[luv-my-boys]

I was wondering if I could get a little insight from Catholic homeschoolers out there who have *homeschooled* their children in preparation for sacraments. I have gotten a little opposition from local church's regarding this issue. We homeschool currently and it seems a only natural that we would seek this route for sacramental preparations. we have looked into first communion *classes* here and I was floored at the cost of them. We are talking roughly, when all is said and done, about $500. We can not afford that right now and even if we could pay monthly it just dosent seem right to put us in a financial pinch to make it happen, KWIM? unfortunately, we do not have any discounts or waivers for the fee since our child does not attend a parochial school already. And logistically there are no church's which offer free or lower priced fees in the area. Has anyone had any luck getting your church to approve home study for sacraments? And if so can you let me know how you went about doing so? I plan on writing a letter to the priest explaining our beliefs on homeschooling (planning on using some info. regarding the matter from pope john paul regarding the role of parents as teachers

) and explaining that we can obtain all the material they use and my *qualifications* as a temporary religous ed teacher (the church has a list of qualifications for rel. ed teachers from which I would theoretically meet all and therefore qualify to be a teacher for CCD if I wanted to) Any other help would be appreciated.

 

[theretohere]

No advice- but I wanted to say wow, I've never heard of a church charging for communion classes before!

 

[Momma Aimee]

Quote:

Originally Posted by theretohere No advice- but I wanted to say wow, I've never heard of a church charging for communion classes before!

Me either.

My DF homeschools her 7 -- but they all go to faith formation at church on Wed nights -- and do Sacrment prep there.

I went to public school but did my prep on Sundays at Sunday School (CCD) with the rest of the public scholl kids.

both of the above are free ..

hummmmm

odd.

Aimee

 

[Momma Aimee]

Quote:

Originally Posted by luv-my-boys I was wondering if I could get a little insight from Catholic homeschoolers out there who have *homeschooled* their children in preparation for sacraments. I have gotten a little opposition from local church's regarding this issue. We homeschool currently and it seems a only natural that we would seek this route for sacramental preparations. we have looked into first communion *classes* here and I was floored at the cost of them. We are talking roughly, when all is said and done, about $500. We can not afford that right now and even if we could pay monthly it just dosent seem right to put us in a financial pinch to make it happen, KWIM? unfortunately, we do not have any discounts or waivers for the fee since our child does not attend a parochial school already. And logistically there are no church's which offer free or lower priced fees in the area. Has anyone had any luck getting your church to approve home study for sacraments? And if so can you let me know how you went about doing so? I plan on writing a letter to the priest explaining our beliefs on homeschooling (planning on using some info. regarding the matter from pope john paul regarding the role of parents as teachers ) and explaining that we can obtain all the material they use and my *qualifications* as a temporary religous ed teacher (the church has a list of qualifications for rel. ed teachers from which I would theoretically meet all and therefore qualify to be a teacher for CCD if I wanted to) Any other help would be appreciated.

I'd love to see that infor.

Also have you considered volenteering to teacha class -- and thus get a wavor on the fee for DC?

Aimee

 

[maybemom05]

There is some information on Homeschooling Faith Formation on the diocese of Arlington website. I don't have the link handy, but you if you can't find it, PM me and I'll help. I believe the John Paul quotes are on there to.

 

[luv-my-boys]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Momma Aimee I'd love to see that infor. Aimee

There are lots of things out there regarding parents as educators from the church. Two of the ones I could find off hand are:

"Parents are the first and most important educators of their own children, and they also possess a fundamental competence in this area; they are educators because they are parents."
Pope John Paul the Great

For Benedict XVI the family "as a natural instituition,"has the primary right to educate its children according to the values which the parents desire to enrich them after having welcomed them with joy into their lives."
Vatican City September 8,2006

 

[larastheme]

This idea intrigues me very much. My DD will be kindy-age this fall, and I was wondering what I should do regarding sacramental prep as time goes on. It just seems wrong to me to put her in a class for it when we're choosing not to put her in classes for the rest of her education. Can you update when you've communicated with your priest? I'd be really interested to hear how it went...

 

[Zuzu822]

I believe the Catechism also has paragraphs about parents as the primary teachers of their children. I don't have mine handy (NAK), but I think you could easily find them by searching the CCC online.

Also, have you checked out http://www.catechismclass.com/? My boys are not at all ready of course, but I looked at for myself a bit in the past when I first converted. I'm not sure what the current cost is though.

Also check out Catechesis of the Good Shepherd. Mass kits and other materials are available and it looks like a good program. The book The Religious Potential of the Child was written by a "disciple" of Maria Montessori. I don't have the link handy, but I'll come back to add it in the AM.