Religion classes in school - Megathread

Quick update—the teacher didn't really catch my drift when I mentioned my little one shouldn't go to after-school care, so there was a bit of a mix-up about where she was supposed to be sitting in the library. I can swing by and grab her once her class wraps up right before religious ed. 🙂

Kids waiting for pickup stay in the library with the teacher, but honestly, they'll probably love it. Most school librarians are absolute gems and put so much heart into what they do... the kids won't be bored at all.

Why isn't the link to that poll working?

In my class, we've got 20 kids heading to ethics and just 4 going to religion. Honestly, it doesn't matter much—ethics is being held online in the evenings, while the religion class stays on the regular daytime schedule.

I mean, at least those four had the decency to be tucked into another religion class. It’d actually be pretty great if their teacher could get a full course load out of it, kind of like how a physics or math professor gets a decent schedule working with a group of 24...

Wait, so can they just mix people together for religion class? 😂
A friend of mine is dealing with this mess where they're grouping fifteen kids together for German class—including just ONE student from a different section who takes German—and because of that one kid, the entire group has to jump online instead of being in person. It’s wild. Cheers.

Sarah Hall53 said:Wait, so can they just mix people together for religion class? 😂
A friend of mine is dealing with this mess where they're grouping fifteen kids together for German class—including just ONE student from a different section who takes German—and because of that one kid, the entire group has to jump online instead of being in person. It’s wild. Cheers.

See, I totally missed that part. But hey, it is religious education. They probably have some kind of special oversight from the higher-ups for stuff like that... 😉

Jason Ortiz5 said:In my class, we've got 20 kids heading to ethics and just 4 going to religion. Honestly, it doesn't matter much—ethics is being held online in the evenings, while the religion class stays on the regular daytime schedule.

I mean, at least those four had the decency to be tucked into another religion class. It’d actually be pretty great if their teacher could get a full course load out of it, kind of like how a physics or math professor gets a decent schedule working with a group of 24...

As those followers of heliocentrism would say—eppur si muove😁

Jason Ortiz5 said:See, I totally missed that part. But hey, it is religious education. They probably have some kind of special oversight from the higher-ups for stuff like that... 😉

Right, viruses don't spread through Sunday school. And they certainly don't spread through church services or holiday celebrations either.

In this specific situation with the scheduling overlap, I’m actually feeling pretty frustrated with the parents and students in those religious classes. It feels like they should be speaking up about how some other kids basically popped their bubble.🤔

By the way, why isn't the idea of teaching ethics at the exact same time as religious ed? Otherwise, what's really the point of having an extra subject at all?

Susan James said:Right, viruses don't spread through Sunday school. And they certainly don't spread through church services or holiday celebrations either.

In this specific situation with the scheduling overlap, I’m actually feeling pretty frustrated with the parents and students in those religious classes. It feels like they should be speaking up about how some other kids basically popped their bubble.🤔

By the way, why isn't the idea of teaching ethics at the exact same time as religious ed? Otherwise, what's really the point of having an extra subject at all?

Wait, didn't they say all elective courses are moving online? Except, of course, for the untouchable religion classes.

Actually, this setup kind of works out fine. Religion is the last period, so the kids just head straight home and can spend their evening catching up on some Zoom.

I was reading this article this morning about a "new alternative to religious studies," and honestly, the whole piece completely misses the one thing I actually care about regarding this subject. It doesn't mention whether this will be integrated into the schedule just like religion class is, or if they’re going to label it a "mandatory alternative" and shove it into a block period during the opposite shift. I really want to know if this is just going to be another "subtle" way to herd the non-believers right back into the fold.

If they intend to make it an optional elective and then dump it into an 8:00 AM block when most kids are on the afternoon shift, they don't even need to bother designing a curriculum—because practically zero students are going to sign up.

As far as I'm concerned, if they are serious about offering an alternative, it needs to be distributed throughout the weekly schedule just like religion class is. Let both groups have their gaps in the schedule; it doesn't bother my kids at all—they usually just have a great time hanging out with friends and knocking out their homework for the day during those breaks.

PS — I'm also a bit stumped by the name of the course itself. Is it meant to be a subtle jab at religious students, implying they don't need critical thinking skills since they've already chosen their faith? Or perhaps it's a message to the secular students, suggesting they're missing out on essential critical thinking skills in religion class and that this new subject is meant to fill that gap? 🤣

I mean, it would only make sense if they ran them at the exact same time—assuming this is actually an alternative. That way, you’d have one group heading off to religious studies while the other focuses on critical thinking. It seems like the most logical split, I guess.

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Even if you ignore the confusing name, it’s still a worthwhile investment.
And of course, this happens right in the middle of the census, where some folks are already complaining that their grandkids won't be counted as Catholic. The timing for this task force is just off; they really should have waited until the census results were actually in.

Parents and teachers have been calling for an alternative for ages because they don't want kids falling through the cracks.😠
Honestly, though, I think kids are doing just fine as it is. As for that subject—with its nonsensical name—we should probably just hire as many general teachers as we have religion instructors. We currently have way too many religion teachers, which is a huge drain on the budget since classes aren't combined when less than half the students attend, much like how we handle German classes.
Who’s going to foot the bill for that?

I’ve posted about this here before: I’m not a fan of any alternatives. If someone wants to go, let them; if not, let them play. It would be wonderful if these sessions could just be held at the church instead.

I’ve been watching the chaos first graders deal with while getting used to a few different teachers, and now they’re going to have more chaos with kids splitting up for different subjects. How is that supposed to work in practice if one student goes to Ethics while 24 stay for Religion? It might work if it’s a fifty-fifty split, but if the vast majority goes one way and only one or two go the other, it’s going to be a nightmare for classroom dynamics right at the start of school.🙄
I personally feel like first graders should only have a maximum of two teachers, without all these extra interruptions to their lessons. Most of what they learn in computer lab can be handled by the homeroom teacher anyway—most have been doing that since we shifted to remote learning for a couple of years.
Religion in church, and maybe English after school during supervised study time.

I really hope they commit to this alternative plan for at least three years.🥳

mellowskipper said:I mean, it would only make sense if they ran them at the exact same time—assuming this is actually an alternative. That way, you’d have one group heading off to religious studies while the other focuses on critical thinking. It seems like the most logical split, I guess.

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Haven't you heard the old rule that two different bodies can't occupy the same space at the same time? If they were held simultaneously, they could only have their classes in a hallway, an auditorium, or out on the playground (which is where the kids opting out of religion usually end up here in the States). Perhaps they could alternate—one hour of religion, then the next hour for critical thinking.🤔

It’s the same old story: everyone starts complaining about how things should be, even when the basic logistical requirements haven't been met. If they actually had the scheduling sorted out, German, Computer Science, and the upcoming Civics course wouldn't all be clashing in different shifts anyway. Honestly, they should just move the religion classes to that block instead of constantly bothering us with extra subjects. If people want to take those classes, let them go whenever and however they please.

mellowskipper said:I mean, it would only make sense if they ran them at the exact same time—assuming this is actually an alternative. That way, you’d have one group heading off to religious studies while the other focuses on critical thinking. It seems like the most logical split, I guess.

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Why on earth would my kid need six hours of school in one day when four would do the trick?

Do you really think it makes sense to pay a teacher to lead a critical thinking class for just three students?
Or will they just mash together groups of 3, 3, 5, and 2 from different classes—not even at the same time as religious studies—just to save some money? Honestly, let's stop looking for "alternatives" to a subject that shouldn't even be part of the standard curriculum anyway.
And no, using the hallway isn't a solution. COVID taught us all that block scheduling works perfectly fine; we could easily host these sessions at the very beginning or the end of the school day.
Our kids are being overloaded with too many subjects. Meanwhile, they aren't getting nearly enough Hertz or math, and the fundamentals are way too thin.
They're just learning a little bit of everything, which means by the end of the year, they won't actually retain anything.

I see all these comments online from parents saying their kids don't attend religion classes anymore. I honestly assumed it was the same way at my kid's school.
With my little one in first grade, everyone goes to religion class.

There are 220 students across the first through fourth grades in this entire shift, and according to the school records, not even 10 skip the religious studies.

I figured it had become a massive trend everywhere to just opt out, so seeing this really caught me off guard. Maybe it’s just different depending on which part of the country you're in...

That’s probably true. In my local school district, we usually see about 6 to 8 students per class moving on—though that number fluctuates quite a bit depending on who transfers in, drops out, or withdraws mid-year—and our classes typically hover around 26 to 28 students.

It’s all over the place, from one school to the next
In our neck of the woods—speaking for my generation and what I know for sure—it’s rare to see them skipping class, yet at a place like a fancy private academy in Greenwich, there are hardly any left in the room.

Susan James said:Why on earth would my kid need six hours of school in one day when four would do the trick?

Do you really think it makes sense to pay a teacher to lead a critical thinking class for just three students?
Or will they just mash together groups of 3, 3, 5, and 2 from different classes—not even at the same time as religious studies—just to save some money? Honestly, let's stop looking for "alternatives" to a subject that shouldn't even be part of the standard curriculum anyway.
And no, using the hallway isn't a solution. COVID taught us all that block scheduling works perfectly fine; we could easily host these sessions at the very beginning or the end of the school day.
Our kids are being overloaded with too many subjects. Meanwhile, they aren't getting nearly enough Hertz or math, and the fundamentals are way too thin.
They're just learning a little bit of everything, which means by the end of the year, they won't actually retain anything.

I see what's happening here. But honestly, none of that matters. Those Vatican agreements are untouchable, and that's where the whole conversation ends.

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mellowskipper said:I see what's happening here. But honestly, none of that matters. Those Vatican agreements are untouchable, and that's where the whole conversation ends.

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Fair enough. If we’re all just bound by those Vatican treaties, then fine—let it stay in the school curriculum. And if there are parents out there who truly believe their kids need Religious Education to help them stand out or for whatever other reason they want to enroll, that's their call.

I just don't think we should be pushing "alternative" versions through the back door in the form of brand-new subjects.

Susan James said:Fair enough. If we’re all just bound by those Vatican treaties, then fine—let it stay in the school curriculum. And if there are parents out there who truly believe their kids need Religious Education to help them stand out or for whatever other reason they want to enroll, that's their call.

I just don't think we should be pushing "alternative" versions through the back door in the form of brand-new subjects.

Well, they don't *have* to force it, I suppose. I agree with that. But you still have parents complaining because they don't want their kids moping around in the middle of a class period—if it isn't scheduled at the very start or end of the day, that is. Personally, I think it would be better if they just set aside one room where the kids could go to write their essays or catch up on reading... and maybe have some college interns supervise them, I don't know.

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Susan James said:Even if you ignore the confusing name, it’s still a worthwhile investment.
And of course, this happens right in the middle of the census, where some folks are already complaining that their grandkids won't be counted as Catholic. The timing for this task force is just off; they really should have waited until the census results were actually in.

Parents and teachers have been calling for an alternative for ages because they don't want kids falling through the cracks.😠
Honestly, though, I think kids are doing just fine as it is. As for that subject—with its nonsensical name—we should probably just hire as many general teachers as we have religion instructors. We currently have way too many religion teachers, which is a huge drain on the budget since classes aren't combined when less than half the students attend, much like how we handle German classes.
Who’s going to foot the bill for that?

I’ve posted about this here before: I’m not a fan of any alternatives. If someone wants to go, let them; if not, let them play. It would be wonderful if these sessions could just be held at the church instead.

I’ve been watching the chaos first graders deal with while getting used to a few different teachers, and now they’re going to have more chaos with kids splitting up for different subjects. How is that supposed to work in practice if one student goes to Ethics while 24 stay for Religion? It might work if it’s a fifty-fifty split, but if the vast majority goes one way and only one or two go the other, it’s going to be a nightmare for classroom dynamics right at the start of school.🙄
I personally feel like first graders should only have a maximum of two teachers, without all these extra interruptions to their lessons. Most of what they learn in computer lab can be handled by the homeroom teacher anyway—most have been doing that since we shifted to remote learning for a couple of years.
Religion in church, and maybe English after school during supervised study time.

I really hope they commit to this alternative plan for at least three years.🥳

I'm actually more curious about who would even be standing at the front of the classroom teaching this stuff.🐔 😳
What kind of credentials does one even need to teach "critical thinking"?🤣