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3ringcircus
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| Posted: April 16 2012 at 5:39pm | IP Logged
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Does anyone send kids to the parish CCD program? If you HS religious instruction, how do you register w/ the parish? Anything special for the sacraments of FHC, Rec., & Conf? I spaced out a bit, and G missed CCD for K entirely. I personally hated CCD and would have appreciated doing it at home w/ my Mom. She taught us a lot before we even set foot in the classes. OTOH, if the program was better, I would be just as happy to have G experience group instruction.
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Christine
Mom to my circus of boys: G-1/06, D-1/04, S-4/10
Started HS in Fall'12
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JodieLyn
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| Posted: April 16 2012 at 5:46pm | IP Logged
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My kids go to CCD.. not that we don't learn at home but I think our program is pretty decent and the kids have fun. 
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Jodie, wife to Dave
G-18, B-17, G-15, G-14, B-13, B-11, G-9, B-7, B-5, B-4
All men who have turned out worth anything have had the chief hand in their own education.
-Sir Walter Scott
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Donna Marie
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| Posted: April 16 2012 at 6:01pm | IP Logged
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I do all of the religious instruction in our home. I will not use the CCD program as it is very problematic. The kids receive First Penance privately and just receive specially at a Mass for First Holy Communion (we just had one yesterday!!)
My older ones have to show up for the practice for Confirmation and they join in that Mass for the sacrament. We don't even go to the Confirmation retreat because I went once for my twins. Lets just say, they didn't prepare them for Confirmation. It was a last ditch effort of telling the kids to stay off of drugs, and the dangers of partying and fooling around outside of marriage and even that wasn't handled well. They didn't even mention the Holy Spirit. My kids were bored, truth be told, and the content was for more of the college-aged crowd, not for young 13 and 14yo.
Anyhoo, this is my fav subject to teach. I learn so much along side of them and it has been so worth it. I homeschool 9 children and my eldests are now 18. They tell me that being catechized at home was one of their fondest memories.
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God love you!
Donna Marie from NJ
hs momma to 9dc!!
Finding Elegant Simplicity
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ShannonJ
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| Posted: April 16 2012 at 7:36pm | IP Logged
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I send our kids to CCD too. They enjoy it and I see it more as an acceptable social outlet than valued instruction. We are also at a much smaller parish than before, so I see it as a way for them to participate in the "family parish" atmosphere. I felt a bit differently at larger parishes.
I haven't inquired at this parish, but at our last parish you just had to contact the RE office to register as a home educator. They required that you use their materials, but honestly I think that was just a way for them to make sure you had "appropriate" materials to teach with.
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~Shannon
Mom of dd 12, ds 9, & dd 5
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lapazfarm
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| Posted: April 16 2012 at 8:08pm | IP Logged
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I have always sent my kids to CCD. They have enjoyed it and I have had no problems with it. I look at it not as primary instruction, but as simply a reinforcement of what they already have learned at home, and a nice social outlet for the kids.
And now my ds (16) is teaching 3rd grade CCD at our parish. He stepped up when the original teacher got transferred mid-year and the DRE asked him to consider teaching, which makes my mama's heart so proud. The kids love him and he loves the kids. It's a beautiful thing to see.
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Theresa
us-schooling in beautiful Fairbanks, Alaska.
LaPaz Home Learning
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guitarnan
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We have tried it in various places we've lived, with results ranging from excellent to fair.
Our diocese requires enrollment in a parish-taught Confirmation class. DD did not learn anything new except that she is glad she does not go to public school, except for the research she did for her saint report - which she was never required to present or turn in. (This is her particular teacher's fault; I know other classes did their reports and presentations.)
I think it was a positive experience overall, though, because she did learn that she has actually learned something at home, and when she was accused of reading the Bible for hours every day by a fellow student she actually pulled out her Bible and started reading it - a very good thing! Her Confirmation Mass on Saturday was beautiful, and she and her sponsor have a wonderful relationship.
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Nancy in MD. Mom of ds (24) & dd (18); 31-year Navy wife, move coordinator and keeper of home fires. Writer and dance mom.
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pumpkinmom
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| Posted: April 16 2012 at 10:10pm | IP Logged
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ShannonJ wrote:
I send our kids to CCD too. They enjoy it and I see it more as an acceptable social outlet than valued instruction. We are also at a much smaller parish than before, so I see it as a way for them to participate in the "family parish" atmosphere. I felt a bit differently at larger parishes.
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This was how I felt until I started teaching classes at church. I found out the the social outlet wasn't acceptable and the materials used were poor and some of the teachers were not people I wanted my kids getting instruction from. We pulled out last fall.
I was told that in our diocese that if a parent request a sacrament, the church has to give it. This may be different for Confirmation.
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Cassie
Homeschooling my little patch of Ds-14 and Ds-10
Tending the Pumpkin Patch
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guitarnan
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| Posted: April 16 2012 at 10:29pm | IP Logged
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All the times I have taught/coordinated in parish faith formation programs, my impression has been that almost all the teachers (well over 90%) were really committed to sharing the truths of our faith with their students. One of the biggest concerns I've had is that some students know almost nothing about the Faith, while others could almost teach the class themselves.
One of the things I've valued most, on the other hand, is the opportunity to connect with more families in our parish. Sometimes it's the personal invitation (to Mass, teen programs, spaghetti dinners, etc.) that encourages families to become more involved in parish life.
CCD is not a perfect solution, but CCD + weekly Mass (or more) + friends + parish involvement can be a good solution. I'm not saying everyone should become involved in CCD, but if you're inclined to do so, consider the ministry of hospitality as you drop off and pick up your children. Someone out there is not taking his/her children to Mass every Sunday (even if those children faithfully attend CCD, trust me!), but he/she might if they talk with you and know more about what to expect at Mass.
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Nancy in MD. Mom of ds (24) & dd (18); 31-year Navy wife, move coordinator and keeper of home fires. Writer and dance mom.
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CatholicMommy
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| Posted: April 17 2012 at 10:05pm | IP Logged
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We participate in the local parish CCD program - BUT.
1) Our parish (where we attend Mass and are registered) offers nothing as almost all the children are homeschooled. The priest does a 1st Communion on the years he can't get himself out of it; and he finally did a confirmation class this year (first since he's been at our parish - almost 4 years?). So this parish is homeschool-friendly. The priest meets with the kids, knows they're all homeschooled; does his "own thing" and life goes on :)
2) The local parish has a Catechesis of the Good Shepherd program - I was hired 4 years ago to set it up; I'm not officially involved now, but the catechists are my good friends; I trust the teaching and I sub when needed. My son will NOT attend a book-based CCD except under very explicit circumstances. My son actually did sacramental preparation here, with permission of our parish priest and the parish priest at that parish; but again - Catechesis of the Good Shepherd, I know the catechists, I mentored the main catechist through the whole process, etc.
And we still do our faith formation stuff at home too.
I'm not sure about confirmation yet - we'll cross that bridge when we get there :)
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Barbara C.
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| Posted: April 18 2012 at 12:28pm | IP Logged
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We don't do CCD. Thankfully, our DRE homeschools, so she is sympathetic to desiring to do it at home although she would rather we sent the kids to CCD and I taught (they are always desperate for teachers). It probably helped, too, that I got a glowing recommendation from the head of the RCIA program since she had to examine my oldest daughter's understanding of the faith before her baptism at age 6 (long story).
Usually, at the beginning of the school year, I just send the DRE an e-mail updating her on our religious instruction plans for each child, just to keep the line of communication open whether we have a sacrament that year or not. She often doesn't even respond back.
Initially, I didn't send the kids to CCD because of the cost (and I didn't feel up to teaching to get the discount). Plus, I personally struggle with concerns about the faith just being seen as a "just another class to be passed or failed".
But I don't think at this point I would send them to the CCD unless I had to do so. My first red flag came when my oldest had to pass the FHE test that the CCD kids take, and it was so poorly constructed and text book specific that when I posted some of the questions on this Forum, the well-catechized women here couldn't figure out what answer they were looking for.
I've also heard that there are real issues with clarity due to language barriers within the classrooms. Our parish is half Hispanic, but the CCD program is mostly Hispanic and kids who can barely speak English are mixed in with native English speakers and the classes are apparently sometimes taught in a confusing mix of English and Spanish...I've heard both the Hispanic and non-Hispanic parents complain.
Every parish can be so different in the quality of their programs. (I get the impression that the parish school actually has been really good since the Dominican Sisters of St. Cecilia provided the principal and two teachers.) And every diocese/parish/DRE can have different rules for homeschoolers. So, you really need to check with your parish DRE.
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Barbara
Mom to "spirited" dd(9), "spunky" dd (6), "sincere" dd (3), "sweet" dd (2), and baby girl #5 born 8/1/12!!
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kristinannie
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I would investigate the program at your church. I was actually planning on approaching the parish to see if I could still have my kids receive the sacraments while teaching them at home. Then they put someone new in charge of faith formation and he is very orthodox. He got rid of the questionable material. So, now I actually teach the high school class and my two oldest attend faith formation. I still do the bulk of the religious education at home (as it should be), but they have made nice Catholic friends there and are getting some additional faith formation so I am OK with it. I think it really depends on the program at your parish.
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Meredith Rose 7
Dominic Michael 4.5
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Claire F
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| Posted: April 18 2012 at 10:36pm | IP Logged
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My oldest goes to faith formation at our church (the youngers aren't old enough yet). We do faith formation at home too, but I still like him to be involved at church. I don't know that he's learning a lot that he doesn't already know, but I like the connection it brings for both him and our family. Both my boys will be enrolled in the fall.
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Claire
Mom to DS 12/04, DS 5/07, DD 8/09
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mommy4ever
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| Posted: April 19 2012 at 10:29am | IP Logged
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Last Saturday while waiting to go to reconciliation, I was listening to Fr. teaching the kids who are preparing for confirmation. He was wonderful. The kids were laughing and excited to participate. The parents were interacting as well.
My girls are finishing up with RCIA adapted for children, they will do their first reconciliation May 5th. They have loved the program with Sister C. We had covered most of what they were learning a few weeks before it would come up in RCIA. For them it wasn't boring, it was exciting to know the answers when asked. Their participation encouraged the others to participate. We've had a great 9 months! It's instilled enough of a sense of community, that dd13 has joined the youth group, even though she didn't know anyone, now kids are walking up to her to say hello to her when we walk in.
I guess we're fortunate, while it's a big parish some 3000 members and others who aren't registered, but it's still personal enough to make you feel it's 'your' parish. The clergy and staff are always friendly and welcoming.
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Mom to 4,
1 graduated June 2012
1 in Catholic school
2 homeschooled(one considering art school!)
ardently praying for a new addition to our family.
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4Real Forums : Domestic Church
Topic: CCD
