My third grader & I went to see the flag display, looked at a few of the pictures in the newspaper and have discussed the basic facts. Luckily, he hasn't been scared of what we talked about - he seems more angry about it. He keeps calling the terrorists "idiots." If he were scared, I suppose we'd spend some time discussing the preventive measures the U.S. has taken since 9/11. It's an interesting question for this age group, as third graders are starting to move from more concrete to more abstract thinking. His questions have been very detail-oriented. "What exactly made the buildings fall?" "How did the terrorists steer the airplanes?" It's definitely a tough subject.

My girls were very interested in the children whose parents died on 9/11. I bought the People Magazine with the Children of 911 on the cover. We read their stories together. Never did they ask why the terrorists did what they did, so I never talked about that. We did talk about
how things happen in life that cause great sadness
sometimes. They were very moved by what they read, even wanting to take the magazine to school to share it
with friends. I think understanding a tragedy through the eyes of the children whose lives were affected was a very enlightening experience for my girls.