Religious Education

Currently I am reading "god is not Great" by Christopher Hitchens and, although I am not very far into it, he has gotten me to raise a few questions. One of which arose while I was reading an anecdotal story in the first few pages of the book. He was talking about how he was raised religiously and how he began to question the reality and legitimacy of religion. This got me thinking, "What is the best way to expose a child to religion?" What I mean by that is how should parents go about introducing their children to religion without forcing it upon them and leaving whether or not they believe up to them. I personally think that people should be able to decide for themselves if they believe in a God or a particular religion of if they choose not to. It's a very delicate thing, then, to educate kids about religion while leaving room for them to doubt it and decide for themselves. They probably shouldn't be told from an early age because children are very impressionable and learn like sponges so if you teach a kid about religion and he doesn't have the critical mind set to question what he has been taught than all you have done is brainwashed another human being. However, if you give it some time and introduce them to religion at, let's say, nine or ten years old (I know, that sounds really late but this is only a hypothetical) than they may be developed enough to decide for themselves. Again this is a very delicate situation with a lot of variables but the main idea is that people should be able to choose their religious beliefs. They shouldn't be manipulated into following whatever their parents or whoever is raising them believes in.