Parents: have you ever "corrected" something that your children's catechism/religion teacher taught them?

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Parents: have you ever “corrected” something that your children’s catechism/religion teacher taught them?

Or even something taught by a priest.

If so, what was it? Were you afraid of confusing your child by usurping the authority of those others authorized to teach?
 
Yes, I correct things my kids’ teachers (religious and other) teach them all the time! I have taught my kids from an early age that mommy and daddy are more often correct than school teachers and if there is a conflict in information, we look it up together.

Only once did we ever have to correct what a priest said and it was in a homily - not a direct teaching moment. Again, we just looked it up together in the CCC. 🙂 I think it was something about Confession and it conflicted with what our own pastor had said.

As for “authority”, I have taught my children that, while teachers have authority in that they must be obeyed in school, they are not always authoritative in what they teach.
 
I’m not a parent, but I would make the correction in a heartbeat if I was. Teachers are not “authorities” in the way you imply. The *parents *are **THE **authority. Parents are the educators of their children in the faith and the stewards of their souls. There is an obligation to the Truth that overrides anything else.

As a CCD teacher, I’ve had to correct what other teachers have told kids. And, I have no reservations about doing so. I back it up with the Catechism and the Bible.
 
1KE:

Good for you! While I haven’t corrected a teacher to his face (lately), I have told my kids they are not right in what they teach. In fact, my kids usually know when they are not being taught the correct teachings of their faith immediately. My son will mention to his RE teacher that something is not quite right with what she is saying - in a respectful manner. The teacher says nothing. Probably because she cannot back up what she said. My kids were Catholic Homeschooled for 6 years, so they know their faith inside out. They’re obedient to the Holy Mother Church. They’re 16 and 19 yrs. old. I’m proud of their faithfulness to the Church

Greetings!.
 
Just make sure that, as a parent, you resource orthodox information. I have had a student or two tell me that their parent told them that I was wrong in saying such and such and what they were then told was completely in violation of official Church teachings. Also, one last thought. Parents, being a CCD teacher myself, make sure that what your child tells you is exactly what the teacher taught. I’ve had many students tell me, “last week you said…” and I would never have said that because it goes against what I believe and I had confirmation with my classroom aide that I never stated such a thing. Kids can distort or selectively hear certain things. BUT the bottom line is that parents are the primary catechists for their children and should definitely make sure that what they receive is valid Catholic Christian teaching. And last, but not least, we are human and can unintentionally make a mistake and then a tactful correction would be in order…God Bless…teachccd
 
I agree, teachccd. Kids sometimes bring home tales or mishear in class.

There certainly must be an opportunity for the teacher to correct any misunderstandings. We should always be charitable and give the benefit of the doubt-- followed up with research and clarificaiton.

BUT, if the teacher is incorrect then the parents must make the correction. And, if necessary, inform the pastor of the teacher’s errors.
 
More often than not, my sons when they were in Catholic high school would come home and ask us to explain what their teacher meant, because it was contradictory to what we had taught them or believed. Usually their gut reaction was correct. It always made me proud that they recognized the error. However I don’t think they directly challenged their teachers…for fear their grade would suffer, but I do know they discussed it with their classmates. See sometimes good seed falls on fertile soil and we can see the merit of it.
 
A thought from a parish-level teacher:

The teachers we get in Catholic Schools are professional teachers. But the teachers we have in parish CCD/PSR classrooms are not. The days of having nuns in the classrooms are nearly gone.

We are volunteers. We are not professionally trained. We are not theologians, and only a portion of us have studied religion in college. We make every serious effort to know our material and present it correctly anyway. But we are not beyond making mistakes in fact, interpretation, or presentation.

If you hear your child telling you something his teacher said about the Church or Catholic Doctrine, which contradicts what you know, by all means say something to the teacher.

Please be charitable and first ask whether your child understood it correctly. Your little one may have been distracted and not paying attention, or didn’t know the meaning of the words and thought the teacher said something else.

Also, please take the time to look up the issue yourself. It’s entirely possible that something you knew for all these years was actually incorrect.

Show your child the correct teaching in the Holy Bible, and also in the Catechism of the Catholic Church. If you don’t have a copy of the Catechism in your home - Get One. The pocket-size edition has a complete topical concordance in the back, costs less than $10.00, and is available at any bookstore. It is the best $10.00 you will ever spend. (I prefer the big volume because it has more appendices and is easier to flip through / read; that one still is less than $20.00)

Finally, please, please do bring your concern to the teacher, and bring your bible and catechism with you. We will both learn something, and will both be better prepared to teach your child and all the rest of God’s precious children.

Thank you.
 
I have done this only twice, because I check things out first.

1.) A particular priest mentioned in his homily that Ghandi would have wanted us all, instead of waging war against Hezbollah, to stop killing now and raise all their children as our own. Our then 5-year old told us “St. Ghandi” wanted us to kill all of Hezbollah and raise the children as our own. She wanted us to pick out a brother for her and her sister. We had to not only explain that indeed Ghandi was no saint, but the scorecard of current groups in the Middle East, and why no brother from the Middle East would be forthcoming.

2.) An actually very well-educated, fully Catholic teacher told this same child that all the babies wait in heaven to be born and God has created all the babies that ever will be, a very clearly mormon doctrine. She was a friend yet in a teaching capacity, and she was trying to give my daughter self-confidence. I told her that’s no way to do it, and did she really believe that. She did not. I then told the teacher that I preferred other methods to build self-coinfidence than supposition.
 
Nan_S said:
A thought from a parish-level teacher:

The teachers we get in Catholic Schools are professional teachers. But the teachers we have in parish CCD/PSR classrooms are not. The days of having nuns in the classrooms are nearly gone.

We are volunteers. We are not professionally trained. We are not theologians, and only a portion of us have studied religion in college. We make every serious effort to know our material and present it correctly anyway. But we are not beyond making mistakes in fact, interpretation, or presentation.

If you hear your child telling you something his teacher said about the Church or Catholic Doctrine, which contradicts what you know, by all means say something to the teacher.

Please be charitable and first ask whether your child understood it correctly. Your little one may have been distracted and not paying attention, or didn’t know the meaning of the words and thought the teacher said something else.

Also, please take the time to look up the issue yourself. It’s entirely possible that something you knew for all these years was actually incorrect.

Show your child the correct teaching in the Holy Bible, and also in the Catechism of the Catholic Church. If you don’t have a copy of the Catechism in your home - Get One. The pocket-size edition has a complete topical concordance in the back, costs less than $10.00, and is available at any bookstore. It is the best $10.00 you will ever spend. (I prefer the big volume because it has more appendices and is easier to flip through / read; that one still is less than $20.00)

Finally, please, please do bring your concern to the teacher, and bring your bible and catechism with you. We will both learn something, and will both be better prepared to teach your child and all the rest of God’s precious children.

Thank you.
Click to expand...
Excellent post! …teachccd 🙂
 
***Parents: have you ever “corrected” something that your children’s catechism/religion teacher taught them?

Or even something taught by a priest.***

Yep.

If so, what was it?
  • [corrected Religious Director] … Jesus did NOT sin when He threw the people out of the temple.
  • [corrected Pastor] … Matthias was Judas’s replacement and NOT Barnabas.
  • [corrected religion teacher] … We are NOT to name our guardian angels – God already named them when He created them and to name someone or something implies that we have the authority to do so … which we do not when it comes to angels.
  • Etc.
Were you afraid of confusing your child by usurping the authority of those others authorized to teach?

Nope. I use it to explain that only the Bible, the Pope and the CCC are free of error when it comes to teaching the faith. Everyone else COULD be incorrect if they disagree with one of those three.
 
I used to co-teach confirmation preparation classes. I had to correct one of the other teachers when she said that Peter was not the first pope, and in another instance when she said that Holy Orders also included sisters and nuns.

'thann
 
One of my children’s CCD teachers was openly advocating women’s ordination.
Yes, I corrected this.
 
My daughter grew up hearing a couple of priests repeatly state from the pulpit (during their homilies) that priests should be able to marry and that they don’t know why women can’t be ordained. Of course they never explained one issue is a matter of discipline, and the other is one against doctrine.

Yes, I tried to teach my daughter that these priests were expressing personal opinion rather than church teaching, and I tried to explain the reasons why women aren’t ordained. But to this day, as an adult, she thinks the Church teaches wrongly about female ordination. I’ve also showed her what the catechism says. But she took it lightly.

We parents might be the chief catechists of our children, but it’s increasingly difficult in this faith-hostile society to do this alone.
 
If I may add just another thought… Obviously when a religious educator misinforms a student it needs to be noted and corrected as such. But I would highly recommend the use of tact and maturity on the part of the parents. I say this because as a teacher of religion ( as with any teacher) I know that the kids are always sizing us up and, in fact, at times intentionally try to corner us just to test our authenticity. If a parent were to make a huge deal because a CCD teacher said that you can name your guardian angel then that teacher may lose all credibility with that student. In religious education the teachers are volunteers. I happen to be a certified master catechist but not all teachers are certified. But the children do not know this and it could be a crisis of faith to the child if he/she can no longer trust that what their teacher is presenting is correct. There already exists a huge lack of accountability on the students’ part. We count on the parents for support and without that support we have a mere babysitting session.

I’m not sure what the OP’s intention was for the initial post but I hope that it is to ensure a positive faith experience for the students rather than a detrimental nitpicking of the teachers. I again stress the importance of maintaining a religious education program that presents only official teachings of the Catholic Church. I would and have corrected other teachers away from the kids. If you, as a parent, discredit your child’s teacher it would be better to remove your child from the class ***especially ***if their teaching warranted such a response from you…God Bless…teachccd
 
quiet:

I agree with you in that it is extremely difficult (in this day and age) to correct teachers, priests, etc. regarding our faith. Especially, as you pointed out, if you are among the minority who knows your faith well. Many people do not want to band together because of fear. But, we must just keep on teaching our children the truths.

God bless you!
 
I agree it may be hard, but it’s worth the effort, especially when your children are watching how you respond. We are planting seeds of faith in them, and hopefully…some will fall on fertile soil.

Keep up the effort. It’s what we as baptized Catholics are called to do. 👍
 
Several times. Catholic grade school, Catholic High school, CYO and Priests.
 
I’d like to start a new thread entitled; Parents: Have you ever supported a religious education teacher or a priest? Have you ever thought to help out with their efforts?

But I would receive answers only from the choir since those who don’t probably aren’t here…😦
 
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