Apes, monkeys, and neanderthals....Oh my!

[Andry]

My soon to be 5 yo loves books, particularly on space and the universe. I just bought him a children's encyclopaedia on 'earth and space'. While he's enjoyed all the space part of the book, he's also looked on the 'earth' section, and there to behold, were a few pages and pictures on, you guessed it, 'pre-historic man' and our supposed origins.

I'd like to know how you'd handle this (or particularly from parents who've already done so) with your kids? I know for some of you who've homeschooled, this may not be an issue until later in life, but those in public or non-Christian schools have textbooks that assume pre-historic man as 'fact' by de facto.

Like the birds and the bees talk, I had expected to discuss this issue to my son at some point in his life, but I didn't expect it so soon! He's got questions...and I hope to glean some smart answers from you here!

Blessings!



Note: This is not a debate about Evolution vs Creationism. There is a forum for that elsewhere here.

 

[andiesmama]

At five?? Oh my gosh....I'm gonna sit back & take notes, like you I didn't think I'd have to face a huge topic like this so soon!

Andie's only two, so I guess I have some time...lol! But I'm not sure how I'd handle it, either....maybe take the approach like "This is what God teaches in the Bible, so this is what we belive" and then tell him (or re-tell him) the story of creation in the Bible.

And on the other hand, I wonder if that would make him discount now everything in the encyclopedia & the school books? Like, well, if I know that isn't true, then how do I know anything else is?

Yeah, I'd love answers from parents who've already dealt with this!

 

[Addicted2~Jesus]

Our's is still young so we hadn't faced it full frontal yet but we have also been tellin er that God made this and God made that an we read the creation to her from time to time. She loves books an I've thrown out a bunch that had a whole lot of the evolution an all that sorta thin in it, we want her rooted in what the Bible teaches an then we'll teach her the theories the res of th world comes up wit. We plan on home schoolin but most of th tests for the world are gonna have evolution an what not on it so she'll have to learn it also but we stress that that is theory. Which is what really gets me goin, they discount creationism etc an then teach evoultion as fact, it's merely their theory an that's what we want to teach her.

What could you do now? I don't know that I'd have any advice other then to show God in everthin as much as possible, then also tell em that th res of the world believes/teaches about evoultion etc. I think kids are bright, an I think society dumbs em all down, so I think your child will probly be able to understand God did this but they teach that. I like to show the small thins to Kat, like the lil veins in leaves an the small unique pieces of sand, shells rings in trees. I firmly believe you don't have to look far to see God's handy work, you jes have to take the blinders off.

 

[Jenna]

I haven't had the talk with Anna yet, as she doesn't know what "cave men" are. Well, that's not completely true. She understands that people have, and do, live in caves. When she asked about us, I just told her that our land is too flat for that, so we had to build houses. lol

What I did come across, that I really thought was intriguing is Dr. Jack Cuozzo. I heard some overviews and summaries of his studies while listening to my local Christian radio station, and enjoyed it very much. He works a great deal with the idea of neanderthals and how they fit in with the idea of Creationism and the Bible. Here is his website....

http://www.jackcuozzo.com/

Edit: Obviously, this material is not for young learners. lol Still, I found it quite interesting, and am able enough to paraphrase some things in rudimentary enough bits that my daughter can understand some real basic theories.

 

[lucypevensie]

Don't underestimate the influence you have on your kids. Kids believe what their Mom and Dad say, for the most part. (OK, I suppose that statement might be debatable in individual cases). Just tell them the truth. There are people who don't believe that God created the earth, and don't believe in God or the Bible. The Bible says that God created the earth pretty much the same way it looks today, the earth is not OLD, etc.

I loved my science books when I was very young too. I had a 15 volume set of Childcraft which are published by the World Book Encyclopedia. Those of course are very heavily into evolution. What Mom told me though overrode the info in the book. I had no other reason to disbelieve evolution, other than what Mom said. But at age 5 that was what I needed. I did not have the mental capacity to think through the endless evolution/creation debate and come to my own conclusion on which was truth. Not at that young age. When a child gets older they can do more of that kind of critical thinking, and they will. And that is what I have done. It's no longer truth just because they said so at church or because Mom told me so. The learning never ends.

Now my own kids like to look at my old books and I don't withhold entire volumes because they have 10 pages of silly stuff. Because I have read them with my kids I have taken every opportunity to share the truth as God has shown me.

 

[Kokopelli]

My daughter is two today, and she already shows an interest in books. So when I get her some of the children's encylopedias, and she asks about the monkey-men, I'll tell her to read about it because it's interesting. If she has any questions, I'll gladly answer them. I'll also take her back out to AZ so she can go to a "dig" site with my uncle when she's a lot older.

 

[Andry]

Thanks to all of you for your comments and feedback. Truly appreciate them.

God is interlaced in all our conversations with my son, so that it's just so natural to him that God is within and around us. In restaurants he doesn't whisper grace; on the contrary, it's quite loud.

I've had to explain, from stuff he sees in books, and the odd newcasts he sees (when he's not suppose to be looking or listening in!) that some people in this world do not believe in God or Jesus. He thinks that's just the most absurd thing.

I did read and explain the 'cavemen' part of his encyclopedia this weekend, but also had a pictorial Bible showing Adam and Eve and the Garden on hand. I think seing the contrasts helped him tremendously. He knows God created us in his image, and not from some silly monkeys! I'll be continually reinforcing that.