Daughter starting Catholic pre-school

deltaguitar · #1 08-05-2009, 01:41 PM

So, I just got back from meeting with the principal of the local Catholic school. My daughter is four and will be starting pre-K in two weeks. It is going to be tough on our budget but this is a good school and all that.

Have any of y'all had any experience with Catholic school? The principal informed me that they will just learn bible stories in pre-k but next year will start a religion class. I don't think they have to go to mass or anything and if they do they don't take communion.

I am not real worried but I feel like I need to be prepared in case some false teaching arises.

Pressing-On · #2 08-05-2009, 01:44 PM

My brother attended a Catholic school for a few years in High School. My mother signed a form stating that he would not attend Mass. Other than that, I don't remember anything else.

Timmy · #3 08-05-2009, 01:46 PM

I think SE is best suited to give you advice on this situation. Oh, and EB, of course.

deltaguitar · #4 08-05-2009, 01:49 PM

Well, the presbyterian school is way more expensive and about 25 miles out of the way.

kristian's_mom · #5 08-05-2009, 03:23 PM

Hi! I was raised pentecostal, and my husband was raised catholic. So of course, he attended catholic schools as is the tradition in his family. My husband loves coming to church with me, but he still wants our son to attend catholic schools. I don't mind this at all, because it is definitely a better education, but we have some issues.

I do not want my son indoctrinated into the catholic faith. I don't mind him learning about it, but I don't want him to participate in mass. My husband told me how there were kids in his school that weren't catholic, but they were excluded and teased horribly because of it.

Catholics are a VERY close knit community, and they don't take well to outsiders (coming from personal experience). The adults aren't that bad, but kids can be horrible. I'm not trying to attack catholics with this statement, because this attitude is seen in every denomination or religion. But the fact of the matter is, your kid will be going to a school were 90% of the people are a certain way, and your kid isn't.

Another problem we are going to have, is if your kid is baptized into the catholic faith, you get tuition a LOT cheaper. I'm not even going to go into the issues I have with that.

I want my kid to get the best education possible, but I don't know if I am willing to subject him to the other things that I know will happen. I mean, when my husband and I first met, and he found out I was pentecostal, he thought I handled snakes and did all kinds of other things, lol. I won't even say what his family thought. He knows better now though.

Good luck with your decision, and definitely pray about it. I don't have to deal with this for another couple of years. I know it would take a ton of money, but the UPC should definitely think about starting their own school.

deltaguitar · #6 08-05-2009, 03:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kristian's_mom

Hi! I was raised pentecostal, and my husband was raised catholic. So of course, he attended catholic schools as is the tradition in his family. My husband loves coming to church with me, but he still wants our son to attend catholic schools. I don't mind this at all, because it is definitely a better education, but we have some issues.

I do not want my son indoctrinated into the catholic faith. I don't mind him learning about it, but I don't want him to participate in mass. My husband told me how there were kids in his school that weren't catholic, but they were excluded and teased horribly because of it.

Catholics are a VERY close knit community, and they don't take well to outsiders (coming from personal experience). The adults aren't that bad, but kids can be horrible. I'm not trying to attack catholics with this statement, because this attitude is seen in every denomination or religion. But the fact of the matter is, your kid will be going to a school were 90% of the people are a certain way, and your kid isn't.

Another problem we are going to have, is if your kid is baptized into the catholic faith, you get tuition a LOT cheaper. I'm not even going to go into the issues I have with that.

I want my kid to get the best education possible, but I don't know if I am willing to subject him to the other things that I know will happen. I mean, when my husband and I first met, and he found out I was pentecostal, he thought I handled snakes and did all kinds of other things, lol. I won't even say what his family thought. He knows better now though.

Good luck with your decision, and definitely pray about it. I don't have to deal with this for another couple of years. I know it would take a ton of money, but the UPC should definitely think about starting their own school.

Thanks for you input. I was assured over and over that they do not push the Catholic doctrine or would not encourage us to participate in their church. She also mentioned that the school was 50% protestant.

She did tell me that they say a prayer in the morning and do the thing were they touch their forehead and say, "in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost." I don't really have a problem with that. Also, I know other Baptist kids that go to the school and I know a number of people who go to church there.

I grew up in a UPC church that had a school. In fact, my parents didn't even plan to have children until the school was established. I went my whole life in the school and learned a lot about God and my whole world was in that environment. I took Pentecostal doctrine classes and we had chapel every Thursday. Some times kids even got the Holy Ghost.

The school worked though and I didn't leave the UPC until I was 27 while most of my other friends left as soon as they hit college.

Shawn · #7 08-05-2009, 06:42 PM

My daughter will be starting preschool in september. She's kinda the age where we could of sent her to Kidnergarten or a year of preschool. her B-day is in september. When she was younger I was all about getting her in early but now I think it's better to not be in such a hurry. She did great on her Kidnergarten assessment test, but I still think we're doing the right thing.

There's a Catholic church/school down the the street, I think it's even free but I opted for an Evangelical one(this will be a little tough on my wallet aswell) in my area only because multiple people kept recommending it to us as a good preschool. Plus the youth minister and another staff member live down the street from me. The one lady I've talked to on a few occasions and is a friend.

staysharp · #8 08-05-2009, 08:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by deltaguitar

So, I just got back from meeting with the principal of the local Catholic school. My daughter is four and will be starting pre-K in two weeks. It is going to be tough on our budget but this is a good school and all that.

Have any of y'all had any experience with Catholic school? The principal informed me that they will just learn bible stories in pre-k but next year will start a religion class. I don't think they have to go to mass or anything and if they do they don't take communion.

I am not real worried but I feel like I need to be prepared in case some false teaching arises.

You need to ask your "pastor" how he feels about this: it may conflict with your pentecostal church environment. You wouldn't want your daughter bringing her Catholic symbols and crucifixes to Sunday School or trying to get the other kids to eat wafers. Just IMO.

commonsense · #9 08-05-2009, 10:58 PM

You might want to review what is being taught.

My issue with any and all pre-schools is the teaching that you're not aware of.
Kids don't tell you everything that happens everyday.

All 3 of my children attended pre-school. One was in private home, former teacher.
One was a neighborhood church,,(Lutheran, as I recall); the other was a national chain.
All 3 survived but as I age I'm more aware of all the outside influences on our children.

Through the years of public school my kids were subjected to various concepts that I consider "new age" or secular humanism and often I did not know.

kristian's_mom · #10 08-06-2009, 06:44 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by deltaguitar

Thanks for you input. I was assured over and over that they do not push the Catholic doctrine or would not encourage us to participate in their church. She also mentioned that the school was 50% protestant.

She did tell me that they say a prayer in the morning and do the thing were they touch their forehead and say, "in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost." I don't really have a problem with that. Also, I know other Baptist kids that go to the school and I know a number of people who go to church there.

I grew up in a UPC church that had a school. In fact, my parents didn't even plan to have children until the school was established. I went my whole life in the school and learned a lot about God and my whole world was in that environment. I took Pentecostal doctrine classes and we had chapel every Thursday. Some times kids even got the Holy Ghost.

The school worked though and I didn't leave the UPC until I was 27 while most of my other friends left as soon as they hit college.

That's not bad at 50%. I guess there are just many more Catholics compared to other denominations where I live.

Our UPC church here has a "school" but there are only like 5 kids that go there, they are all just basically homeschooled with a church member that does the schooling for the parents. And, the money you have to pay is outrageous.