A Catholic Education for Every Catholic Kid

Catholic Exchange ^ | September 17, 2007 | Heidi Bratton

[NYer]

This is the beginning of a series of columns written to help Catholic parents make solid educational choices for their children by comparing and contrasting various ways for families to give their children a Catholic education.  The presumption of the series is quite simply that we, as Catholic parents, are primarily responsible for giving our children an education that includes the essential ingredients of Catholic teaching no matter where they learn their ABC's and 123's.   Throughout the series I will use specific references to schools or situations in the diocese of Fall River, Massachusetts, where I currently live.  I do this because, just as every public school system will be different in every town, so will each diocese have different Catholic schooling options, and different regions will have more or less support for home schooling.  I am including specifics because the specifics are what each family has to consider when making educational choices: the needs of their specific child or children, their specific work, their specific extended family, and the specific school systems within their specific region of the country.  All of the educational choices my husband and I have made, and are still making, for our children are very much in light of our specific, geographic location as well as our ideals about how provide the best education possible for our children.

During the first weeks of our home school year, I always write this definition on the board: "Discipline is remembering what you really want."  By writing this, I invite my students/children to pause and think, "What is it that I really want out of this year of school? What is going to keep me going when I don't feel like finishing a math assignment or writing a book report?" Stickers, special privileges, and good grades can be the immediate, external rewards, but the long-term reason for learning — what a student really wants — cannot come from either a parent or a teacher. The reason for this is that what each of us really wants is a question of internal motivation, not external enforcement.

As Catholic parents, charged with providing our children with 12 to 16 years of education, we also have to ask ourselves "what we really want" as it relates to educating our children.  What is the biggest purpose for which we are educating our child?  Good grades?  A good job someday?  Good athletic, music, or art programs?  How about good friends and eventually a good spouse?  What about the non-intellectual, social, and religious aspects of an education?  Because our children's school environment profoundly impacts our family life, and because autumn is the time for open houses and entrance exams for next year's school enrollment, I have compiled some thoughts on the educational choices available to Catholic parents.

First, I want to state clearly that the most important things our kids need to know are primarily learned at home and are being taught all the time.  The quality of our children's formal schooling is of secondary importance to the quality of our children's home life.  Having said that, I must also say that I believe every Catholic kid deserves a Catholic education.  I believe that giving our children an authentically and thoroughly Catholic education is at the core of what God and the Catholic Church ask of us as parents.  I think it is a necessity, not a luxury, but if you disagree with me, please don't stop reading just yet.

If you have previously thought that the only way to give a child a Catholic education was to enroll him in a Catholic school, you'll be happy to know that there are other options.  On the other hand, if you have previously thought sending a kid to Catholic school or to CCD was all you needed to do as a parent to give them a Catholic education, you may be surprised to learn that this is no guarantee.  Here's why; we parents are responsible for their faith formation, not a school or a teacher.

When we asked to have our children baptized by the Church as infants, we promised before the  gathered assembly to be their "first and best teachers in the ways of the Faith."  As our children's primary teachers in spiritual matters, we are responsible for three areas of Catholic knowledge: heart, hand, and head knowledge.  First, our children need to be introduced to our God who loves them.  Second, they need to be shown how to love him back.  Third, they need to be taught about Church history, doctrine, and prayer.  They need to know Scripture and to hear stories about the saints, heroes, and villains associated with Christian faith.  The basic idea behind the Catholic school system is that all three of these would be taught in a synchronized way and strengthened until they become the spiritual backbone of a well-formed Catholic adult.

A generation or two ago, many Catholic parents were able to turn to parochial school systems for help in living up to their baptismal promise.  Today, not as many parents are able to draw on this valuable resource.  If we cannot access the help of a good Catholic school system, we will need to be more disciplined ourselves about investing time and energy in educating their hearts, hands, and heads in all things Catholic.  Over the next few columns, I will explore ways that we Catholic parents can remain true to our baptismal promise no matter where our children learn their ABC's and 123's.

[Tax-chick]

I often use Seton’s catalog as a guideline for my library list! Seton is the largest full-curriculum provider for Catholics, but there are lots of other sources. If you search on “Catholic home schooling” you’d find more books than you could ever use.

I just ordered their American History and American Literature texts for my oldest daughter. She’s “done” American history, but not in a single, start-to-finish format.

[Sashula]

Check out Kolbe Academy, too — I can vouch for them! http://www.kolbe.org

[Tax-chick]

Kolbe Academy is the largest Catholic curriculum provider of the “Classical Education” type, while Seton is “Scholastic Education.” There’s also Our Lady of Victory, whose emphasis is “Traditionalist.” All of these are excellent.

I’m inclined to “unschooling,” so we use a wide variety of Catholic and non-Catholic curriculum, depending on what the children ask for and what’s on the used-book rack at our local homeschool curriculum store.

[bboop]

OK, I just took a training class for teaching CCD. It was so full of ‘liberation theology’ in its various forms, SO focused on feelings and experiences and not at all on orthodox teachings of the CC, I could barely stand it. I left a scathing response on the feedback form and argued a few (but not every) point during the two-day workshop. I will NOT return for more ‘training.’ But I would not subject my child to that.

[steadfastconservative]

Kids need Catholic families more than they need Catholic schools. And I think this goes for any kind of school.

[NYer]

Great story (your talk to the parish and their response). When people hear of Christianity being taken seriously, it makes them sit up and take notice!

Thank you all for your prayers and support. As steadfastconservative noted:

If parents don’t practice the faith or discuss it often with their children, it won’t matter where they send them to school because the kids will grow up thinking that religion isn’t an important part of daily life let alone the most important part.

That is truly the bottom line. The Rite of Commissioning this Sunday, will drive home the importance of Religious Education. It is a visible witness of commitment by 4 individuals who will strive to instill the basics. My goal is to use that moment to 'catapult' the parents into action at home. I will remind them this Sunday of the Maronite history of prayer. Pope Innocent III saw with his own eyes what men of prayer the Maronite Patriarchs were on the day when Patriarch Jeremiah of Amshit came to see him during the proceedings of the Latran Council of 1215, in which the latter participated. ”The Pope ordered that the Patriarch be depicted in a painting to be made for St Peter’s. When over the centuries the painting had lost much of its radiance, Pope Innocent XIII ordered that it be retouched. This painting represents the Patriarch raising the host that had frozen in his hands while he was celebrating Mass, with the Pope attending”.

---

"By the intersession of your Mother, O Lord, turn your wrath from the land and its inhabitants. Put an end to trouble and sedition, banish from it war, plunder, hunger and plague. Have pity on us in our misfortunes. Console those of us who are sick. Help us in our weakness. Deliver us from oppression and exile. Grant eternal rest to our dead. Allow us to live in peace in this world that we may glorify you."
VIIth century Maronite prayer

The Maronites have suffered persecution for their faith since the Council of Chalcedon in 451AD. It's time to instill a sense of pride in their ancestors who sacrificed much so they could know freedom, albeit in exile.

[sitetest]

Dear 353FMG,

The high school that I attended some 30 years ago took students of every faith or non-faith. I don’t know if we had any Muslims back then. They probably do now.

However, I know we had Jews and other non-Christians.

All were required to take Religion and go to periodic mandatory Mass. The attitude of the school was and is, if you want to come to a Catholic school, then you'll just have to put up with daily prayer, Catholic religious education, and periodic mandatory attendance at Mass. If you don't like that, there are many other high schools nearby that'll take you.

The school remains predominantly Catholic and overwhelmingly Christian in its enrollment.

Do you see permitting some non-Catholics and a few non-Christians as an inexcusable crime... or as a chance for evangelization?

sitetest

[sitetest]

Dear Sashula,

Let me encourage you in your consideration of homeschool.

You are your daughter’s first and best teacher.

Parents are made by God to teach their children, and children are made by God to learn from their parents.

If it’s right for you, don’t hesitate to homeschool.

We did with our two sons and are grateful to God that we did.

sitetest

[353FMG]

“Do you see permitting some non-Catholics and a few non-Christians as an inexcusable crime... or as a chance for evangelization?”

I object to the enrollment in Catholic schools of those who harbor anti-Christian sentiments like the Muslims have. I too attended a Catholic school together with Protestants and Mormons, but none of them had any animosity towards the Catholic faith.

You mention a chance for evangelization? Will you please do research on the percentage of Muslims who convert to Christianity? For your info, one of the hijackers on 9/11 attended a Christian school.

[bboop]

Go ahead and homeschool her. Perhaps it is a Word from the Lord. Our son homeschooled K-3, wanted to be in school in 4th. He BEGGED me to take him back and homeschool him, when I was not really considering it.

We hs’d through high school and would do it again. It is very satisfying, just a lovely way to weave your family together and help your child/ children grow up. And don’t forget — YOU know more than any child. I mean, really — they are kids, we are adults. There’s nothing til advanced math that you cannot help them understand.

You will love it.

[mockingbyrd]

My mom started with Seton when my sister was in second grade...she’s now thirty one. My youngest sister will graduate from Seton this year. Hands down the best, academically, home school out there. At least from what I’ve seen, and I’ve been a home school tutor for six years now.

[sitetest]

Dear 353FMG,

“I object to the enrollment in Catholic schools of those who harbor anti-Christian sentiments like the Muslims have.”

First, it’s probably a stretch to say that all Muslims harbor anti-Christian sentiments (at least, more anti-Christian than other non-Christians, in that to refuse to be a Christian is, in some way, inherently anti-Christian). For children sent to Catholic schools in the US (or at least to my alma mater), I’d be surprised if many were virulently anti-Christian.

Second, Jesus told us to love those who hate us and to pray for those who persecute us. I don’t mean to suggest that we should permit the enrollment of students who are inherently anti-Catholic to overwhelm our Catholic schools, but I can think of no better environment to work on an anti-Catholic Muslim than a good, solid Catholic school.

“Will you please do research on the percentage of Muslims who convert to Christianity?”

In that conversion from Islam in Islamic societies is usually a crime, I think it’d be hard to find any reliable statistics. One might not wish to admit to a pollster that one has converted if the penalty for conversion is beheading. However, I’ve heard anecdotes that suggest that the rate of Muslim conversion to Christianity is perhaps picking up, especially due to the intercession of our Lady, Mary.

“For your info, one of the hijackers on 9/11 attended a Christian school.”

That’s nice.

Hearing the Gospel is an offer of grace. It may be accepted or rejected.

But it is our duty to proclaim the Gospel so that folks may choose.

As long as a Catholic school does not change its environment with non-Catholic overenrollment, and as long as the folks who run and teach in the school keep their eyes on Jesus, it seems to me that one way to proclaim the Gospel is to accept limited numbers of non-Christians into Catholic schools.

sitetest

[Sashula]

I know homeschooling is the right thing to do. I knew when my daughter climbed in my lap and asked me to homeschool her that I was hearing the response to my prayers.

Right now I’m struggling because we’ve just moved and I don’t know many people — although I am active in a nearby Catholic homeschool group and a local evangelical group. There are many things I struggle with every day, including my shameful lack of patience and feeling like there’s no time for me to do anything I want to do.

In short, I’m struggling with my own selfishness. I pray every day, many times a day, for the graces to be a good mother, wife, and home schooler. Some days I wish I could just take the hair shirt and sleeping on broken glass route to sanctity because it would surely be more comfortable.

This has to be God’s way of grinding down my selfishness.

All that said, I am so grateful to have my children at home and have so much time to spend with them. I am so rich.

[BlackElk]

Ping

[glide625]

Good advice; they may as well homeschool while they can. It wouldn’t surprise me to see the Evil make it illegal before long.

[sitetest]

Dear Sashula,

You seem to realize that you're on the right path.

I wish you well, and will say a prayer for you.

;-)

sitetest

[napscoordinator]

I went to Catholic School my whole life and look how good I turned out. lol.

[NYer]

OK, I just took a training class for teaching CCD.

Mercifully, I have been spared that experience. The advantage of being in such a small parish as mine is that the "very orthodox" priest has the final say :-) in what will be taught. He leaves nothing to chance and I totally appreciate his desire to participate in this process. In fact, our one group of 3 has a 1st, 2nd and 3rd grader. The challenge for their instructor is to cover basic Catholic teachings, following the litugical calendar and prepare 2 of them for the Sacrament of Reconciliation. He will decide if the 2nd grader is ready to make First Communion (she tends to get distracted easily and the parents don't correct the behavior). He is focused like a laser beam on Catholic education and that includes proper behavior in church.

[bboop]

I wouldn’t be surprised if ours was small and priest=run too. I am a new Catholic and I thought (naively) that I might learn something about what they were teaching. BOY, did I!!! Perhaps the Lord revealed it to me for future use...

[bboop]

I wouldn’t be surprised if ours was small and priest=run too. I am a new Catholic and I thought (naively) that I might learn something about what they were teaching. BOY, did I!!! Perhaps the Lord revealed it to me for future use...