teaching religion...when to start?

Question

My baby girl is 5 months old, I know still too young but I wanted to know when is it a good time to start teaching her about religion. We are Hindu, not overly religious but we do pray at home and do various rituals for the holidays but I don't know if I should send her for formal class(when she's older, at what age???though) or let her pick up tidbits in the home. I learned bits and pieces at home but have always wanted to learn all. My husband was taught yet he never practices what he was taught. He almost rejects all the rituals. I don't want rejection fromher but I also don't want to force her. Just things going on my head ....

Answer 1

I think it's a good idea to start early- but don't make it too serious. You could tell your baby stories that are spiritual in nature, and I have seen Hindu god finger puppets in the pyramid collection catalog. Maybe they still have them. Even if she changes her mind later in life, she'll have fond memories of your time spent together on this sort of thing, so will never wholly reject your faith.

I'd wait until a little bit later in life to send her to classes- when she's ready for school, she's ready for school of a religious nature as well. I'd really suggest not sending her to a religious school of another faith no matter how good a school it is- according to my child development classes and my own experiences as a teacher, kids under the age of seven don't really understand comparative religions, and she'll be confused. I'd also suggest that if as a teenager, she wants to experiment with other ideologies, you should not discourage her- or she'll resent you. Just encourage her to take care, and no matter where she goes, remember where she comes from.

Kids want to know about this sort of thing- and if you don't tell her, somebody else will tell her THEIR version- and the kind of people to proseletyze to the children of others are not full of the information you want your child to have.

Answer 2

From birth you should create the religious atmosphere at home so that the child learn more from experience than from formal books. Take the case of Prahalad, who was born in Saint Narad's ashram. His father was an asura and a enemy of Lord Vishnu. (I am talking about the Narasimha avatar of lord vishnu). This will have a profound impact on the child's future way of thinking. Later on she can chant the mantras and learn the intricacies of the rituals, at home.

Answer 3

I think what you are doing is great. We have many children in our family and we all practiced tidbits of religion (we are Wiccan) in accordance with Wicca, alongside Canadian practices like New Year's and Christmas. For example, since Christmas is celebrated in school, we were taught how the two stories are similar, to teach acceptance of all faiths. We looked at the similarities of the Jesus Christ myth and our personal mythos of the rebirth of the god(representative of the rebirth of light at the solstice). We ate ham and told Yule stories of fairies as we sat around a traditional Christmas tree. It made us feel okay with other kids at school. Children can be brutal and my parents understood this. It wasn't a surrender of our religion but an acceptance of all kinds of worship and love, as well as an accpetance that we called a Christian country home. At 11, upon entering middle school, we were all given the choice of whether or not we wanted formal lessons. This gave us the choice and made it feel like we were embarking on our own spiritual journey. We did have some exposure to coven activities when younger, but it was never forced upon us. I feel when religion is forced upon young children they feel trapped and isolated, especially when the religion practiced is not the "mainstream" religion. It is your choice, but I would suggest waiting until she is older and allowing her the decision.

Answer 4

I'm not a parent, so I may not be the best one to comment on this, but I personally think it's best to wait until they're a little older--like closer to their teens--to start in with the theology stuff. Before that, I think that teaching them simple morals and leaving it at that would be best. After all, most religions have the same basic moral codes.

I say this because my family started going to church when I was nine, and we went to the hardcore fundamentalist Christian churches. I got sucked in to a lot of the teachings, and for a while was (I hate to admit it) brainwashed.

So...from personal experience, I think it's best to wait until they have developed some critical thinking skills. And when teaching them, I also think it's best to encourage them to think about what they are being told. A lot of the church people I was exposed to didn't do that. I was told to just soak it all in and obey it, no questions asked.

Answer 5

We waited till our youngest son was about 4.

Then we got a book from the library that gave an overview of all of the religions of the world.

We tried to explain the various beliefs to him, and told him to think about it for a while to see if he thought any of them made any sense.

He said I don't need to think about it Buddhism makes the most sense to me. This surprised me because I am christian and my wife is agnostic. This was OK to both of us because it was his decision.

You may find it interesting that Hinduism was his second choice but he was drawn more to the Buddhist ideas due to some mention of the cast system in the book that we used.

He has always displayed the Buddhist ideas of compassion and nonviolence in his dealings with others. So I guess I should be happy about the course we took on this.

love and blessings Don

Answer 6

You seem an open minded kind of person - the best kind to be - so it is up to you what you do and when, but if you want to raise your daughter as an open minded individual, then whenever a situation comes up, consider it from her point of view, and what impact it might have on her future, however, it is a little too early to think about that now I think. if you want to start introducing her to the Hindu culture, show her things to do with the culture, so she begins to bond with them.

Answer 7

It's been my experience growing up in a christian home, that the more you press the issue, the more likely they are to rebel as they get older.
I say, teach her what you know but allow her to learn about other faiths as well and let her come to her own decision.

Answer 8

This is very difficult question for me indeed. If I have to be a truth following person is it right to say there is a god while being a truth following person. Will I be lying if I say there is god and actually there isn't. Apologies for diverting the topic but I thought it is necessary to get the fundamentals right before getting into the details.

Answer 9

From birth.

Answer 10

Why not wait until she's old enough to understand the Bhagavad Gita and let her form her own opinions, based on her understanding of it.