Grade Level: K through 4 Holocaust Education in the K-4
Classroom According to Piaget (1969), young children should be
expected to have difficulty with time-related concepts. It is
widely believed though, that concepts about time and a sense of
the passage of time are critical to the young child's
understanding of history. Closely related are the concepts of
continuity and change, which are especially important in the
study of history. These concepts do have a legitimate place in
the early childhood classroom. Children in primary grades can
develop conceptual understanding and learning processes about
time that are important for future acquisition of history
concepts. Recent research on elementary students' historical
knowledge and understanding points toward more appropriate ways
of teaching the subject to children. This research identifies
several consistent patterns in the way students think about
history, as well as the areas they know the most (and the least)
about (SE, January 1997). Teachers should use