PSR lessons. Yay or nay?

[Allegra]

So, the time has come to enroll my eldest in PSR class (Catechism for public school and home school students). We can also ask for the option to do our kid’s catechism at home and have her turn her work into the PSR director. Our previous pastor was fine with that but I don’t know how the new one will feel about it.

Reasons for PSR class:
Socialization with other Catholic kids
Connection to parish life
Might learn something about Jesus

Reasons against:
$200
Parish is really far away (we attend because my husband is music minister. It’s not our home parish) and transportation is going to be a challenge and timeliness near impossible.
Instructional quality is sketchy at best and the kids typically don’t learn much
It’s exactly the kind of unstructured environment that my kid tends to get trouble in

What do you think? Is it worth it? Should I ask for the learn-at-home option or give PSR a try? Another option would be to try to sign my kiddo up for the PSR lessons at our home parish, where we aren’t enrolled, but where her schoolmates will attend. I’m not sure this will be allowed, but if it was, we would lose the benefit of connecting to our parish life. There would be less chance of the rehearsal for First Holy Communion being scheduled on her parent teacher conferences night or something like that though.

 

[jlc2k2]

I can’t tell you what you should do but I can say what we’ve done. I took the at home option for elementary education. We’ll encourage them to do in person faith formation in middle school and I think it may be required to be in person for faith formation in high school.

At home has worked pretty well for us so far. I am able to modify the materials to cut out the fluff. I do wish they had more interaction with kids their age who are participating. They get a little bit with VBS most years (though not this year unfortunately). That said when we were in person for sacramental prep, I didn’t get the impression that my oldest was able to make much of a connection.

Our reasons for sticking with the at home option are similar to yours - cheaper, scheduling issues, and not feeling like they will get much in the way of actual religious instruction from the in person classes.

 

[HomeschoolDad]

We homeschool and have just completed the Baltimore Catechism. For our last quarter, we are actually doing a unit of philosophy, because understanding the nature of truth and knowledge is instrumental in understanding religion. Next year’s curriculum (Grade 8) will be a more in-depth review of the Baltimore Catechism — same book, just taking a “deeper dive” — as well as selected themes from My Catholic Faith and Angelus Press’s Preparation for Confirmation. (For some very good reasons, confirmation may not take place for a few years, but the catechetical information is crucial, whether the student actually receives the sacrament right then, or later.)

My Catholic Faith - Angelus Press

Preparation For Confirmation - Angelus Press

We have some very intensive discussions of ethical and social justice issues — my son has become keenly conscious of social justice issues ever since the unrest began this summer, and has some very strong and definite opinions about it. To paraphrase the old quote about war and geography, this has proven to be the devil’s way of teaching civil virtue. That, too, is a religious issue.

 

[Allegra]

I feel like, either way, we’re going to be teaching her at home. Why make the drive. But then again, I guess the social aspect of getting to learn with other Catholic kids is important too.

 

[heidi_storage]

Dollars to doughnuts, there will be disruptions to the in-person sessions because of COVID. If I were in your position, I’d do the at-home instruction.

 

[Allegra]

I’m sure there will be, but I’m thinking more of the long haul. Also, the PSR lessons are on Monday nights and she really wants to go to ceilidh lessons at this place that teaches folk dancing and penny whistle. Since she’s a beginner, it would also be on Monday night. I think I’ll look into the parish where we live and otherwise request to do the lessons at home. I just heard from one of her classmate’s moms that their PSR classes are really good, so maybe they will let her in, even if we are technically enrolled in the other parish. It would be nice for her to socialize with kids from her own school.

 

[TC3033]

I can tell you our story:

My wife decided to switch parishes from he old home parish in the country to the city one just down the block from our old house. She did this specifically for their classroom RE program. Our kids really enjoyed it – they were buses to the parish from school, got to play for a little bit, had a snack and then had class. Classes ended at 5pm and at this time, for anyone who wanted to stay, we had dinner together and older kids who had class at 6 came early to eat.

I noticed that the Church had more of a “parish life” with this set up. I think 2 years after we were there the priest (who was new/newer) switched over to the strictly “work at home version” where the parents came in once a month to take the class and then went home to teach that months lesson.

I noticed the “parish life” really started to diminish. Nobody talked anymore and seemed to barely socialize. There was in the neighborhood of 120 kids in the K-6 program when it was classroom based. The last year we participated there was 20-30 kids (mainly those in 1st communion prep).

I can’t tell you which way to go, but for us we really…really miss the classroom. For us, the take home bombed and our kids missed being around other kids. The priest that started this left the parish, so we’re hoping they reinstate the old program this fall. If they don’t, we’re probably going to switch to a parish that does classroom instruction.

My $0.02.

 

[Tolle_Lege]

Don’t overestimate the social aspect. The truth is, the vast majority of the kids will be chit-chatting about anything and everything aside from the Catholic faith. Things like Fortnite and Tik-Tok videos will be the topics of the conversations.

And I say this as someone who has taught catechism for the last 3 years; it’s just not worth it. I can hand count the kids out of about 60 I’ve taught who had any real interest in being there. You are probably better off teaching them at home, and then maybe bringing them to parish events like breakfasts, movies, and other activities to get a social aspect. The class, unfortunately, is not the ideal place for it.

 

[HomeschoolDad]

Don’t overestimate the social aspect. The truth is, the vast majority of the kids will be chit-chatting about anything and everything aside from the Catholic faith. Things like Fortnite and Tik-Tok videos will be the topics of the conversations.

And I say this as someone who has taught catechism for the last 3 years; it’s just not worth it. I can hand count the kids out of about 60 I’ve taught who had any real interest in being there. You are probably better off teaching them at home, and then maybe bringing them to parish events like breakfasts, movies, and other activities to get a social aspect. The class, unfortunately, is not the ideal place for it.

I couldn’t agree more. I am my son’s sole religion teacher, and everything he knows, he has learned from me. We are able to get into the “nitty-gritty” of religious topics, as the issue warrants, in a way that just doesn’t take place in the classroom. No question is too far-fetched or out of bounds. And he has plenty of those.

 

[TC3033]

Don’t overestimate the social aspect.

I couldn’t agree more.

Personally, I quite disagree. I’ve noticed that the deminished social aspect has diminished, from my perspective, overall participation in the parish.

The truth is, the vast majority of the kids will be chit-chatting about anything and everything aside from the Catholic faith. Things like Fortnite and Tik-Tok videos will be the topics of the conversations.

I think that’s OK, assuming it isn’t during class (when there shouldn’t be any chit-chat).

it’s just not worth it.

For us it was. The at home model bombed…big time. We found they had less interest with us vs. being in a setting with their peers.

bringing them to parish events like breakfasts, movies, and other activities to get a social aspect.

As noted above, I saw a drastic decrease in parish social participation when the parish went away from the classroom model.

The class, unfortunately, is not the ideal place for it.

Our family would disagree, speaking from our personal experience. I see us switching to a parish that has a classroom RE.

We are able to get into the “nitty-gritty” of religious topics, as the issue warrants, in a way that just doesn’t take place in the classroom. No question is too far-fetched or out of bounds. And he has plenty of those.

Couldn’t you do that at home anyway…?

 

[HomeschoolDad]

HomeschoolDad:

We are able to get into the “nitty-gritty” of religious topics, as the issue warrants, in a way that just doesn’t take place in the classroom. No question is too far-fetched or out of bounds. And he has plenty of those.

Couldn’t you do that at home anyway…?

We do what we do. Parents are the primary educators of their children.

This will be my only response.

 

[TC3033]

We do what we do.

That’s fine…I was just say’n

Parents are the primary educators of their children.

My wife is an educator, so we can disagree on how some kids learn better than others. A parent may be the primary educator, however our kids absolutely flourish in the classroom environment. This isn’t a particularly wrong way, but you can’t say one way is “correct” over another. I gave my opinion to the OP and stand by it.

This will be my only response.