Religion classes in school - Megathread

rowdypanther12 said:Yeah, honestly, if it wasn't for my company, I wouldn't even be considering this option.
I’m planning on thanking her, though it feels like the school is actually the one who should be thanking me for saving them from all my constant emails and threats to contact the Department of Education.😂

NASA mentioned today: "That's part of my scheduled hours."

I really need to pull her aside and ask how that actually works. And yeah, she made it pretty clear that things will stay this way again this year, because they do a great job and actually enjoy the extra work—plus, she noted it's an opportunity reserved specifically for students who don't take religious studies. Apparently, the whole setup is going to change next year.

I'm dying to know how they'll pull that off.

silentraven6 said:NASA mentioned today: "That's part of my scheduled hours."

I really need to pull her aside and ask how that actually works. And yeah, she made it pretty clear that things will stay this way again this year, because they do a great job and actually enjoy the extra work—plus, she noted it's an opportunity reserved specifically for students who don't take religious studies. Apparently, the whole setup is going to change next year.

I'm dying to know how they'll pull that off.

It's because both the remedial and advanced sessions are factored into the hourly requirements. That's the deal.
In theory, she shouldn't be holding them during religious education hour. From what I was told, some teachers never offer extra help because their students are already struggling just to keep up with the standard curriculum.
On the flip side, some never offer advanced sessions because all their kids are absolute geniuses.
Whether it's remedial or advanced, these sessions have to be organized if even one student needs them.

The way they've timed it with religious ed seems pretty convenient. It sounds like she's judged that the kids attending religious ed don't really need the extra math support.

I'm pretty eager to see how everything plays out at our school; we have our parent-teacher meeting tomorrow.

What Sarah Hall53 said.
I mean, teachers shouldn't be forced to run extra makeup exams for every single subject every year—at least not from what I can see in my own district. It really just depends on the specific class they have and how they vibe with the kids. Sometimes it's math, sometimes it's English, sometimes it's science... but honestly, there should probably be supplemental sessions for any subject where there’s a genuine need. Though, don't quote me on that—I'm a subject-specific teacher myself, and I'll admit I sometimes miss those little nuances and quirks in general classroom dynamics 🙈—back when I taught elementary school, I had a much better handle on how everything functioned, but I guess you lose that touch after a few years of focusing on one area.

I’m not trying to start a fight here, I’m genuinely curious about one thing: how do kids actually process it when they spend two hours listening to a teacher explain that God created humanity—you know, the whole story of Adam and Eve—only to sit through an evolution lesson immediately after?

Matthew Young35 said:I’m not trying to start a fight here, I’m genuinely curious about one thing: how do kids actually process it when they spend two hours listening to a teacher explain that God created humanity—you know, the whole story of Adam and Eve—only to sit through an evolution lesson immediately after?

From what I can gather, there isn't much of a conflict anymore—mostly because evolution isn't really tackled until freshman year of high school, and even then, it's taught so briefly and strictly by the book that most students don't even fully grasp the core concepts being discussed.

Matthew Young35 said:I’m not trying to start a fight here, I’m genuinely curious about one thing: how do kids actually process it when they spend two hours listening to a teacher explain that God created humanity—you know, the whole story of Adam and Eve—only to sit through an evolution lesson immediately after?

It’s not meant to be provocative, just an observation:
Why is there so much overlap between religious studies and science class in elementary school? They’re teaching things like Bozic and Easter in both, so why have the double curriculum?
On top of that, even the religious classes end up covering "secular" topics just because they have to stretch the syllabus out over eight years 🙄, so you end up learning about family dynamics in both subjects, just from different angles. 🤣

Matthew Young35 said:I’m not trying to start a fight here, I’m genuinely curious about one thing: how do kids actually process it when they spend two hours listening to a teacher explain that God created humanity—you know, the whole story of Adam and Eve—only to sit through an evolution lesson immediately after?

If they actually went to college, a religious studies teacher should just teach from Genesis and tell the kids to ignore evolution entirely.

But sadly, way too many of them don't do that... 😢

Matthew Young35 said:I’m not trying to start a fight here, I’m genuinely curious about one thing: how do kids actually process it when they spend two hours listening to a teacher explain that God created humanity—you know, the whole story of Adam and Eve—only to sit through an evolution lesson immediately after?

By explaining to them in fifth grade, once they actually start grasping things, that the Bible should be read allegorically.

Matthew Young35 said:I’m not trying to start a fight here, I’m genuinely curious about one thing: how do kids actually process it when they spend two hours listening to a teacher explain that God created humanity—you know, the whole story of Adam and Eve—only to sit through an evolution lesson immediately after?

Honestly, kids don't sweat this stuff nearly as much as we adults do; it doesn't trip them up because they aren't obsessing over every literal word, right? They probably just soak up the metaphorical vibe of the story and move on.

Susan James said:It’s not meant to be provocative, just an observation:
Why is there so much overlap between religious studies and science class in elementary school? They’re teaching things like Bozic and Easter in both, so why have the double curriculum?
On top of that, even the religious classes end up covering "secular" topics just because they have to stretch the syllabus out over eight years 🙄, so you end up learning about family dynamics in both subjects, just from different angles. 🤣

In science class, they teach Christmas and Easter strictly as major American holidays, which seems totally fine to me; regardless of what a parent believes, shouldn't every kid have the right to understand what these holidays actually represent?

Lawrence Torres56 said:Honestly, kids don't sweat this stuff nearly as much as we adults do; it doesn't trip them up because they aren't obsessing over every literal word, right? They probably just soak up the metaphorical vibe of the story and move on.

In science class, they teach Christmas and Easter strictly as major American holidays, which seems totally fine to me; regardless of what a parent believes, shouldn't every kid have the right to understand what these holidays actually represent?

First graders grasping metaphors?
Like, "grab a rib, make a wife..."?

Just out of nowhere?

James Alvarez2 said:First graders grasping metaphors?
Like, "grab a rib, make a wife..."?

Just out of nowhere?

I don't see what's so hard to grasp here.
Kids eat up this stuff; it doesn't sound half as ridiculous to them as it does to us.
With a good storyteller and a bit of imagination, any myth makes perfect sense to them.
I teach history, so I know firsthand how much they love these legends.
Wait until you see their eyes light up and hear the questions they start firing off 🙂!

silentraven6 said:NASA mentioned today: "That's part of my scheduled hours."

I really need to pull her aside and ask how that actually works. And yeah, she made it pretty clear that things will stay this way again this year, because they do a great job and actually enjoy the extra work—plus, she noted it's an opportunity reserved specifically for students who don't take religious studies. Apparently, the whole setup is going to change next year.

I'm dying to know how they'll pull that off.

Someone on this forum mentioned a while back that a parent was up in arms because a teacher was using the kids who skipped religious class to practice math, claiming the religious students were being left behind.

nimblelynx7 said:Someone on this forum mentioned a while back that a parent was up in arms because a teacher was using the kids who skipped religious class to practice math, claiming the religious students were being left behind.

That was actually me who wrote that. I think that’s why I brought it up earlier.

Man, why’d you delete your comment? I wanted to ask you something—how exactly is it possible to ensure equal treatment for kids who don't attend religious studies when the teachers are still getting paid for those classes?

silentraven6 said:NASA mentioned today: "That's part of my scheduled hours."

I really need to pull her aside and ask how that actually works. And yeah, she made it pretty clear that things will stay this way again this year, because they do a great job and actually enjoy the extra work—plus, she noted it's an opportunity reserved specifically for students who don't take religious studies. Apparently, the whole setup is going to change next year.

I'm dying to know how they'll pull that off.

What time are those religious studies classes held?
It feels like my colleague is trying to operate in the shadows.
She’s basically plugging her gaps in the schedule by running a program during the exact window when all the kids attending the after-school sessions are available (that zero hour right after the final bell).
Look, you can fill your breaks however you want, but she’s being paid specifically for the after-school program—she admitted it herself: "it's in my contract"—so she has to make it accessible to everyone equally.
Basically, she found a loophole to avoid staying late at school despite it being in her job description, and she’ll probably get away with it as long as nobody files a formal complaint.

Man, why did you delete your comment? I wanted to ask how equal treatment is actually possible for the kids skipping religious studies when the instructors are already getting paid.

My focus isn't exactly 🙂 lately, so I'm constantly refining my thoughts.
Honestly, I mostly agree with you.
Since cutting the program entirely might be tough, I'd just slash the religious studies block to one hour; I wouldn't even mind if they moved it to a local church.
However, regarding the end of your post: the instructors are paid to teach the students who choose to attend, so there's no issue there.
But the teacher still needs to be available for the other students too, since she's on the payroll for them as well.

Donna Taylor5 said:I don't see what's so hard to grasp here.
Kids eat up this stuff; it doesn't sound half as ridiculous to them as it does to us.
With a good storyteller and a bit of imagination, any myth makes perfect sense to them.
I teach history, so I know firsthand how much they love these legends.
Wait until you see their eyes light up and hear the questions they start firing off 🙂!

Did you just jump in on the last post or did you actually read the whole thread?

History in elementary school?
You gotta explain metaphors... that's literally all I'm talking about.

Donna Taylor5 said:What time are those religious studies classes held?
It feels like my colleague is trying to operate in the shadows.
She’s basically plugging her gaps in the schedule by running a program during the exact window when all the kids attending the after-school sessions are available (that zero hour right after the final bell).
Look, you can fill your breaks however you want, but she’s being paid specifically for the after-school program—she admitted it herself: "it's in my contract"—so she has to make it accessible to everyone equally.
Basically, she found a loophole to avoid staying late at school despite it being in her job description, and she’ll probably get away with it as long as nobody files a formal complaint.

Man, why did you delete your comment? I wanted to ask how equal treatment is actually possible for the kids skipping religious studies when the instructors are already getting paid.

My focus isn't exactly 🙂 lately, so I'm constantly refining my thoughts.
Honestly, I mostly agree with you.
Since cutting the program entirely might be tough, I'd just slash the religious studies block to one hour; I wouldn't even mind if they moved it to a local church.
However, regarding the end of your post: the instructors are paid to teach the students who choose to attend, so there's no issue there.
But the teacher still needs to be available for the other students too, since she's on the payroll for them as well.

If religious studies were lumped in with any other elective, she wouldn't even have this gap in her schedule to exploit.
And since she feels this huge moral obligation to watch over the kids who aren't staying for religious studies—which, by the way, she is NOT being paid for, and it's eating into her own personal time—she's decided to kill two birds with one stone. She uses that scheduling gap caused by the short religious studies block to cover her bases, and yeah... let's just tear her apart! Honestly, how awful is that?

She’s got one hour once a week at the end of the day. Since she’s in after-school care, it doesn't technically impact her core schedule, though we’re actually thinking about asking Grandma to pick her up that day so she can spend some quality time with them instead.
Once a week falls right in the middle of the school schedule.
There are only three kids in the group, and they’ll be working directly with the teacher. What they actually get up to really depends on how quickly she gets to know them—once she picks up on their specific interests and what they're good at, she can tailor things. I actually think that's a great approach! She already gave me a long list of all the different activities they could dive into.👍

I haven't heard much from the other parents, since most of them have older kids and their little ones were with a different instructor. Plus, most of those families are focused on the religious education programs.
The only other thing I found out was that sessions used to take place during the first period.

Donna Taylor5 said:What time are those religious studies classes held?
It feels like my colleague is trying to operate in the shadows.
She’s basically plugging her gaps in the schedule by running a program during the exact window when all the kids attending the after-school sessions are available (that zero hour right after the final bell).
Look, you can fill your breaks however you want, but she’s being paid specifically for the after-school program—she admitted it herself: "it's in my contract"—so she has to make it accessible to everyone equally.
Basically, she found a loophole to avoid staying late at school despite it being in her job description, and she’ll probably get away with it as long as nobody files a formal complaint.

Man, why did you delete your comment? I wanted to ask how equal treatment is actually possible for the kids skipping religious studies when the instructors are already getting paid.

My focus isn't exactly 🙂 lately, so I'm constantly refining my thoughts.
Honestly, I mostly agree with you.
Since cutting the program entirely might be tough, I'd just slash the religious studies block to one hour; I wouldn't even mind if they moved it to a local church.
However, regarding the end of your post: the instructors are paid to teach the students who choose to attend, so there's no issue there.
But the teacher still needs to be available for the other students too, since she's on the payroll for them as well.

The saddest part is how spot-on this observation is. Between a cluttered schedule and the pressure to stay late, she's caught in a real bind.

The reality is that she has to make extra tutoring available to anyone who wants it. If a kid from the secular program decides they need extra math help, she’ll have to provide it after regular classes end, ensuring that those students aren't being sidelined just because they don't belong to the religious group.

It’s a bit of a win for her, though maybe not so much for the other kids, because she can flat-out decline to supervise them during that specific gap in her day. During that "free" block, she could be painting her nails, scrolling through forums, surfing the web, or even texting a lover... She could be grading papers she normally does at home, drafting lesson plans, or just staring at the ceiling. No one can tell her otherwise. That hour is technically off the books for her; it's her own time. A principal can't legally mandate that she watches over the non-religious students during that slot unless they pay her overtime, but let's face it, those extra hours are almost never authorized.

If someone does report her, it won't just be a headache for her personally; it will also impact the students who were counting on that specific time slot for tutoring, forcing them to stay even later if they still want the extra help.

So, while whoever reports her might be aiming to stick it to her, they’re ultimately making things harder for the kids who now have to push their schedules even further back to get the support they need.

At my kid's school, everyone takes religion class, so those issues just don't even come up