Religion classes in school - Megathread

We’re honestly lucky we still have PE at all—so many schools have scrapped it entirely, or they just offer it for the first year or two 😢 Anyway, that’s getting off track—the topic here is religious studies 🙂

True, it’s the same here in Chicago. My little one only had after-school care during first grade, but now they offer it for both first and second.
But when there's an after-school program available, you take it—it gives you a reliable place to leave your kid.

swiftraven17 said:Religious studies shouldn't even be part of the standard school schedule. If they're going to force it in, fine... but it should be either the very first period or the last one before after-school programs start. Nothing else makes sense.

We can start picking apart who benefits from what right now... if we really want to go there.

It’s never going to work perfectly for everyone.
Personally, my spouse and I find it much easier when there isn't a first-period class so we can all sleep in a little longer. My kid actually prefers having a free period where they can just hang out and do their own thing.🤣

However, looking at kids who stay for after-school programs—especially in schools that run on split shifts (where the religious ed teacher has to show up for both morning and afternoon sessions)—we could consider scheduling it during the after-school block. The after-school supervisor is already being paid to watch them, whether it's one kid or forty, so they could lead creative activities or take the group outside, rather than expecting the classroom teacher to stick around unpaid for supervision.
That would solve the issue of first-period classes being a struggle for elementary students who aren't early risers.

And while we're talking about after-school care, those teachers are working five straight hours in the sun sometimes, balancing a ton of different tasks and responsibilities, often with up to 40 students in a group. That's a huge contrast to religious studies, which stays on the schedule even if there's only one student signed up for the hour.
I'd love to know if there's any precedent for combining students from different grade levels for these classes if there are fewer than 15 per grade (to lighten the teacher's load), similar to how they combine kids for after-school programs.
Or even how they group kids for elective language classes like Spanish.

Susan James said:It’s never going to work perfectly for everyone.
Personally, my spouse and I find it much easier when there isn't a first-period class so we can all sleep in a little longer. My kid actually prefers having a free period where they can just hang out and do their own thing.🤣

However, looking at kids who stay for after-school programs—especially in schools that run on split shifts (where the religious ed teacher has to show up for both morning and afternoon sessions)—we could consider scheduling it during the after-school block. The after-school supervisor is already being paid to watch them, whether it's one kid or forty, so they could lead creative activities or take the group outside, rather than expecting the classroom teacher to stick around unpaid for supervision.
That would solve the issue of first-period classes being a struggle for elementary students who aren't early risers.

And while we're talking about after-school care, those teachers are working five straight hours in the sun sometimes, balancing a ton of different tasks and responsibilities, often with up to 40 students in a group. That's a huge contrast to religious studies, which stays on the schedule even if there's only one student signed up for the hour.
I'd love to know if there's any precedent for combining students from different grade levels for these classes if there are fewer than 15 per grade (to lighten the teacher's load), similar to how they combine kids for after-school programs.
Or even how they group kids for elective language classes like Spanish.

No, I don't think that's really a thing they do.

Susan James said:It’s never going to work perfectly for everyone.
Personally, my spouse and I find it much easier when there isn't a first-period class so we can all sleep in a little longer. My kid actually prefers having a free period where they can just hang out and do their own thing.🤣

However, looking at kids who stay for after-school programs—especially in schools that run on split shifts (where the religious ed teacher has to show up for both morning and afternoon sessions)—we could consider scheduling it during the after-school block. The after-school supervisor is already being paid to watch them, whether it's one kid or forty, so they could lead creative activities or take the group outside, rather than expecting the classroom teacher to stick around unpaid for supervision.
That would solve the issue of first-period classes being a struggle for elementary students who aren't early risers.

And while we're talking about after-school care, those teachers are working five straight hours in the sun sometimes, balancing a ton of different tasks and responsibilities, often with up to 40 students in a group. That's a huge contrast to religious studies, which stays on the schedule even if there's only one student signed up for the hour.
I'd love to know if there's any precedent for combining students from different grade levels for these classes if there are fewer than 15 per grade (to lighten the teacher's load), similar to how they combine kids for after-school programs.
Or even how they group kids for elective language classes like Spanish.

urbantinker8 said:No, I don't think that's really a thing they do.

It works—of course it works. In my district, we have three classes of about 18 to 20 students each. More than half don't bother showing up for religion class, so they just bundle the ones who actually attend into a single session. Usually, it’s two classes combined—though there's one class where most of the kids are solo attendees.

northerntiger9 said:It works—of course it works. In my district, we have three classes of about 18 to 20 students each. More than half don't bother showing up for religion class, so they just bundle the ones who actually attend into a single session. Usually, it’s two classes combined—though there's one class where most of the kids are solo attendees.

Well, you're talking about a different area, but I’m referring to Washington, D.C. 🙂

In Washington, D.C., it’s pretty rare to find a school where fewer than 15 kids per class are signed up for religion class... assuming there are even any kids enrolled at all, I guess.

Seattle🙏 🙏

First grade, there are 18 kids in the class, and barely five of them even attend religious education.

It’s actually quite concerning. 🕺

By the way, this is happening in San Diego.

urbantinker8 said:Well, you're talking about a different area, but I’m referring to Washington, D.C. 🙂

In Washington, D.C., it’s pretty rare to find a school where fewer than 15 kids per class are signed up for religion class... assuming there are even any kids enrolled at all, I guess.

In that case, you could have just said, "As far as I know, we don't do that here in Washington, D.C." 😉

northerntiger9 said:It works—of course it works. In my district, we have three classes of about 18 to 20 students each. More than half don't bother showing up for religion class, so they just bundle the ones who actually attend into a single session. Usually, it’s two classes combined—though there's one class where most of the kids are solo attendees.

rowdypanther12 said:Seattle🙏 🙏

😍

so, it's possible to 🙂

Quincy:

northerntiger9 As if I could just ignore what urbantinker8 was saying about that whole situation... though, I suppose there isn't much point in dwelling on it too much, really. It’s all a bit much, isn't it? I guess we could look at it from another angle, maybe, if one were inclined to spend that kind of energy, which I rarely am. I mean, you probably could have just said, "As far as I know, we don't really do things that way here in Washington, D.C.," or something like that, I guess. 😉

I guess there might be an issue here, though I’m not entirely sure yet. Maybe it's just me overthinking things, but it feels like something isn't quite sitting right.
Go ahead, lay it on me. Give me your best shot.

So, I was thinking about how things work in elementary schools over in Washington, D.C., and I guess I started wondering if it’s almost—or maybe even entirely—true that...🤔I guess it’s just not happening—there aren't any classes where fewer than 15 kids are signed up for religious studies, let alone having multiple sections where more than half the students are opting out of the curriculum entirely.
It seems like they aren't combining the classes, at least based on what I’ve seen so far, though I suppose that hasn't really been the standard practice up until this point.
I guess trends tend to shift from one year to the next anyway, so it’ll probably end up happening sooner rather than later, maybe.

I suppose this should be fine now, right? I think I might have finally gotten things sorted out, though I can't say for certain without seeing how it all plays out, I guess. Maybe it’s working, maybe it isn't, but we'll just have to see.🙂

Susan James said:😍

so, it's possible to 🙂

I don't think anyone actually claimed that it couldn't be done, per se.
It just won't happen, I guess.

edit: in Washington, D.C. (just so there isn't any confusion again)

urbantinker8 said:Quincy:

northerntiger9 As if I could just ignore what urbantinker8 was saying about that whole situation... though, I suppose there isn't much point in dwelling on it too much, really. It’s all a bit much, isn't it? I guess we could look at it from another angle, maybe, if one were inclined to spend that kind of energy, which I rarely am. I mean, you probably could have just said, "As far as I know, we don't really do things that way here in Washington, D.C.," or something like that, I guess. 😉

I guess there might be an issue here, though I’m not entirely sure yet. Maybe it's just me overthinking things, but it feels like something isn't quite sitting right.
Go ahead, lay it on me. Give me your best shot.

So, I was thinking about how things work in elementary schools over in Washington, D.C., and I guess I started wondering if it’s almost—or maybe even entirely—true that...🤔I guess it’s just not happening—there aren't any classes where fewer than 15 kids are signed up for religious studies, let alone having multiple sections where more than half the students are opting out of the curriculum entirely.
It seems like they aren't combining the classes, at least based on what I’ve seen so far, though I suppose that hasn't really been the standard practice up until this point.
I guess trends tend to shift from one year to the next anyway, so it’ll probably end up happening sooner rather than later, maybe.

I suppose this should be fine now, right? I think I might have finally gotten things sorted out, though I can't say for certain without seeing how it all plays out, I guess. Maybe it’s working, maybe it isn't, but we'll just have to see.🙂

It actually does happen over in Springfield 😬

feralmoose32 said:It actually does happen over in Springfield 😬

That sounds pretty great, I suppose.

urbantinker8 said:I don't think anyone actually claimed that it couldn't be done, per se.
It just won't happen, I guess.

edit: in Washington, D.C. (just so there isn't any confusion again)

frupy, my question is whether "there are places where they combine kids from different grades for religious education if there are fewer than 15 per class"

How could you possibly know the answer to that? Do you work at the City Hall or something? Even then, it's totally possible for data to be fudged to make it look like 90% of the country is Catholic, making it seem like 90% of kids attend religious ed in every single classroom.

That’s exactly why this forum exists—it's one of those corners of the internet where someone can actually share what's happening at my kid's school (which is also my workplace). I'm just asking if they combined classes or not when there were fewer than 15 kids signed up.

Our fifth graders are being forced into this thirty-minute religious studies session on days when they already have six hours of classes. To make matters worse, they scheduled the elective German class during a different block on those exact same days, so my kid can't even make it to soccer practice—it’s either stuck in class at 8:00 AM or 2:00 PM if they're on the morning schedule.

So the schedule goes: school ends at 1:10, then there's religious studies at noon, a free period, and then German right after.

I've already submitted a formal request to withdraw them from the program.

Susan James said:frupy, my question is whether "there are places where they combine kids from different grades for religious education if there are fewer than 15 per class"

How could you possibly know the answer to that? Do you work at the City Hall or something? Even then, it's totally possible for data to be fudged to make it look like 90% of the country is Catholic, making it seem like 90% of kids attend religious ed in every single classroom.

That’s exactly why this forum exists—it's one of those corners of the internet where someone can actually share what's happening at my kid's school (which is also my workplace). I'm just asking if they combined classes or not when there were fewer than 15 kids signed up.

And what am I supposed to do with specific info like "at Perdue Farms Elementary, they merged 5th grade B and 5th grade C"?

The point is really about whether this is becoming a standard practice in US elementary schools.
In a city like Chicago, it definitely isn't.
I don't have access to every single school's files, but I have a pretty decent handle on a good number of them.🙂
It doesn't mean they won't start merging classes in a year or two—in fact, things seem to be heading in that direction—but that isn't the case right now.
Schools that actually combine these small groups are more of an exception than the rule.

silentraven6 said:Our fifth graders are being forced into this thirty-minute religious studies session on days when they already have six hours of classes. To make matters worse, they scheduled the elective German class during a different block on those exact same days, so my kid can't even make it to soccer practice—it’s either stuck in class at 8:00 AM or 2:00 PM if they're on the morning schedule.

So the schedule goes: school ends at 1:10, then there's religious studies at noon, a free period, and then German right after.

I've already submitted a formal request to withdraw them from the program.

If I had to take a guess... they didn't accept it?🙂

urbantinker8 said:If I had to take a guess... they didn't accept it?🙂

We'll see. I made sure to mention what the endocrinologist said and how crucial the training is, so honestly, I'm ready to take the hit on this one. If it were any other day, I would've told him to just tough it out for the year and tried to coordinate some better times with the coach, but man, scheduling kids' lives this ruthlessly just isn't right.

I mean, look at the routine: three hours here, a break, two hours there, another break, an hour, then home to eat before heading straight to practice—he doesn't walk through the door until 7:45 PM.

If we tried doing this in the afternoon, he'd be missing two whole sessions.

Best of luck with everything!👍