Teaching Children About Ghosts

Cathy A Montville
"The oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear, and the oldest and strongest kind of fear is fear of the unknown." - H. P. Lovecraft

Parents can take an active role in educating their children about ghosts and paranormal phenomenon when the time comes that they start asking questions about this topic. You can ease some of the fear your children may express about the subject by reading books with them about historical ghosts in the White House, like Abe Lincoln and Abigail Adams and yes, by visiting an online website called Kids.ghostvillage.com.

Children's Book about White House Ghosts

Kids.ghostvillage.com has a recommended reading list with books such as "Who's Haunting the White House?: The President's Mansion and the Ghosts Who Live There." Written by author, Jeff Belanger, this book researches a number of sightings of apparitions thought to maintain their presence in the executive mansion in Washington, DC.

A well-known piece of information is that many people believe numerous historic ghosts, Dolly Madison and Andrew Jackson to name a few, appear to wander the mansion and the White House grounds as if they never left 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue or that situation in time. Read more about ghosts in the White House here.

This informative book includes documentation and reports of history's ghosts, from the viewpoint of various residents of the executive mansion over the years. Some of these people include employees, presidents and other political leaders. Ghosts in the White House may seem more fascinating than scary to a child.

It is certainly a more positive way to learn about paranormal phenomenon than a ghost lurking in Aunt Edna's creepy, old house. The 64-page book, geared for ages 9 - 12 and published by Sterling, is available at Amazon.

Ghosts in the Classroom - A Learning Tool

The educational Kids.ghostvillage.com website also includes a "ghosts in the classroom" tab, which provides, among other things, "ghosts as a learning tool." This is an instructive article about using history and its "ghosts" to educate children and make the task of learning history a lot more interesting. A lesson plan is included at the end of the article.

Parents will also find some valuable information for discussions about ghosts, which helps when children begin questioning this phenomenon. It also covers the delicate subject of your own home perhaps being haunted. The article, written in a down-to-earth manner, offers practical advice for talking about an often, difficult topic.

Ghost Hunting with Kids

On the other hand, if the parent is actually fond of or interested in ghosts and dabbles a bit in ghost hunting, there is some great reading material about ghost hunting with your children. Ghost hunting can be an amazing lesson in history and research, which is educational and a fun learning process for children.

The information available covers how to get started, how to keep the children safe and it also explains how the kids can write up their experience and submit it for publication at Kids.ghostvillage.com. Your children can be published authors as well as budding ghost hunters.

Sources:

Kids.ghostvillage.com
Amazon.com

White House Ghosts

Published by Cathy A Montville - Featured Contributor in Business & Finance

If you have questions or need a hand navigating the Yahoo! Voices site, use the contact tab to send Cathy a message. She s always happy to help! Currently, Cathy s entering year 19 as a New England small...  View profile

  • Did you know the White House purportedly has many historic ghosts?
  • Abiligail Adams, Abe Lincoln and Andrew Jackson are some of the ghosts spotted at the White House.

42 Comments

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  • Alyssa Murray4/22/2011

    Awesome! I don't think I have ever read an article on the subject of helping kids understand paranormal phenomena. Many aspects of life go unseen, and I appreciate your article's open-minded way of introducing the topic to kids. Well done!

  • Gayle Crabtree12/7/2009

    Good advice on an interesting topic.

  • Trevor Mulligan12/6/2009

    What a fascinating subject.

  • Ali Canary12/3/2009

    Wow, it makes me wonder what kind of unfinished business Dolly Madison and Andrew Jackson have that they still wander around 200 years later. Seems sad that they can't move on...

  • Sullivan Rose12/3/2009

    My kids may be too old for this now, but sure am glad is available for others.

  • Walton S. Tissot12/1/2009

    cool. ...y'know HP Lovecrafts home in now a starbucks

  • Sherri Granato12/1/2009

    Excellent article, terrific resources, and great advice. I have taken my daughters on ghost hunts since they were old enough to understand what we were doing. It can be scary, but it is also a fun way to investigate and learn about the unknown. :O

  • Kim Keason12/1/2009

    Great resources! My 5yo has been asking questions about ghosts, these will really help!

  • Mike Hatz11/30/2009

    Excellent article, and full of realistic, sensible advice. Children don't have to fear the paranormal once they understand it a little better.

  • J P Whickson11/30/2009

    I used to see a little woman in a red pillbox hat all the time, from the time I was about 7 or 8 until my teens. I read "Ghosts in the Whitehouse" and noted that a secret service man asked the ghost of Lincoln to please go away as it interfered with him guarding the president's life. It worked. So, in an attempt to rid myself of my spectre, I did the same thing. Now I really regret doing that. She went away and I haven't seen her since.

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