CC: Teaching young children about other religions?

[Staceyshoe]

We are a Christian family and participate in Classical Conversations. I was just looking through the upcoming memory work for this year, and I notice that some of the history sentences focus on non-Christian religious beliefs. I'm expecting this to lead to questions and want to be prepared to answer them. We have a copy of Window on the World which has some age-appropriate information about different belief systems. Is there anything else that you recommend--especially for the 4-7 year old age range?

[Kim C]

We are a Christian family and participate in Classical Conversations. I was just looking through the upcoming memory work for this year, and I notice that some of the history sentences focus on non-Christian religious beliefs. I'm expecting this to lead to questions and want to be prepared to answer them. We have a copy of Window on the World which has some age-appropriate information about different belief systems. Is there anything else that you recommend--especially for the 4-7 year old age range?

 

We have used the Usborne Encyclopedia of World Religions Internet-linked. It several pages on each major religions, as well as information on less well-known religions. It covers the religious beliefs and practices of each religion and gives some history on the religion. It even covers ancient religions.

 

Kim

[KarenNC]

When my daughter was in kindergarten, we found the DK books "Children Just Like Me" and "Children Just Like Me: Celebrations" to be very helpful. The books focus on kids from around the world in the 9-11 yo range (IIRC), with basic information on their lives, including their religions. You can look inside at Amazon. I believe they now have newer books as well along the same theme: "A Life Like Mine" and "A Faith Like Mine." I liked these because they were very factually-oriented and didn't present the various faiths as opportunities for conversion, inferior to another, etc. It was learning a bit about the faith practices from the perspective of a practitioner, which I think is the best way to start the conversation.

 

Another series, which we got from the library, might be well-suited to the 4 yo. It's Rosen's Religions of the World series, with titles that start "I am..." and then has the religion: "I am Shinto," "I am Jewish," "I am Muslim," "I am Quaker," etc. You can find these on Amazon as well. The focus is mostly on customs and rituals and, at 24 pages, aimed at younger children.

 

I don't know how much you will need to be delving into the belief systems themselves with kids that age, and it depends on what topics the sentences you mention will cover. You won't be covering practices of ancient cultures like Rome, Greece or Egypt in these, though (since you mention these are in history sentences). For that, you'll need something else. If you can tell me which religions you need information on and the type of information referenced, I might have other resources.

Edited July 24, 2012 by KarenNC

[Staceyshoe]

Thank you both! I just requested all the books you mentioned from the library. (Love it when I can find what I want at the library!:tongue_smilie:) I also found Kids of Courage has activity books about various countries, and many of the books have a comparative page of the primary religion of the country and Christianity: http://www.kidsofcourage.com/?page_id=166

 

I'll be interested in any other resources you can think of! TIA!

[NotSoObvious]

Ohhhhh another vote for A Faith Like Mine! We love it!