Religious education in preschool

lauradryeye

Hi all,

My 4 year old daughter just joined our local preschool and she mentioned that they can't eat their lunch until they said their blessings and done the sign of the cross. I'm not sure if they also do prayers as she doesn't tell me much!
We are atheists, we never talked to her about religion as it never came up really so she doesn't have a clue what this is all about..I am so annoyed over this, like I had no idea that "indoctrination" would start so young. I think what is bothering me the most is the fact that they never told us about it.
I read the school policy and the only thing that they mention about religion is "All children /staff are welcome here regardless of colour, race or religious beliefs. All aspects of cultural diversity should be encouraged and provision should be made within the curriculum to promote these cultures especially if there is a child within the group from a different cultural/religious background. "
I feel like I should say something but don't want to cause any drama..Is this the norm for a preschool?

Pherekydes

lauradryeye wrote: »

I am so annoyed over this, like I had no idea that "indoctrination" would start so young.

That's why it works so well!

How does your preschool manage children of other religions e.g. muslim kids?

They probably haven't really thought through their policy in any depth.

lauradryeye

Pherekydes wrote: »

That's why it works so well!

How does your preschool manage children of other religions e.g. muslim kids?

They probably haven't really thought through their policy in any depth.

I have no idea to be honest but I'm pretty sure that they don't! We live in the country and most of the teachers there are in their 50s so it feels like these things are not questioned at all...
We moved her there because it is so close to us and convenient but we're questioning whether we made the right choice now...I guess it's preparing us for what's ahead of us in school next year...

robindch

lauradryeye wrote: »

I feel like I should say something but don't want to cause any drama..Is this the norm for a preschool?

In many places, yes, it's normal and it continues because - quite understandably - nobody wants to stand out and be the different parent of the different kid with all the social risks which this entails.

Probably the most immediate approach is to have a quiet word with the teacher and explain that you're not religious and you don't want your child exposed to religion in this way. Try to work with them on to develop some way of fencing off the amount of religion in the class. Last week, one poster here in A+A had the same problem with an older child and she offered to have the child play with an iPad while the religious stuff was happening - in the end, a compromise was reached without an iPad, but this kind of horse-trading is symptomatic of what can need to happen. And if a word with the teacher doesn't work, then a word with the principal is in order.

But, in either case, I'd recommend having a read of this website before doing anything as it's got lots of good information on it and the people who run the site will be happy to work with you to develop an approach which can work:

http://www.teachdontpreach.ie

There are sample letters and other useful material there as well:

http://www.teachdontpreach.ie/school-religion-primary-secondary-opting-out/religion-opt-out-letter-primary-school/
http://www.teachdontpreach.ie/school-religion-primary-secondary-opting-out/

Absolam

Hi lauradryeye, is it a Christian pre-school? If so, that might be why there are Christian activities. Either way I'd agree that a word with the teacher should go a long way towards solving your problem; if your daughter is truly welcome there regardless of religious beliefs, then the teacher will find a way to accommodate her once you make your beliefs known.

looksee

lauradryeye wrote: »

Hi all,

My 4 year old daughter just joined our local preschool and she mentioned that they can't eat their lunch until they said their blessings and done the sign of the cross. I'm not sure if they also do prayers as she doesn't tell me much!
We are atheists, we never talked to her about religion as it never came up really so she doesn't have a clue what this is all about..I am so annoyed over this, like I had no idea that "indoctrination" would start so young. I think what is bothering me the most is the fact that they never told us about it.
I read the school policy and the only thing that they mention about religion is "All children /staff are welcome here regardless of colour, race or religious beliefs. All aspects of cultural diversity should be encouraged and provision should be made within the curriculum to promote these cultures especially if there is a child within the group from a different cultural/religious background. "
I feel like I should say something but don't want to cause any drama..Is this the norm for a preschool?

First bolded bit - because you are paying and we are happy to take money from anyone.

Second bolded bit - different from what?

The staff are playing at 'being teachers in big school'; it would serve the children better if they were trained to wash their hands before eating.

lazygal

If it's an ECCE scheme school the OP might not be paying anything.
The problem is that like primary schools most preschools are private concerns and while they might have copied and pasted a dignity and respect blurb from Early Childhood Ireland that can mean SFA if the staff think all the parents want a bit of Catholic stuff rubbed into the kids during the day.
I would approach the teacher, ask him or her what exactly the policy means and how non religious children are treated, and then its probably up to you if you want to keep sending your child or whether another service might be better. It's a crap situation, so many preschools seem to model themselves on primary school type indoctrination and many parents have no issue with prayers, school nativity play etc so my sympathies are with you.

Cabaal

My wife worked as a pre school teacher for a number of years and this from what I've heard from her in relation to meeting other pre school teachers at conferences isn't normal. Pre-school is supposed to be very inclusive and in all the material she had and that I had seen over the years none of it covered "Holy god" and praying at such a very young age.

She would cover countless cultural events in numerous cultures, yes she'd do Christmas, but she'd always do Chinese new year etc. She was all very much about inclusiveness but then she wouldn't push a specific religion on any child as she isn't made that way but then neither were the owners of any creches she worked in.

I'd be talking to the pre-school, paying or not the parent has a say in what is said to their child especially when it comes to stuff like this. This isn't learning about another culture, this is forcing a faith onto a child.

NIMAN

Can I ask the OP what they intend to do when it comes to sending your child to National School?

I only ask as you said you are in the country, and its unlikely you will have an Educate Together or non-denominational school near you, so its very likely that a Catholic run school might be your only option.

Back in the 60's and 70's there were two Protestant girls in my class. When it came to Catechism or religious education, they quietly went to either a side desk or the back of the room with books and read until the class was over. It worked then, so I'm sure it'll work now.

lazygal

[Deleted User] wrote: »

Back in the 60's and 70's there were two Protestant girls in my class. When it came to Catechism or religious education, they quietly went to either a side desk or the back of the room with books and read until the class was over. It worked then, so I'm sure it'll work now.

This is a pre school setting. Children that young can't be segregated like you suggest nor should they be if the service states it is inclusive.

The Bishop Basher

lauradryeye wrote: »

I feel like I should say something but don't want to cause any drama..

OP - Of course you should say something. Why wouldn't you ? If you're unhappy with ANY aspect of your child's education, it's your responsibility to sort it. First port of call should be to speak to the owner of the school and hopefully you can find a solution or a compromise. If neither can be found, you always have the option to move your child to another school. But speak to them asap.

lazygal

There is no mention of whether this is a Montessori school. Childcare qualifications vary widely.

The Bishop Basher

lazygal wrote: »

There is no mention of whether this is a Montessori school. Childcare qualifications vary widely.

Fair enough... Not sure why I thought it was a Montessori..

robindch

Cabaal wrote: »

My wife worked as a pre school teacher for a number of years and this from what I've heard from her in relation to meeting other pre school teachers at conferences isn't normal. Pre-school is supposed to be very inclusive and in all the material she had and that I had seen over the years none of it covered "Holy god" and praying at such a very young age.

My ex used to work in a city-center pre-school controlled by a protestant outfit - she had quite a few stories about sing-song sessions with the kids along the lines of "Jesus good, Satan bad", rote praying and the like. She left after a couple of months as she found it too unpleasant. And not only on account of the religious stuff - the people working there were more interested in religion than the kids and she had more stories than she was comfortable with concerning toddlers being left to tote filthy nappies around behind them.

When my own kid got as far as a Montessori school out in south Dublin, the school management did invite in an islamic preacher into the school together with the local parish priest who - I can only imagine by some yawning chasm of taste and oversight - was allowed to hand out sweets to the kids. Other than that though, it was a good school, my kid enjoyed her time there and we'd no trouble either expressing our wish for our kid not to be exposed to religious indoctrination, or - so far as I'm aware - for it to be fully respected.

lauradryeye

Absolam wrote: »

Hi lauradryeye, is it a Christian pre-school? If so, that might be why there are Christian activities. Either way I'd agree that a word with the teacher should go a long way towards solving your problem; if your daughter is truly welcome there regardless of religious beliefs, then the teacher will find a way to accommodate her once you make your beliefs known.

I have no idea if it is a Christian preschool, it definitely wasn't presented as one when I enrolled her a few months ago...I feel like if I say anything it will only make things awkward with the teacher. As other posters said, she is too young to be separated from the rest of the class...I might just ask her specifically how much religion stuff is being brought up everyday, it might be a be soft way to let her know I disapprove..

lauradryeye

NIMAN wrote: »

Can I ask the OP what they intend to do when it comes to sending your child to National School?

I only ask as you said you are in the country, and its unlikely you will have an Educate Together or non-denominational school near you, so its very likely that a Catholic run school might be your only option.

We have enrolled her in the local national school and I know that legally we're allowed to ask for her to be opted out of religious education so that's what we're planning on doing. I never thought that I'd have to worry about preschool though...

Absolam

lauradryeye wrote: »

I have no idea if it is a Christian preschool, it definitely wasn't presented as one when I enrolled her a few months ago...I feel like if I say anything it will only make things awkward with the teacher. As other posters said, she is too young to be separated from the rest of the class...I might just ask her specifically how much religion stuff is being brought up everyday, it might be a be soft way to let her know I disapprove..

Well, it probably wouldn't be difficult to find out if it is one? Which might help you in your discussions. In all honesty, I very much doubt speaking to the teacher will make it awkward... unless you're telling the teacher you disapprove of religion whilst standing in front of a giant picture of the Sacred Heart at the entrance to the Saint Nicholas Academy of Young Christians. Chances are there are already children in the pre-school who don't have faith backgrounds (whether it's a Christian pre-school or not) and they're already being accommodated. You've given the impression that this is not a subject you've discussed at all with the school so far, so they might be forgiven for not knowing what your preferences are yet? I have a feeling that once you broach the subject you're likely to find them far more receptive than you appear to think they might be.

looksee

So they are either going to stop saying the prayer before lunch, or they are going to tell toddlers 'if you choose to say a prayer with me before lunch you can do so, otherwise you can wait for a moment while we do it'. Right.

Absolam

Hard to say what they'll do without discussing it with them I'd say

Qs

Deleted User wrote: »

Back in the 60's and 70's there were two Protestant girls in my class. When it came to Catechism or religious education, they quietly went to either a side desk or the back of the room with books and read until the class was over. It worked then, so I'm sure it'll work now.

What worked? It seems to have worked at making your believe pre-schoolers should be treated like outsiders and different from the other kids.

NS77

Deleted User wrote: »

Back in the 60's and 70's there were two Protestant girls in my class. When it came to Catechism or religious education, they quietly went to either a side desk or the back of the room with books and read until the class was over. It worked then, so I'm sure it'll work now.

I wonder how that made them feel?

uck51js9zml2yt

My son's pre school is "thank you for our food,thank you for our friends, let's eat. "

robindch

Erin Whining Quotation wrote: »

My son's pre school is "thank you for our food,thank you for our friends, let's eat. "

A few months back, I was at a family wedding and just after he delivered the formal welcome, the father of the bride - for reasons I can only guess at - roared at me to say grace before meals. So, at the top of my voice, I roared back:

Rub-a-dub,
Thanks for the grub.

Even Popette managed to crack a smile after a decent interval.

lazygal

Erin Whining Quotation wrote: »

My son's pre school is "thank you for our food,thank you for our friends, let's eat. "

Thank who? The school or the parents?

Dades

Sounds like the preschool just is run by well meaning types who probably haven't encountered differences of opinion before. They just assume everyone is cathlick and sure what harm a few prayers is nice. The school mantra could well have been cut & pasted from somewhere. (What's that they say about T&Cs and Bible?!)

I'd tread carefully though and sound out the teachers before making any 'demands'. You never know what you might be dealing with. Hopefully reason.

lazygal wrote: »

Thank who? The school or the parents?

frostyjacks

They are giving thanks for those who made the food, those who prepared it, those who they're sharing it with. This is a bad thing how exactly?

Cabaal

frostyjacks wrote: »

They are giving thanks for those who made the food, those who prepared it, those who they're sharing it with. This is a bad thing how exactly?

Jesus didn't make any food and by making kids pray and do the sign of the cross the pre school may be ignoring the curriculum that they are supposed to follow. .

I had a chat to somebody very much in the know about this, the two main curriculum used in pre schools are aistear and siolta neither of which have one set religion and instead encourage divisity and multiculturalism.

The pre school curriculum is much more advanced and inclusive then the primary curriculum in this regard.

So taking the curriculum into account the pre school is bang out of order if the are using aistear or siolta, I'd suggest the op queries with the preschool what the curriculum being used is. Because this plays an important part in what options they have.

It's worth pointing out that if they use either of the above curriculum then if a Tusla inspection took place then the preschool would be found non compliant in relation in areas of multiculturalism, diversity, inclusivity and equality.

Tusla is the child and family agency in Ireland and they perform creche and preschool inspections. These would have previously been performed by the HSE.

If the preschool is found at fault here for ignoring its curriculum then I'd point this out to them, if they continue id have a word with Tusla for advice etc.

lauradryeye

Cabaal wrote: »

Jesus didn't make any food and by making kids pray and do the sign of the cross the pre school may be ignoring the curriculum that they are supposed to follow. .

I had a chat to somebody very much in the know about this, the two main curriculum used in pre schools are aistear and siolta neither of which have one set religion and instead encourage divisity and multiculturalism.

The pre school curriculum is much more advanced and inclusive then the primary curriculum in this regard.

So taking the curriculum into account the pre school is bang out of order if the are using aistear or siolta, I'd suggest the op queries with the preschool what the curriculum being used is. Because this plays an important part in what options they have.

It's worth pointing out that if they use either of the above curriculum then if a Tusla inspection took place then the preschool would be found non compliant in relation in areas of multiculturalism, diversity, inclusivity and equality.

Tusla is the child and family agency in Ireland and they perform creche and preschool inspections. These would have previously been performed by the HSE.

If the preschool is found at fault here for ignoring its curriculum then I'd point this out to them, if they continue id have a word with Tusla for advice etc.

Thanks Cabaal, this is interesting as they are indeed following the Sioltar and Aistear programme. I'll try and have a chat with them next week.

Hotblack Desiato

Dades!

Y u no post here any more

frostyjacks

If the curriculum expressly forbids the saying of grace before meals (unlikely), then by all means bring this to their attention. Otherwise, in the spirit of diversity, multiculturalism and tolerance, I would suggest leaving it be. A preschool is no place for a battleground.

Dades

Hotblack Desiato wrote: »

Dades!

Y u no post here any more

Sorry!
I'm in a state of retirement and only post infrequently these days! Changed work last year and don't have the opportunity except to dip in and lurk.
Still A&A though!

looksee

frostyjacks wrote: »

If the curriculum expressly forbids the saying of grace before meals (unlikely), then by all means bring this to their attention. Otherwise, in the spirit of diversity, multiculturalism and tolerance, I would suggest leaving it be. A preschool is no place for a battleground.

Could you explain your thinking on how saying (specifically RC) grace before meals encourages diversity, multiculturalism and tolerance?

frostyjacks

looksee wrote: »

Could you explain your thinking on how saying (specifically RC) grace before meals encourages diversity, multiculturalism and tolerance?

Infants from a non-Christian background can learn the reason for saying grace, perhaps share what customs they have. The intolerant thing would be to have it banned for no other reason than a parant's hang up over religion. Would you also ask them to ban Easter and Christmas?

Dades

frostyjacks wrote: »

Infants from a non-Christian background can learn the reason for saying grace, perhaps share what customs they have.

You know this is pre-school, right? The only thing the kids are interested in is what's in their lunchbox or up their nose.

frostyjacks wrote: »

Would you also ask them to ban Easter and Christmas?

Nuke them all. It's the only way to be sure.

oldrnwisr

frostyjacks wrote: »

Infants from a non-Christian background can learn the reason for saying grace, perhaps share what customs they have. The intolerant thing would be to have it banned for no other reason than a parant's hang up over religion.

Well if you suggest that the school be run with a spirit of diversity, multiculturalism and tolerance:

frostyjacks wrote: »

Otherwise, in the spirit of diversity, multiculturalism and tolerance, I would suggest leaving it be. A preschool is no place for a battleground.

then why is it that only the Christian god gets thanked for meals. Surely in the interests of diversity, multiculturalism and tolerance the children should also thank Allah, and Yahwheh and Vishnu, Shiva, Ganesh, Brahma, Kartikeya, Parvati, Lakshmi, Saraswati, Durga, Kali, Mariamman, Harihara, Ardhanarishvara, Buddha etc. etc. Then to thank Yahwheh properly you'd have to teach the kids a bit of Hebrew and similarly a bit of Arabic for Allah etc. etc. Which is all fine, but the kids might start getting hungry halfway through the Hindu Pantheon.

Or you could just not have religion in a preschool at all. It would certainly save a bit of time not to mention the fact that kids wouldn't be presented with a metaphysical concept that they're not yet ready to assimilate.

frostyjacks wrote: »

Would you also ask them to ban Easter and Christmas?

Well, you could do, or you could just celebrate Easter and Christmas alongside Diwali, Holi, Eid, Hanukkah, Yom Kippur, Passover, Samhain, Imbolc, Vaisakhi, Raksha Bhandan etc. etc.

Then you have to decide whether it's ok to celebrate Phalia Prakash Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji during the middle of Paryushan Maha Parva or whether that would be offensive to Sikhs or Jains or both. Or maybe the Muslim kids would get offended if there wasn't any time to celebrate the birthday of Ali ibn Abi Talib because they were getting ready to celebrate Passover. Then again the kids mightn't have time to go out and play or learn anything else if they have to spend all their time preparing for all these different religious festivals. You know, in the spirit of diversity, multiculturalism and tolerance and all.

Or maybe it's just that you only want the kids to celebrate your religion's feast days. That's not very tolerant now is it?

Cabaal

frostyjacks wrote: »

Infants from a non-Christian background can learn the reason for saying grace, perhaps share what customs they have. The intolerant thing would be to have it banned for no other reason than a parant's hang up over religion. Would you also ask them to ban Easter and Christmas?

hmm strange,
I'm not sure whats wrong here but its evident you have some massive issues grasping a very simple thing, that being that the pre-school are not following the curriculum which requires that they have an inclusive, multiculturalism and diverse environment. Making all the children pray to a christian god means is not doing this. Can I ask did you even bother to read my last post explaining the issue, it perhaps did you have trouble understanding it?

If the pre-school wishes to have a session that explains the christian holiday thats fine, it however is not fine for it to integrate religious praying of ANY faith into its everyday routine as the pre-school has done in this instance. In doing so the pre-school is non-compliant with the curriculum and Tusla would mark them as such.

Despite this you seem to think its perfectly acceptable for a pre-school to be non-compliant with Tusla requirements, this is disappointing and also slightly worrying.

By all means the pre-school can have a day where Easter is explained but lets be honest here kids have no interest in "baby jesus" when it comes to easter and instead its far more likely to be about easter bunnys.

However, the pre-school should not just concentrate on christian only holidays. For example it should include other cultures celebrations throughout the year where all children learn about for example Chinese new years, what other cultures do in December (learning about the Yule Goat of Scandinavian and Northern Europe origin for example). Of course the pre-school year can't include every other holiday that happens but it should choose a few to cover throughout the year and pre-schools will often do this by going by the types of children in the sessions, for example explaining Indian holidays if there are Indian children, Polish holidays if there are Polish children and so on.

Your belief that it is ok for the pre-school to integrate only christian religious praying into his every day routine is deeply flawed. It is not ok as it ignores the curriculum the pre-school is supposed to be following. Its no more ok then if the pre-school decided to have muslim prayers 5 times a day,

Of course if we apply your deeply flawed viewpoint onto the Muslim prayers example I guess all those Christians could do with learning about Allah and how Allah is the one true god and how praying and thanking him is very important to their lives
:rolleyes:

frostyjacks, stop showing yourself up in relation to this issue. Its evident you don't understand the issue you are trying to argue for.

frostyjacks

You're not even making a mountain out of a molehill. There is no molehill. Unless the curriculum explicitly states that grace should not be said before meals, then there is no issue. Nobody is being forced to say it. It's not illegal. It's teaching children to be thankful for having a nice meal to eat. It's disturbing that adults could get their knickers in a twist over this.

Cabaal

frostyjacks wrote: »

You're not even making a mountain out of a molehill. There is no molehill. Unless the curriculum explicitly states that grace should not be said before meals, then there is no issue. Nobody is being forced to say it. It's not illegal. It's teaching children to be thankful for having a nice meal to eat. It's disturbing that adults could get their knickers in a twist over this.

Its not teaching children to be thankful,
Its specifically indoctrinating children to be thankful to be a specific religions deity for their meal. There is I think you'll find a big difference, its sad you are blind to this.

Teaching children to be thankful would be teaching them to say "thank you" to the person that serves them the food. Funny enough you don't need to involve a religion to do that and its something that parents are well capable of teaching their child as well...just like what religion (or none) the child should believe in.


We all know that you wouldn't be making such a silly argument here if the pre-school was asking kids to be thankful to Allah or Elron Hubbard at mealtime. You're only posting this silly, weak counter argument because its the christian/catholic faith.

Hotblack Desiato

Cue "But it's a catholic country" in 5... 4... 3... :rolleyes:

uck51js9zml2yt

None of the kids do the sign of the cross in my son's Montessori.

This thread seems to be the usual religious hangups.
I'm not RC and have no problems my son doing RE.,.for now .it's all about relationships at senior infants.
I'll pull him in first class as he won't be making his communion and the school will make arrangements for him and the other non RC kids in another room...very accommodating for a religious a school.

lazygal

Erin Whining Quotation wrote: »

None of the kids do the sign of the cross in my son's Montessori.

This thread seems to be the usual religious hangups.
I'm not RC and have no problems my son doing RE.,.for now .it's all about relationships at senior infants.
I'll pull him in first class as he won't be making his communion and the school will make arrangements for him and the other non RC kids in another room...very accommodating for a religious a school.

Sending children to another room because of religion is bizarre. I can't understand why so many people think segregated education is a good idea.

lazygal

Hotblack Desiato wrote: »

Cue "But it's a catholic country" in 5... 4... 3... :rolleyes:

See also: It's a Catholic school; no one else has an issue; and sure didn't we all do it and it never did us any harm.

uck51js9zml2yt

lazygal wrote: »

Sending children to another room because of religion is bizarre. I can't understand why so many people think segregated education is a good idea.

They will be doing communion in first class. As RE will be focused on this we choose to pull our child rather than have him sitting on his own reading or drawing.
Ideally I'd love to see it separate but we're happy to work with the system. We teach our kids our beliefs at home.

lazygal

Erin Whining Quotation wrote: »

They will be doing communion in first class. As RE will be focused on this we choose to pull our child rather than have him sitting on his own reading or drawing.
Ideally I'd love to see it separate but we're happy to work with the system. We teach our kids our beliefs at home.

What a waste of resources. I can't believe parents put up with this.

Hotblack Desiato

Erin Whining Quotation wrote: »

We teach our kids our beliefs at home.

That's what everyone who has a belief should be doing.

uck51js9zml2yt

Hotblack Desiato wrote: »

That's what everyone who has a belief should be doing.

I agree but the sad truth is that most of these parents who want their kid raised RC wouldn't have a clue what to do when they go inside a church. Most of them from what I've seen think it's a place to catch up for a chat with their pals or make that urgent phone call.

frostyjacks

You keep saying it's not in compliance with Tulsa, without actually backing it up. Virtually every preschool in the country observes and celebrates the Christian festivals. Would you have them all reported for non-compliance? Essentially, it all boils down to the same thing. You want to stop people of all faiths from practicing their religion. Targeting infants is a new low. Have you no shame?

Cabaal

frostyjacks wrote: »

You keep saying it's not in compliance with Tulsa, without actually backing it up. Virtually every preschool in the country observes and celebrates the Christian festivals. Would you have them all reported for non-compliance?

sigh,
Celebrating Christmas wouldn't cause them to be non-compliant, after all they would celebrate it as a Santa event and not the "birth of baby jesus", easter would also all be about the bunnys.

Just deciding to make kids pray before each meal to a specific god would make them non-compliant, the creche can't just decide to indoctrinate the entire pre-school year without the parents consent in addition the pre-school in this situation is required by regulation to respect the OP's wishes that their child not be involved in such a practice.

I see you've finally dropped the utter crap that was "its teaching them to be just thankful"
:rolleyes:

Essentially, it all boils down to the same thing. You want to stop people of all faiths from practicing their religion. Targeting infants is a new low. Have you no shame?

All I can say again here is sigh, if I was into posting images as replys I'd likely choose faceplam here.

Nobody is stopping anyone practicing a faith, they are very free to do so in their own time. But in a pre-school environment it MUST be inclusive, the pre-school should not push or include religious prayers for one specific religion above another.

In all honesty you appear to have a number of issues grasping this very fact so I'm honestly not going to waste my time with you anymore. You are either unable to grasp simple difference or you are just intentionally trying to waste people's time with your silly, pointless and ill-informed posts

lazygal

Very, very few pre schools only celebrate Christian things. Most now have projects on everything from Eid to Chinese New Year to Midsummer and everything in between. I suspect Frostyjacks has little or no experience of pre school children or education.

Dades

frostyjacks wrote: »

You keep saying it's not in compliance with Tulsa, without actually backing it up. Virtually every preschool in the country observes and celebrates the Christian festivals. Would you have them all reported for non-compliance? Essentially, it all boils down to the same thing. You want to stop people of all faiths from practicing their religion. Targeting infants is a new low. Have you no shame?

Let's not get too dramatic.

Just to remind you, this is what the school said was their policy:

All children /staff are welcome here regardless of colour, race or religious beliefs. All aspects of cultural diversity should be encouraged and provision should be made within the curriculum to promote these cultures especially if there is a child within the group from a different cultural/religious background.

TBH, this was't much of an issue until you came in taking umbrage that the issue was even being discussed. Then talk of banning Christmas etc. just put everyone on the defensive.

It would be interesting to hear how a conversation with the people running the school might go. It may well be they have no idea anyone actually has a cultural difference they care about, and they're willing to adapt.

Of course the problem is child indoctrination in any form just gets people's goat up here. For the religious it's never indoctrination if it's your religion.