Answers to common preschooler questions about poverty and homelessness
"Why is that person so dirty?" Help your preschooler figure it out: "It looks like he might not have any clean clothes. He might not have a place to take a bath."
"Why is that person sleeping on the street?" First gauge where your child is coming from by asking, "What do you think?" Then building on his ideas, you could speculate: "I wonder if that person might not have a home."
Magadieu remembers when her 4-year-old asked about a person sleeping on a park bench: "We talked about how some people don't have a home because they don't have a job. And how some people don't have a job because they don't have enough education or they're sick. I didn't explain what kinds of 'sickness' — substance abuse, mental health problems — can affect someone's ability to work; I'll save that for when she's older. We also talked about why we should help people who need it."
"Will it happen to me?" Preschoolers are worriers. Offer realistic reassurance — instead of saying it will never happen, say something like "We have a home, and I'm really glad we have a place for you to sleep and keep your toys. If we ever lost our home, here's what we would do..." Then explain your options: finding an apartment, moving in with Grandma, staying in a shelter, or whatever you think is realistic.
"Can she come live with us?" Naturally caring and concerned about others, your preschooler may want to do whatever he can. When her daughter asked this question, Lane recalls, "We tried to explain to her that that wasn't a solution that would help everyone." Go over all the different ways the city offers aid — shelters, food banks, community clinics, job training — and what your family can do to help.
"Why is he acting like that?"If you come across a homeless person acting bizarre, don't bother with an explanation about mental illness or alcoholism. Your preschooler will not understand. Say something like "Some people act very differently than others." You can also mention that the person may not have a home or someone to take care of him.
What else you can do
Read kids' books. The Teddy Bear, by David McPhail, tells the story of a homeless man who adopts a lost teddy bear. Or try Uncle Willie and the Soup Kitchen, by DyAnne Disalvo-Ryan, about a boy who visits a soup kitchen.
Make a difference, together. Involve your child in donating old clothes or toys to a shelter or gathering items to take to a food bank. Donate to organizations like Project Night Night, which assembles care packages for homeless children. A post-birthday or pre-Christmas toy purge can be a good lesson in sharing.