The child uses authority or trust as a way of knowing. Science's way of knowing is different. Scientists don't accept things on trust. Rather, they test, replicate, and verify for themselves. Something is true not because someone says it is, but because it's been proven, because other scientists have independently tested and verified it.
Most religions use a way of knowing much like the child's.
That is, they decide what's true based on authority. If you're a Christian and Jesus said something, if you're Islamic and the Koran says something, if you're Jewish and the Torah says something, you're supposed to believe it. Religions have used the way of authority for thousands of years. Once, religion used even more primitive technology. Before the printing press, only the wealthy could own a copy of scripture.