To think a full day trip to a mosque for 6 year old school trip is a bit much?

[Jint]

I'm all for comparative religious education, learning what other religions believe and what they're about, but my daughter is in year 2 and, with her (non denominational) school, has probably been in the Anglican church for maybe 2 hours (1 hour each year for a carol service), never been to a Synagogue or any other place of worship, but is spending a whole day in a mosque. School trip that we have to pay for, and the girls are 'welcome' to wear headscarves, but not compulsory. This is not in any way an issue with the religion, but not sure why it's such a big investment in one religion. There are 3 muslim pupils in the 60 in her year.

We have twins Jint so everything is always a first for us and we never even get a chance to learn from our mistakes!

I'm lucky in that I trust our school and am very pleased with what they are doing for my children but, if you don't feel you can ask questions of your school directly why not ask one of the Mums or Dads who has older children at the school, there will be plenty of your class parents who have seen and done it all at least once.

I would be a bit about this too...as I would if it was a whole day in a bog standard church...
A cathedral may just stretch to a day..if really big - pointing out the cross shape, a bit of brass rubbing, a few hundred years history, statues, stained glass, pictures and some old tombs etc - but a mosque?
Not sure depends on how big and decorated etc I guess...with a minaret etc...if it is quite big there can't be that much history to it...no cellars (can't remember proper name) where the bones were etc (bit we were most interested in on a school trip to a cathedral!).
I do think my reaction may be influenced by a trip we did at secondary school (a looooong time go - 35 yrs I guess). We went to a mosque. It was a converted house - really not much to see! Plain room - the most interesting bit was a fake alcove (can't remember correct name) which showed the direction to Mecca. It was like looking at someone's empty living room....

We had to take our shoes off and the girls were handed out scarves at the door to cover our heads. The boys & girls were taken round separately - not sure if they could do/see something that the girls couldn't ...just remember being annoyed about it for some reason ...we definitely weren't there for a whole day...
On a scale of 1-10 for secondary school children I'd give it a 2 - cathedral scored a 3-4 ...the best bit of both was probably being on the bus and missing other lessons!

And I wouldn't be happy if my girls were forced to cover their heads...I'm all for respecting others beliefs and culture (eg I'm an atheist - at a church service I still bow my head during prayers) but that is one thing I dislike intensely.
(don't believe that it is written in the Koran that they should do! - it is (IMO) purely a misogynistic later interpretation.)

Also as a thought. Schools are always looking for inclusive trips for their kids. Why not suggest an alternative religious place to follow up with. Could be anything from sikh, to Hindu. Might help them have a fun and varied approach to religion (even Pagan).

I always hope for one generation where all is ok ;)

lepetit hell would freeze over before you let your daughter wear a headscarf??? How unbelievably islamophobic. Learning about a religion will give your daughter a greater understanding of the religion. A small minority of so called Muslims give a bad name to the peaceful and gentle majority.

Op, I think 6 hours at the mosque will be very interesting, learning a fraction of religion, history, architecture, culture.

I'd have absolutely no problem with my primary aged school child visiting a mosque for a day.
As long as it was healthily balanced and they also got to spend another day at a church for example.

LithaR,

My experience - as a parent as well as a teacher - is that over a child's primary school life, learning about different religions will be well-balanced. However, it is most usually taught as 'some christianity, some learning from religion, and one non-Christian religion' each year, but as the OP's DD is near the beginning of this journey, she may not see the full balance appear until a few more years have passed. The school could tell her, but I know only too well that feeling of 'I've stirred enough for a bit, i'll just keep my head down!'

A visit to a religious establishment of whatever complexion has no place in the education of a children in this country who has not yet reached an age where he or she is mature enough to make rational decisions about these matters.

Just remembered another thing they did. Made a bookmark in their name written in Arabic. Decorated and laminated it.

a few of you need to branch out a bit and learn new things. Did you know that the first mosque in the UK was built in the 1800's? Not bad for something that has no history in this country.

teacherwith2kids that is EXACTLY it, thank you xxx

How is a head scarf any different to a hat? Or those rain cap things that older ladies wear? Or the habits that nuns wear? Or a turban?
It's just material that covers the hair.

Half a day would be fine for a 6 year old but a full day in the same place far too much. Take it from me with even slightly older children, especially boys, a full day would be more than the average teacher could cope with!

Most (if not all) day trips for 6 year olds at school last for an entire day. In fact, I've never known one to last only half a day, and I've got two children either going through primary school or recently come out of primary school!

Mary wears a scarf in the nativity because it's a representation of something that happened 2000 yrs ago. Which is just about where Islam is in regards to women's rights.

Floppity but the children aren't being taken to the mosque/church/synagogue etc to be indoctrinated into religious belief, they are being taken so that they can understand that the position that religious belief plays in our history/communities and culture.

And it does play a key role in society. You may personally not believe in any form if God, which is absolutely your right and choice but that doesn't mean it isn't there. This isn't the same as not wanting your child to be in the nativity or say school prayers.

In current times I'd say it was more important to help your children understand about religion.

There are some things children don't need to understand. Islam is rather like Communism; quite different in practice than in theory. Twelve or thirteen is more than early enough for children to learn about religions other than those they and their family may espouse.
For the record, my mother was brought up Protestant, and my father Catholic. They married in 1958, when religious intermarriage was far less common. I was brought up mostly without faith.

I would be happy for my children to visit a mosque , as long as they also visited other religious places. If I had a daughter I would not let her wear a head scarf, well I would as long as the boys did too. I live in a Muslim country so I see how differently how women are treated differently to men and it's not something I agree with.

Stethoscope no not Islamophobic but a refusal to let my dd think women being treated differently is ok even for a day.Turning a blind eye to something you believe is wrong is weak.

Just for the record we are atheist/agnostic and my dc have a good equal understanding of several religions which include Islam.You don't need to cover your head to get a good understanding of any religion.

Re tea towels on heads at Christmas,every school I've seen that happen in both genders do it,not just girls.

Any hoo op's schools sound reasonable as the mosque they are visiting are not insisting the girls cover their heads so clearly a visit is possible without that happening and it is thus not necessary.

The op simply has beef with the amount of time devoted to one religion and I would too.I have the same issue with the amount of time spent on CofE my dc have to endure.

Jinty

Don't worry your posts were completely fine. There are a few posters who always cry racism at any discussion on almost anything and it's boring but best ignored.

steth

How funny. Do you think it's ok to force a girl wear a headscarf? Don't be ridiculous.

There is no requirement in the Koran to wear it. Both sexes are required to dress modestly but of course that's become just the women as all religions are run by men for men.

If you want to buy into that mysogynistic crap that's your choice. But it's not really islamaohobic to choose not to is it.

That's called choice. Thank god womem here mostly have that.

^ yes exactly LePetit

I think next time you should just talk to the school and ask for a copy of the curriculum!

FYI in y9 we had a Chrurch crawl, which sounded hideous, but actually has really helped me through the years - 6 different denominations, so whenever I hear about one of them I've got something in my mind to attach it to iyswim. We never went to the Mosque which is a shame, or a synagogue, or a temple.

I'm pretty sure that the law says that minumum 50% of RE time must be about Christianity. So it will balance out over time.

It does seem a rather long time to spend in any place of worship.

DD went with her school to a local mosque at that age and had a great day. They were invited to share lunch there with the local leader and had great time with lots to do. They also visited a local synagogue, and have links with the local parish church for harvest festival etc anyway. In each place a discussion of clothing was part of the prep for the visits and because they understood the reasoning behind it they were fine with it