catechism classes at home/ vaccine exemption?

[mamamoogs]

can i do these classes from home or do I need to enroll my DD at our local catholic school inorder for her to receive her sacraments? can you send any resources you may know of my way also... thanks mamas!

[Casha'sMommy]

We have a Catholic HS group in our state, maybe you could contact them and ask for their help or maybe they can get you connected with something similar in your state.
http://thmg.com/fortwaynecatholichomeschool/
Maybe contact your diocese?

GL and please post an update when you determine the answer to your question.

[CherryBomb]

It really depends on your diocese and parish. Some are fine with it, others require attendence in CCD. We normally do catechism at home, but did have dd1 do ccd for first Communion prep.

[Bluegoat]

I know in some places this has created controversy. Some parishes or diocese require attendance, but technically a bishop is not allowed to deny a Sacrament to a person who is properly prepared. So the propriety of such a rule is a good question.

[mamamoogs]

here is another question, we do not vaccinate so when this issue arises do i state it is against my husbands religion, because i do not beleive it is against the catholic religion, but yes my husband 's religion is very against it any advice there?

[Sanveann]

I would contact your parish office. I believe in most areas, it's fine.

Also, I'm not sure if a catechism class WOULD require you to submit proof of vaccination. (Or were you talking about other classes?) I'm in Michigan, so I just say "philosophical" reasons!

[AAK]

Originally Posted by mamamoogs

can i do these classes from home or do I need to enroll my DD at our local catholic school inorder for her to receive her sacraments? can you send any resources you may know of my way also... thanks mamas!

Why would you enroll in the catholic school vs a Sunday School program through the church? Our parish is also home to the local catholic school. The kids that go there for school get CCD at school. Those who don't (ps or hs) sign up for rel. ed (aka Sunday school). They also have a separate sacrament prep thing. There are several group events/lectures. The parents attend the lecture and the kids do a fun sacrament related activity. The majority of the sac. prep though falls on the parents. We get a kit and do the work at home. Since we aren't going to school there we don't give vaccine information. Not even for Sunday school.

Call your parish and see what the requirements are. Also, find out the timeline? We used to do confirmation in high school, but about 10 years ago it was moved to grade 3 with first eucharist. Reconciliation used to be grade 4 but is now grade 2. There is only about 6 months between reconciliation and confirmation/eucharist.

Amy

[crunchy_mama]

I just talked to our Priest about this and he said we could do it at home. However, we might decide to take him to PSR at a later date, who knows. I don't know about vax status I wouldn't think it would matter for those kind of classes, but it is one of many reasons we are not using the local Catholic school.

We are using the Faith and Life series it was recommended as a good orthodox program.

[mamamoogs]

well, I talked to the gentleman incharge of the sacrament classes and he felt as though we should join the community for classes stating it is only 2 sundays a month, and if we had to miss that would be ok, and i asked him to ask the priest if we could just possible do it from home since we home school and he said he would ask but that he will recommend to the preist we join the community 2 sundays a month..... So the answer is No we have to sign them up, but if they ask for vaccine info i will state we do not vaccinate and then i guess he will either allow i to continue or suggest we do it from home... who knows sign up is next week..... thanks mamas!

[jlpumkin]

I'm a little late but just chiming in that we do both. Our CCD program is 1 hr per week and as a teacher/mother my opinion is it's just not enough. But we like the community aspect of it and it gives the kids some nice classroom experience (which I know isn't always envogue on this board but it's important to us). We used faith in life last year. This year we are in seton. We've been equally satisfied with both.

[AllyRae]

At our church, you either send your children to catechism at the local catholic school OR you send them to PSR (parish school of religion, which is the Sunday School classes). Either one of them gets you approved for the sacraments. And really, if you're attending mass, going to PSR shouldn't be a big deal as many churches have them one right after another.

I teach the kindergarten PSR for our parish, plus I have a child in the 1st grade, and they *never* ask about vaccine status, or any medical information besides the basic (do they have allergies or special needs basically). It's an hour and 45 minutes a week, on a Sunday, and it's really fun and a great way for kids to socialize...several of the kids are homeschooled, a bunch are public schooled, and then you get the occassional Catholic school kid whose parents wanted extra religious ed. In our parish, you are allowed to homeschool for PSR if you want (nobody does), EXCEPT for 1st & 2nd grade, and 6th-8th grade (they want you in PSR with the catechists for the year before and year of the sacraments to be approved to attend, unless you go to Catholic school and then you're excused.)

[AllyRae]

Originally Posted by mamamoogs

here is another question, we do not vaccinate so when this issue arises do i state it is against my husbands religion, because i do not beleive it is against the catholic religion, but yes my husband 's religion is very against it any advice there?

For church-only classes, they don't ask for vaccine information. At least not here in Ohio. If you attend the parish, you can attend the PSR classes. They don't have a clue as to what vaccines you have, and they don't ask. I have 3 kids with varying vaccine status (one selectively & delayed vaxed, one selectively vaxed, and one unvaxed), and they don't ask any more than they'd ask their status to attend the church picnic. They don't ask for the status of the catechists either (they do make us have FBI background checks and be fingerprinted though. )

So, don't be afraid of PSR just because you don't vax. A lot of Catholics don't do the MMR & chickenpox vaxes, and there are others who don't vax for other reasons. Nobody is denied entrance to PSR.