Adults who attended public school and CCD classes

[Lewski709]

Did you hate it (CCD)? Did you want to go to a Catholic school? Do you think you missed anything? Do you think you've kept the faith? Tell me about it.

I am having a really hard time with it all. My DS starts school this year and I don't know whether to send him to public and CCD or Catholic. I see benefits to both.

 

[KristaTX]

What is CCD?

 

[PamOKW]

To tell you the truth, I'm not sure what CCD actuallly stands for. It is the catechism classes (religious instruction) classes that Catholic children take to prepare them to receive the Sacraments and to understand their faith.

I'm a product of public schools and CCD classes. My parish school was too full to accept me when we moved to the area so I went to the public schools. I never felt I was missing anything at the parochial schools and actually got a far better education in our public school system (an excellent one).

I think the quality of the education should be your first priority. The religious education can be gained in other ways -- especially by family example. I think I've actually got a better understanding of my religion and value my participation more than friends and relatives that attended 12+ years of Catholic education. I've also been exposed to a far greater variety of cultures and religions by meeting a wider-range of people.

The Catholic schools in our area are taught almost exclusively by lay people. I don't really see the benefit except for the inner-city schools where the educational atmosphere may be better in the parochial school.

No, I didn't "hate" CCD. It was fine and I had lots of friends from my school who were also attending.

 

[Lewski709]

The public grade school is not real good, from what I have heard. I don't know how to tell, really. The High School is, and I don't know much about the middle school. I don't think much damage can be done in K. I can always switch him after the first year. OH and he won't attend CCD until 1st grade anyhow. Just trying to think ahead.

 

[TiggerPiglet]

Originally posted by skporter
What is CCD?

I think it stands for Catholic Commission for Development. CCD basically is a once a week class to teach Catholic children who go to public school about their religion.

Lewski709, I attended CCD from grades 1 - 3, then I switched over to Catholic school in the 4th grade. I honestly don't know which is better from a religious standpoint. I basically went to Catholic school, because I grew up in the Bronx, NY and the public schools were horrible. So, if my parents wanted me to have an education, Catholic school was the only way. Now, having said that, I feel if your public schools are very good, you should definitely send your son there and do CCD. Just because you go to Catholic school, doesn't make you a good Catholic. I think kids go by example. Take your son to church every Sunday, let him see what it means to be a good person, show him that God is an important part of your life. I send my older DD to CCD and I plan on sending my younger DD when she's old enough. I think CCD teaches my DD plenty about the Catholic religion, and I make sure we go to Church.

Good luck with your decision.

 

[debster812]

Public School Catholic Girl here.

My situation is kind of different. We grew up directly across the street from a Monastery that eventually became an Abbey for Benedictine Monks. We attended Mass every Sunday in the chapel, and attended CCD with the monks as well, except for the years we made our sacraments. We had to attend the Parish CCD classes in order to make the sacrament (1st Communion, Confirmation).

The classes we had at the Abbey were wonderful. Role playing, plays, weekend retreats, and games and recreation on the grounds. We found the Parish CCD classes to be pretty dry and boring. We attended from Kindergarten through 9th grade.

I don't feel as if I missed out on ANYTHING, and my mom started teaching at a Catholic school my senior year, and I could have attended for free, but who wants to move for one year of HS?

 

[CBRorBust]

Okay maybe I can help a little. I went to Public school from grades K-1, Catholic School from grades 2-11, and then Public School again during grade 12. Now I am at a Public University.

Did you hate it (CCD)?

~Yes I hated CCD. Not because of what it was, but because I 1)Didn't know anyone in the class, 2)Never got to make that "connection" with my teacher the way you normally do when you see them everyday. 3) To me it was just school on a Sunday. and 4) I would get homework in there believe it or not.

Did you want to go to a Catholic school?

~At that age, I really didn't even know what the difference was. I had no idea what private vs. public school was. I just knew that my parents were split on the decision. My mom wanted me in private, and my dad didn't see the point. But I did want to go just because my favorite cousin went there, and I loved her uniform and always wanted to try it on. Silly but true.

Do you think you missed anything?

~In Catholic school, you definitely do miss out on a lot of things. Nothing that drastic, just little things like public school has the funding to buy better school supplies for classrooms, etc. The major difference in my opinion is the REAL LIFE that you miss out on. Everyone in my class was pretty much in the same family: 2 parents, brothers and sisters, all Catholic, all very family oriented. I never had that kid in my class who had "family problems" or who brought in drugs, got pregnant, got suspended, etc. We were all the same, so we all were very naive when we left that school. Honestly, I didn't have any friends that either weren't Catholic, or that I didn't believe were Catholic. That's just the truth. So as far as getting "world views" on topics, I never heard them just because everyone/all the families was so conservative.

Do you think you've kept the faith?

~Honestly, sad to say, but I stopped going to church when I went to Public School. The daily influence wasn't there, and it stopped being a priority. Is that horrible? Yes. But You wanted honesty. When I was in Catholic school, we went every Friday and I went on Sunday with my family.

Tell me about it...

~I think it's one of the best things that you can do for your children. They don't realize it now, but looking back, they will thank you for it. I am so glad that my mother fought my dad to enroll me. It has made me who I am, and I think I'm better for it.

*This is my personal view, if you don't agree with it, I'm sorry.*

 

[Lewski709]

Just because you go to Catholic school, doesn't make you a good Catholic. I think kids go by example. Take your son to church every Sunday, let him see what it means to be a good person, show him that God is an important part of your life. I send my older DD to CCD and I plan on sending my younger DD when she's old enough. I think CCD teaches my DD plenty about the Catholic religion, and I make sure we go to Church.

I know that!
Already being done.

Thanks for all the opinions. Like I said, it's a difficult decision.

 

[mom2grace]

I think the choice of public vs. Catholic lies in your heart. DH & I are both Catholic (and live in IN, BTW) and went to public school & CCD. I don't think I learned very much at CCD.

Our kids are 2 & 6 months, but they will do Catholic schools. I want the "atmosphere" of the Catholic school.

I will not shelter them, they will be in an urban Catholic school in Indianapolis so hopefully they will experience the "real world" and lots of kids who's lives are different than theirs.

I am sure that the SB catholic schools are diverse. Totally off subject, but in high school I dated a guy who moved to my school near Indy who had went to SB St. Joe, he actually returned to SB to finish at St. Joe while his parents stayed here.

We live in a suburban school system that is highly rated. But, I want the philosophy and approach of a Catholic school.

My experience with public school and CCD was that CCD was fine, but we were all from different schools so we weren't really friends outside of CCD. None of my close friends growing up were Catholic. I didn't really notice that at the time and I didn't do anything really bad as a teenager, but it would be nice if my kids had some friends who were also Catholic.

Now I wish I had went to Catholic schools, it didn't occur to me to ask as a teen. My mom did Catholic schools, and is a public school teacher. My guess is that my dad was against private schools in general ("we pay for your public school education already through property taxes, I'm not paying again") and this was the 70's & 80's when many Catholic schools in our area saw enrollment decline.

When I went to a state university, I did find a group of friends at church my senior year, but I had to seek them out.

Good luck!

 

[The Mystery Machine]

I did public school K-3. Then went to Catholic school. The reason was the public school system was terrible, ok, beyond terrible. The people in the district in which we lived in REFUSED to pass bond issues for 15yrs+ for our schools.

I remember making my first communion with the kids in Catholic school and felt like an outsider.

Now we live in a great area and my own children attend public school and go to PSR. That is what they call it here in Missouri.
It is not very fulfilling but then again we have 100's of kids.

I have friends that "got in" to the Catholic school (waiting list for K is 163+ for next year) and they love it but getting a Catholic education, plus the whole "soccer" thing is extremely important to them.

As far as faith it was always weak due to the whole "male-dominated" thing with the church. Back in my day, girls couldn't be altar "boys" or do anything relating to mass and I had a BIG problem with that. There were other things that weakened my faith as well.

I really felt like I got ripped off in music. It is one of the reasons I send my kids to public school. They have a strong music & art "gene" and need that as part of their curriculum.

If you are thinking about it get on your waiting list at your parish school. Good Luck!

 

[mamajoan]

Hi,

I went to Catholic school 1-8, public HS.. at my request.. (lots of tears and begging) with CCD every week.

I liked CCD. For it being the 70's my CCD was pretty progressive for a small, conservitive, rural area. We had a great Junior and Senior year... The teachers set up visitation with all types of other religions/churches. I thought this was great and I learned a lot. I incorporated this experience into the H.S CCD class that I taught many moons ago.

After H.S I attended the Newman Center at SIU. This was my best experience as an Adult Catholic. I have never found such a community since I left college. Newman helped me define my own faith in connection with the Catholic church.

I married a man who attended Catholic school 1-12.
We decided to send our kids to public schools and CCD. All the kids have been baptised and made First Communion... none have been confirmed. They have a strong belief in God.. just not the Catholic Church. This makes me sad, but we are at fault as we do not attend services regularly over the past 7 years. (we have been married 24)

I noticed when I was a kid that the CCD kids were treated differently by the parochial school system... kind of like second class Catholics. This has come to my attention particularly in the past 5 years as an adult too. It seems that the families who send their kids to the parish school are held in high regard and catered to by the parish. It has been my experience that some people who send their kids to private school have a superior attitude.... you know.. "Oh MY kids attend ________ private school, it is SO much better than public school"
We had the money to send our kids to private school but made the choice to support or local public schools..which were many as we moved often, due to the military.

That being said, I feel that as far as helping to instill Catholic faith,attending Catholic School comes out ahead of CCD. I feel that a child rec's more information by attending religious education full time. It seems that at a Catholic school, religious activities such as learning about the Saints, The Mass, Vocations,
prayers etc is part of the regular school day.

Again these are just my opinions from my experiences. I must say that I have met many CCD attending families who are able to have a strong Catholic faith.

 

[zulaya]

Public school girl here. Did I hate CCD? Yes, with a passion. Where my parents took us, the classes were taught by nuns who now looking back on it, had no call to educate youth about religion. I was unfortunate enough to have the same nun probably 4 years straight and she was one of those strict ones that made you just miserable. Her knowledge of the Catholic faith was strong, but the class was authoritarian and I just hated it. But as long as I memorized what I needed to I made it through.

Right now, both my children attend what my Catholic Church calls Faith Formation Classes. It's just a different name for CCD, but the program is vastly different. Much more encompassing than just rote memory. Right now, I am co-teaching my son's 2nd grade class and we are preparing for First Communion. I have to say that this church is much more welcoming than the church I attended growing up, but they still focus on the traditions that I think are important as well. I find it to be a nice balance.

And that's another thing to weigh...are you happy with the philosophy of your current Catholic Church? Some churches can be very liberal and some can be almost stiflingly traditional, denying that Vatican II every happened. And there are many somewhere in between. If you are happy with the way your church is, you most likely will be happy with the classes as well. JMO.

 

[bananiem]

Our church is doing a "trial' thing for the diocese and Faith Formation. There are no age seperating classes, except for those in a sacrament year. All parishioners are supposed to attend one of two class times each month, usually a Sunday after 10:30 mass or a Wednesday evening. Starts with a dinner, blah, blah, blah...
ANYWAY- my point is that even the kids enrolled at the parochial school and families are supposed to come! Like my friends have said, "Why are we paying tuition?"
In making your decision you may want to think about how you'd feel in this situation. Depending on how the "trial" goes this may become routine. We have family in Texas that has been doing this for several years.
There are WAY too many families not attending at all but since the church administrators aren't "hearing any complaints" they think it's going great! They need to look at the numbers and wake up!

 

[msdznyduck]

Public school, and catechism classes on Thursday after school.
I also had a nun who was very strict, and walked around with a ruler in her hand, to slap the hands of the kids who didn't pay absolute attention to her. I was scared to death of her, and I wasn't the only one. I can remember the swish of her habit, and the clink/click of her enormous rosary beads that seemed to hang down to her knees. I felt I was intimidated into memorizing the questions we needed to recite for first communion, and confirmation, and did not enjoy going at all. On Sunday, when we entered Church, and she would see us, she would give us very stern looks. My brother and I would shrink in our seats, so she wouldn't see us whenever possible.
Elaine

 

[helenabear]

I did both in my life and to get to the short of it, I would rather have been in public school the whole time. My public school had more to offer me when it came to the types of people I could be friends with as well as classes. I was never more happy to get out of private and go to public school I had a fairly large CCD class and I knew pretty much everyone in the class. We had it after Mass on Sundays. As for my faith, truly doing CCD didnt' hinder it at all. I am more of a practicing Catholic than is my brother who did Catholic schooling pretty much his whole time.

 

[Pin Wizard]

CCD stands for Confraternity of Christian Doctrine. They are learning the doctrine of the faith. I went to CCD in kindergarten, then was in a Catholic school 1-8 grades, and then a public high school. I started out with CCD in the beginning of high school, didn't like going, and eventually won the argument against my parents. I can say my parents kept up with taking us to church each Sunday for years. Don't remember when I stopped going to Mass, but then when I got married I started going again on and off. When I was pregnant, I started going "religiously." Kept it up for years. This year I've slacked off...mainly since around last Thanksgiving. Bad, I know. With DS in the Catholic school, I should be going each weekend with him. I'm moving to another state soon and am really battling where to send him...Catholic or public school. I don't want him to fall behind in the sacraments. Confirmation will be next. But sheesh! They've really changed that since I was a kid. I think I made my confirmation in 5th grade or so, now it's high school.

The only thing I feel I missed out on in Catholic school was that we had "gym" less often than public schools, and we didn't have any team sports. It stunk when I got to be a Freshman in high school, played field hockey for the first time in my life, and the coach called "sticks" on me! Ha ha! I had NO CLUE what that was so I kept doing it! LOLOLOL! I think I finally asked a classmate what the heck it was. Outside of that, no, I didn't miss anything.

 

[phisigprincess]

I attended public school for my entire education and CCD on Tuesday nights. I never really ENJOYED CCD, but that's all the quality of the program. When I was young, my church didn't have a very good director for the program. When I was older and became very involved, we had an AMAZING director. THe kids really enjoyed the classes and didn't mind it.

I also think that my parents had a lot to do with me keeping my faith. I was always to go to church with them on Sundays. Once I became old enough to be a part of my high school CYO I became committed to my faith on a personal level. I had a group to relate to my faith and have fun with. It was my parents that kept me involved in my younger years.

Good luck in whatever you choose to do. I really think your whole decision should be based on a) the type of public school education available and b) the quality of your parish's programs. Good luck!!

 

[dennis99ss]

I need to respond. My feelings of the real reason people choose public over catholic aside, I believe the catholic school education is much better than you can get in a comperable public school, and much better than ccd. In our diocese, sacrament prep must be done as a group with the ccd folks. The kids in our school report that they already know all of the information, and the sac. prep. courses are boring, as they know it already, where the ccd kids do not.

My 3 yr old is in pre k 3. He knows what to do at church, knows how to say grace, make the sign of the cross, where the holy water is, to kneel upon entering church, etc. That is from school. You could not get that from ccd.

My 6 yr old, in kindergarten, knows the rosary, insists on grace at dinner, insists on the advent wreath, knows there should not be meat on Friday, etc. Only in a catholic school. ccd is once a week. catholic school is 8 hours a day, with reinforced values, prayers on the walls, etc. ccd is only one hour a week. My six year old is more comfortable in church, and is comfortable saying the prayers, than a cousin of his who is double his age, and goes to ccd.

Finally, I want my kids to be in a sheltered environment. They will grow up soon enough. I was parish school through grade 5, all boys with the Brothers of Mary from 6-12, then on to a (co-ed)university they run for another 7. I really did not need to be exposed to the "real world", and, neither will my children, even if it means no vacation, less house, whatever.

 

[PamOKW]

While it's good that your children are learning the basics, saying grace, blessing themselves, genuflecting in church, etc. in school, couldn't all of these also been taught to them by you at home and by example? I know that's how I learned them.

I agree that in many cases the Catholic schools offer a better alternative than the public schools. I would also make the observation that in my area that is not the case and, in fact, there can be a bigger drug problem at the Catholic schools than the public schools (middle-high school age). I have also noticed that some of my peers who grew up attending Catholic schools, sometimes right through college, are now non-practicing or "Easter/Christmas" Catholics. They sometimes make comments that show a real lack of understanding of the basics of our beliefs.

I really think it's family commitment to sharing the faith that makes the biggest difference.

 

[Laura]

I think it depends on the public school system. Catholic schools are not always better. I went to public schools in two different counties (one rural, one urban/suburban) and one Catholic school. There was a huge difference between the two public school systems I attended. I didn't get along with other students in my class in Catholic school. I was ridiculed a lot and only had one friend. When I left in middle school, I became part of the biggest clique in the public school, which was great. The schools were bigger, with more class choice and far better extracurricular activities. CCD was fine, I had no problem with it. When I went on to the public high school, I noticed several people from the Catholic elementary/middle school I attended chose to go to my high school and attend CCD instead of attending one of the local Catholic high schools. This was in a wealthy suburb, though. Compared to the rural school district I first attended, the Catholic school was far better.