Right - rather, the expectation is that the child would approach the Sacrament with the understanding and knowledge that is appropriate to his or her age, in his home parish, among his friends, neighbors, and family members.
Some years ago there was a gifted public school teacher in my town. He was a Christian man who loved kids, totally dedicated to children, and the kids really loved him. Things were going bad in the school system and the ones hurt the most were the kids. I ran into this guy at a pizza place one night and told him I was taking my kids out of school and sending them to a safer place. Kids were bringing guns to school. It was in the newspapers. The first time the town freaked out. Then after a few incidents the response was, we have procedures in place to deal with this and they procedures were followed so all is well, said the administrators. What? Say that again? If they can’t keep kids from bringing guns to school my kids need to be somewhere safer. This dedicated teacher said, the parents who care about their kids have the good kids. If the good kids are taken out of the school there will only be bad kids and the good kids set good example. The whole thing will collapse if all the healthy families leave. He said he cared about all the kids. I sympathize, but in the end, if schools are dangerous to the point where there is going to be gunfire, I really don’t want my kids there. If the system can’t even make the schools safe how will they be able to teach math? A friend who has been teaching many years says he spend 90% of his time trying to deal with children who have serious problems. I appreciate that these kids are wounded and want them helped, but putting mine at risk of getting shot was not an option. If 90% of the math class is spent on discipline, my kid won’t learn math. I can’t fix the school system that is broken. I can make sure my kid learns math. I can’t fix the problems in Catholic religious education, but I can make sure my kids learned the basic precepts of the Catohlic faith. If things had been going well with religious ed for the last thirty years you would not have parents thinking they had to get their kids out and teach them at home.
that would by ideal, but since only one of the homeschoolers who meet regularly here for their support group chooses to assist with CCD, we have to make do with the catechists we have.
We don’t hate CCD, we are just tired of sending our children to learn a watered down faith. If the parish used a solid curriculum it might be different.Let me see, the best way to teach a child the Faith is to teach them to disobey the Pastor and not to be part of the Parish community?
If the CCD teacher is teaching heresy, take it up with the Pastor and Bishop -
Why is there so much hatred of CCD in the homeschool community
Trust me, most home schooled children are in many outside activities.
This comment was in response to the statement that CCD can be a burden.
This probably sounds funny, but I teach CCD. Crazy right? But I also feel that family should be able to home school for CCD.
But she can’t find anyone else.I am sure things must have improved and maybe we lived in one of the worst parish situations, but we moved around it it seemed typical. 25 years ago we sent our kids to CCD and they would come home with empty plastic bottles with felt faces pasted on them that said “I am special”. I mentioned once to the priest that I was concerned that the kids were not getting any formation. He was not troubled by the lack of substance in the program and commented that anything would be better than going back to the Baltimore Catechism.
As I said, not many support the classroom nor feel inclined to lead one. But like any push for volunteers, has anyone approached them? Have their concerns been addressed? Is the diocesan policy hostile to homeschooling?
This is an excellent analogy. We can’t change the whole world, but we can shape ourselves, our families.
Correct, and the process by which the child gains that understanding is at the discretion of the parents.
not every parish has CCD on Sunday, we discourage it because the Bishop prefers that day be reserved for family and rest, but in some parishes it is the only option. Most of my catechists work full time, have large families, and intense schedules as well. If this is your year for having a new baby, going back to college, starting a business, caring for an elderly parent, no this is not your year for CCD, but I simply will not accept whining about the quality of parish programs from people who have deliberately exempted themselves from any participation or contribution to those programs.
Okay. That’s great.
that is why we have discernment
Canon Can. 913 §1.:
So I see a few requirements: 1) age of reason, 2) sufficient knowledge and preparation to their capacity, 3) ability to receive w/ faith and devotion.
Hear, hear!
At our parish, sufficient knowledge equals sitting in a classroom 1 hour for 30 weeks on a Sunday morning with 60 other students. It means talking about Penance without mentioning Hell, and other teachings that are half taught. It means doing saint reports because some students have not chosen a patron and we need to help them meet their requirements. It means mandatory homework, that is never checked or returned. It means signed bulletins to prove you attended Mass, but are never collected. And it means paying $80 for a mandatory overnight co-ed retreat. It means no tests, interviews or other means of seeing what the student has learned.
emphis mine.
According to the DRE, I shouldn’t say co-ed, because they didn’t sleep in the same room. Of course they spent the rest of the weekend together. The only time spent apart was sleeping, restrooms and Confession. To me that is co-ed.