7 year old doesn't want to do R.E.

marisco_2

gayleygoo wrote: »

My 7 year old DD told me last night she didn't want to go back to school, because "all they talk about is God and it's really boring". I am secretly happy about this, as we are not a religious family and have always told her not to worry about the religious stuff she is taught in school, and that when she is older she can make up her own mind.

How is your daughter meant to make an informed decision as to whether she wishes to follow a faith or not, if she hasn't taken in and learnt all about each individual one? I would be very cautious about encouraging a child not to worry about any subject they take a dislike to in school. It can lead to them switching off and closing their minds to things that don't grab their attention and interest.

onomatopoeia99

marisco wrote: »

How is your daughter meant to make an informed decision as to whether she wishes to follow a faith or not, if she hasn't taken in and learnt all about each individual one? I would be very cautious about encouraging a child not to worry about any subject they take a dislike to in school. It can lead to them switching off and closing their minds to things that don't grab their attention and interest.

I had a religious education from age 4 to 12 very like the one the OP is describing. There was no education about any other faith apart from Christianity with a literal interpretation of the bible as fact throughout.

It did not provide me with any basis to make an informed decision about selecting a faith to follow. It was presented as Catholicism or go to hell when you die. I was given first communion and confirmed as that was part of the syllabus at the school. You just did it. It wasn't any kind of informed choice.

My personal experience of religious indoctrination at school means I would withdrawn any child of mine from RE until they were in secondary school.

FBaby

Mojisola wrote: »

I don't think anyone would object to the kind of RE your daughter experienced.

That isn't what the OP's daughter's school is dishing up.

Of course not she is only 7 yo. DD also went through the stage of learning about the Bible. It is post of the R.E curriculum. My point was that as years go by it moves away from the teaching of the various religions and more about what believing is about.

artbaron

gayleygoo wrote: »

she has been told the earth is 6000 years old and made by God in 7 days.

At best that is a total failure of the school to educate your daughter, at worst it could be considered child abuse. I go with the latter. It's up to you what you do about that.

gayleygoo wrote: »

I tend to disagree with the view that religion needs to be taught so that she can make up her own mind in the future.

And rightly so, it's an idiotic assertion. A child should be taught critical thinking and analysis and that's the only method by which they can make an informed decision later in life.

makeitstop

Mojisola wrote: »

That would be a breaking point for me.

People might want to look up Eugenie Scott on Youtube, and watch (and more importantly listen) to what she has to say on the subject of "Young Earth" religious belief.

Richard Dawkins is another incredibly engaging and thought provoking commentator on such issues and is always very interesting.

I love the pair of them.

Maybe the OP could get her daughter watching some of that.

Buttonmoons

My daughters school isn't very religious, visit to the church at Christmas time - but my daughter has always had really strong views about God - to her it is nonsense, the old ladies at girls brigade told me it would be best if she stopped attending, because she was questioning their stories (Noah and all the animals) - theres a club at her school run on a Wednesday by the Lords Travvellers and her friends go, she refuses to go as they again make references to religion, only their religion - obviously.

She understands other faiths as her Grandma is muslim, she asks questions about her beliefs etc, but she truly believes they are nonsense - she believes in dinosaurs and evolution and she's 8.

She did query why her dad just got her half brother Christianed and she was never, I told her me and her dad didn't feel it was the right decision as we don't go to church - she accepted that then quizzed her dad's girlfriend.......and apparently that was my fault *rolls eyes*

whitegoods_engineer

Religion should be struck from the school curriculum.

marisco_2

onomatopoeia99 wrote: »

I had a religious education from age 4 to 12 very like the one the OP is describing. There was no education about any other faith apart from Christianity with a literal interpretation of the bible as fact throughout.

That is not how religious education is taught now. To attempt to withdraw a child from any area of learning until they reach secondary school, only achieves to put them at a disadvantage and hold them back. I cant fathom why any parent would choose to do that.

lazer

OP I too am from NI and went to a Catholic school, from what I remember religion wasn't that much a factor, had an assembly with prayers once a week, and in P3 and P7 religion was a bit more important as we were making our first Communion or confirmation so we needed to understand more about them. This is all part of a Catholic school, but parents at my school were free to ask for the children not to receive the sacraments.

From the sound of the religion being taught, I am guessing it is a 'Protestant' (state run) school your daughter attends, you should talk to the board of governors and the teachers involved.

as other posters have said do not let your child skip these classes because she finds them boring!

conradmum

gayleygoo wrote: »

Thanks for all your replies, they have helped to reassure me. I realise that any child can find any subject boring, so I agree for that reason that I just don't want to take her out of it. OH and I are atheists and for lots of the reasons given by others here we wanted her to "learn everything" as such. We knew it religion was going to be taught in school anyway and have been fine with it for the past two years.

I feel it is excessive though. At least one or two homeworks a week are about the bible, they watch bible videos everyday during video time, and she has been told the earth is 6000 years old and made by God in 7 days. Many religious people no longer believe that, and they are teaching it as fact when they haven't even introduced science in school, never mind other religions - I wouldn't mind if they covered others as well! We have taught her about different religions at home, we have lots of books about different beliefs to try to put it into perspective. But the school (and I think the headmistress in particular) seems to have an agenda. Even fundraising events were faith-orientated last year. They have "religious inspections" and have had to learn by rote lots of hymns and bible phrases for the visiting ministers. I don't remember hearing about an English or Maths inspection!

In N.I. the religious situation is a bit weird. There is one integrated school locally which teaches about different religions (which we couldn't get her into) but other than that it is either quite strictly "catholic" or "protestant". Obviously we consider ourselves to be neither, but there are lots of children of other nationalities and potential religions, so I might ask the teacher if it is possible to talk about the variations.

I tend to disagree with the view that religion needs to be taught so that she can make up her own mind in the future. A primary school child does not need to learn about religion, it is an adult concept that can only really be thought about when a person has a better understanding of time and morality. I'm all for it in secondary school, since that's when teens begin to question such things and figure them out for themselves. I feel that there is a christan ethos to "get in there first and indoctrinate" rather than discuss ideas.

I will give it a bit more thought anyway!

If creationism is being taught as fact in your daughter's school you need to make an official complaint. It's now against regulations:

http://io9.com/teaching-creationism-as-science-now-banned-in-all-uk-pu-1592549647