How important is a religious education?

[Casalinga]

Part of me wishes I would have sent my daughter to Catholic school. There isn't one near our home, and I would have had to drive her (I know, lazy parent!) , and I worried about her not living near friends.

I think that getting an education along with religious training and from people who share your faith and values is great.

Are any of you considering a church based school? Or do you have your kids in one? How is it working out?

Are any of you nonreligious parents sending your children to religious schools (because the school is better, or whatever)? How is that working?

[KelEMcE]

I went to Catholic school from Kindergarten to 8th grade. I did not have any school friends who also lived in my neighborhood, but our parents drove us to each other's houses. When I became a teacher, I taught public school. So I've been on both sides!

In most cases, there are many things a public school can offer that a private school cannot. There just isn't the money for certain programs in Catholic school. If a child has any exceptionalities, from speech to learning delays to giftedness, a private school (whether religious or not) may not be equipped to handle it - and don't forget, private schools are not legally required to meet special needs. In some areas, parents who are paying extra tuition for a private education may be more involved - but not always. The public schools where I've taught have been in very affluent areas where all the moms stay home and all the moms volunteer, making those schools much better than any local private schools.

You can send your daughter to CCD for her religious education, or you can change schools and send her to your closest (or best) Catholic school in the future. My daughter started off in our local public school because she's highly gifted and I wanted to make sure her needs were met. Turns out, they had no idea what to do with her there! Now we are considering our local Catholic school, where the kids are better behaved, they are more tolerant of differences (my daughter is a year younger than her classmates), and the teachers have fewer students and so more time to individualize. No, they won't honor her Gifted Educational Plan, but they will meet her academic needs without the paperwork.

So I guess the best advice is just do your homework, observe at several grade levels, and then decide which setting provides the best education for the whole child.

[mary84]

my son goes to a great public school that has a mixing bowl of religions so they cut any religous factors out of it. if i want my child to get a religious education, i send him to sunday school, they leasrn about god and even touch down on that grades curriculum. for example math, how many sheep goats and cows did noah have on his arc? the kids know from the bible that there were 2 of each animal so the answer would be 6 sheep goats and cows. they get a formal but watered down education and then touch on the bible. i enjoy it as well as my kids do and they get the be =st of both worlds.

[MommaC]

I attended a private Christian school preschool through twelfth grade, and I wouldn't have wanted it any other way. No I didn't have friends who lived really close, but I found LOTS of friends who shared my values and contributed to my spiritual growth. My depth of knowledge was FAR deeper than that of my public school peers (both biblically and academically).

I am a speech-language pathologist, and I have worked in the public school system. Any parent who has a child with special needs should seriously consider public school because they are required BY LAW to provide the necessary services. At the school I attended, every effort was made to meet the needs of children with special needs. A friend of mine had learning disabilities, and he met regularly with a special ed teacher who commuted to our school. Teachers made necessary accomodations.

Everything is on such a case-by-case basis. Observe in both schools, and spend time visiting with the teachers and administrators. I'm sure you'll get a feel for which school best suits your child.

[rogue]

I was in Catholic schools from 1st-12th grade, and I have taught in both public and Catholic schools for 8 years now. Here's where I stand. If you feel like the public schools you are zoned for don't have the best comments from parents about them, consider private schools. There are both good and bad public and private schools, and, to be honest, education at ANY school is only as good as the parent and child make it. The school I teach at now is $8,000-10,000 a year for 9th-12th graders. That money isn't worth it. The students are being given good grades in order for teachers to keep their jobs and avoid parent wars. In addition, there are fewer dual-enrollment classes and AP classes as opposed to public schools.

As I said, I think the academics at any school can be wonderful if parent/child is into it. However, sometimes if the wrong element shows up, choose the other. Believe me, not all private schools can match a public school education and vice versa.