4 year old taught creationism as fact

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Hi all,

My partner's child is 4 and has just come back from her reception class telling me that an (emphatically male) God created the world. She has also been taught how to pray.

When asked if she was taught that some people believe this or taught that it's really what happened, she's sure that she was taught it as fact.

I'm extremely angry about this - we send her off to school to be taught real things (at this stage literally just letters and numbers...) so having creationism taught alongside them, with the apparent same factual tone, is maddening.

This is not a Church of England school, it's an English state primary. Could anyone please tell me if this is common and whether I'm able to effectively complain to the school about it?

Thanks!

My 4 year old was absolutely convinced there had been a bear in school because the fire alarms went off.
I really wouldn't rely on a 4year olds version of things.
Why don't you just teach her your own views on religion? She will benefit from hearing more than one point of view.

I finished at non-religious primary school 12 years go and they were forcing us to pray then. Anyone who refused to pray was shouted at and made to comply. Not sure if there are better policies in place by now though.

DS1 came home from his non-denominational primary telling me that the story of Jonah and the whale was being recounted as fact. Up until then the school had been merely compliant with its obligation to provide an act of Christian 'worship' but a new head set a different tone. At 7, he was old enough to be sceptical, and in fact the school's approach had the opposite effect to what was intended, as he spent his formative years being wildly and irritatingly anti-religious.

It is actually illegal to teach "young earth creationism" but this doesn't sound like that - it sounds like a metaphor ("some people think that God made the world" which could include a "guiding hand" or even just a metaphorical existence while evolution went its own way) which of course is not really a 4 year old's strong point!
If asking the school what was taught, maybe point out that your DC is, like their classmates, unlikely to appreciate the finer points of non-literal language, as they are FOUR.

Why would you emphasise that it is not a Church of England School? It sounds like you are assuming any person of faith is also a creationist. Newsflash - very, very few are. Your assumption is rather offensive, especially given how easily you take offence at people suggesting that a 4 year old may not have fully understood something they have been told (which is certainly possible).

I would contact the school to ask before I would have believed my son when he was 4 not saying 4 year olds lie but I would not automatically assume he was correct either at that age

[quote EasyCheesyToast]@Marmite133 surely a yr 6 would know it's virtually impossible for an adult in the 40s to still be alive now?[/quote]
That's not the way 9 / 10 year olds think!
Unless they actually sit down to work it out.
Everyone over the age of 32 is unbelievably ancient to them, anyway.

DS2 was in Year 5 when he came home one day and asked me “why are the Christians right and everyone else is wrong?” I didn’t try to get to the bottom of it with the school because he was about to move schools anyway, but he and I did have a lengthy chat about how everyone should be allowed to believe according to their religion/culture/spiritual preference. He could well have misinterpreted what the RS teacher said. He probably wasn’t listening properly tbh! Easier with him though as he was old enough for us to have a proper discussion about it.

I'm in Wales and schools have to teach christianity as far as I am aware. I presume it is the same in England.

They seem to have people who come in and teach it. They seem to teach it as fact. Just have discussions with your daughter. If you want to change this you will have to lobby Government not your Headteacher.

I think what @tootiredtothinkofanewname said, it's likely that it was taught as a concept in an RE based lesson.

Everyone over the age of 32 is unbelievably ancient to them, anyway.

Yes indeed. DS2 is quite convinced that most of his teachers are at least in their 60s. Of those I’ve met, the majority look substantially younger than I am. I’m in my early 40s. Having said that, when I was at school I was absolutely certain that most of my teachers were at least 80!

Firstly you need to make sure this actually happened, four year olds perception/understanding of what they have heard/been taught is often a little off. Then, and only then, make it clear why you are unhappy with the situation.

I read @upthewolves message three times and I still didn't get the step child connection!

@AlwaysLatte same?! 🤷🏼‍♀️

OP said immediately below that message that she has misquoted

Last year I mostly found out what DC had done in school from forensic examination of her uniform - according to her account she played with cars despite there generally being evidence of writing, sand, water play and the mud kitchen... There was also some evidence of learning to write count...

@seayork2020

I would contact the school to ask before I would have believed my son when he was 4 not saying 4 year olds lie but I would not automatically assume he was correct either at that age

Indeed. My sister was head for many years and some of the stories she had to fend off from very upset parents... including the one that she was dead (the flowers were nice though).

We had one Y2 boy go home and tell his parents that as part of PSHE, a woman had come into school and given birth in front of them. The parents came in, expressing concern. It was explained that a friend of the teachers had bought in her baby, so the children could think about the differences between babies and them.

“Oh,” said Mum, “I did think it sounded a bit odd.”

My four year old recounted a story on the way home today all about getting his eyes checked at school and about how he had had to wear different glasses and look at numbers and letters. When his dad asked him at teatime about his eye test he denied all knowledge and looked at us as if we were mad.

Four year olds are not reliable witnesses.

I think it's more likely to be misunderstanding. My dc said the exact thing at the age. God created the world. But in later years when they were older, they understood. In state primary, they talk about all the different religions.

@nearertonature

I'm in Wales and schools have to teach christianity as far as I am aware. I presume it is the same in England. They seem to have people who come in and teach it. They seem to teach it as fact. Just have discussions with your daughter. If you want to change this you will have to lobby Government not your Headteacher.

No. Schools must teach religious education, which covers the Christian tradition and other major faiths, plus ethics, morals and philosophy. No state school in the UK can cover only Christianity. And "they" may teach lots of things - whether "they" teach it as "fact" is a different matter. I don't many who teach any RE as incomplete fact because there are too many variations of belief even within the major faiths. I know more than a few teachers who teach RE, including Christianity, who are actually atheist or agnostic. Teaching about beliefs does not confer fact or truth, simply existence.

Schools in England are supposed to have assemblies of a "broadly Christian nature" so praying is normal.

Are you sure that she's not referring to a hymn rather than direct teaching? Eg All Things Bright and Beautiful

Apologies if this has already been pointed out, but "God created the world" while obviously a religious belief is not the same as creationism, and could apply to at least four other religions I can think of in addition to Christianity.

Isn’t creationism what they teach in some of the southern states ie dinosaurs aren’t real (the devil out the bones on the ground to trick people) and the world is only a few hundred of years old?