Freedom Train question

[Treewin]

Hi Carrie and all you moms that have covered Bigger Extension!

Just a quick question about Freedom Train.....I just gave it to my daughter today to read on her own and she whizzed thorugh it. I have tried to talk with her about some of the subject matter but she is not chatting about it. She is not generally chatty about her reading anyway so that is not unusual but I wondered if anyone felt that it was intense enough or ambiguous enough to really require me to sit and talk about the issue of slavey and mistreatment of slaves. She is ten and a half and generally reads much higher than her grade level....but she does not always like to talk about all the books she reads. I keep her booklist fairly innocent so she is not use to reading through tough subjects. I was really just hoping someone could chime in and give me notice if there was something really graphic or harder to discern. If there was, I would go back and pick out some discussion points for us both to talk over.

Thanks!
Trina

PS: She has read the American Girls book about Addy and is familiar with slavery but it is not graphic or uncomfortable to read. She did not talk much about those books either.....but I read them out loud to her years ago and was there to talk with her the first time through.

[Daisy]

My ten year old read it in August. She had a strong understanding of slavery in America. I don't think the book has anything so graphic, you'd *need* to discuss the book. Daughter and I just discussed it casually with open ended questions like, "So what do you think it was like growing up black back then?" "What kind of person do you think you'd have to be to act like Harriet?" "Can you imagine what it would be like to have people hate you just because you looked different?" I didn't make it a big deal. You know those kinds of conversations you have while standing side by side pealing potatoes. LOL. It wasn't a difficult read and below her reading level so there wasn't a ton of discussion. Pretty straight forward book.

[Carrie]

Treewin,

Daisy gave you some great tips! I'll just chime in to let you know that if your daughter has already read The American Girls: Meet Addy, then Freedom Train would be along those lines or even a bit less intense in parts than Meet Addy. Freedom Train is a wonderful book for a first exposure to understanding slavery, without getting graphic in its portrayal. I would consider it to be more of an inspirational story about Harriet Tubman and her life.

I hope that helps!

Blessings,
Carrie

[Treewin]

Thanks Carrie and Daisy,

I was trying not to bump this up as I know your time is precious. And, Daisy did a great job of reassuring me. I wish I was better at finding narration questions that smoothly get the deep converstaions going. It is something I think I need to work on in the future. My daughter seems to be nonpulsed and has moved on happily. My husband and I talked last night about how it is nice that she is learning these harder lessons in life is a safe gentle way through a book with such a fine perspective on it. It seems to me that the focus is on overcoming injustice with God's strength. Excellent book choices so far, Carrie! Thank you!

Thanks for your reassuring words.
Trina

[Carrie]

Treewin,

The post linked below (which I wrote in explanation to a question about the extension pack books in Preparing Hearts) may also be of help to you too. It will definitely relieve you to know that the burden is not on you to come up with the right questions. The thread will give you some good tips on how to get more out of your child's interaction with the books too. Link: viewtopic.php?f=6&t=3930

Blessings,
Carrie