of the First World War and she mentioned poppies. I asked whether she knew what poppies were for and she said it was to show the blood! She then said she didn't want to do it as her topic because she doesn't like thinking about fighting (this was totally unprompted). Oh well, I guess we'll just go with it and see what happens, but I will talk to her teacher and mention my concerns.

Its possibke she will have covered Remembrance Day and why we wear a poppy in nursery and reception and again in Y1 most schools do.

Just a point poppies have nothing to do with blood so if that's what she has been told it us wrong.
We wear poppies as a symbol of remembrance and peace.
the poppies that grew in Flanders, the seeds surviving the mud and battlefields.

Thanks mrz, she's got that from somewhere but not sure where. I think we'll sit down this afternoon and have a proper chat about it all...

www.theschoolrun.com/homework-help/world-war-i-and-remembrance-day

Most 5-6yos will have seen something like the Star Wars films which are all about battles & wars & people dying & different types of tragedies. I don't think they find the real history, if taught appropriately, freaky at all.