LDS enrolled in a non-LDS but religion affiliated school?

[Bini]

Would you consider sending your child to a religion affiliated private school that is highly rated even if you don't subscribe to that faith? Have you experienced this? Pros and cons?

I am intrigued by such a school for my daughter but understand that the establishment does not share LDS gospel. That said, I kind of keep in the back of my mind that BYU is LDS based, yet has other faiths enroll, so maybe differing beliefs in God isn't necessarily a deal breaker?

[skippy740]

My brother's wife is a student at Cal Baptist University - currently studying for her master's degree. She converted to LDS about 3 years ago. Before that, she was Jehovah's Witness... or 7th Day Adventist (I can't recall right now).

I don't think she's had any real problems (that I'm aware of). There was a time when my brother thought that her Ensign magazine was being "poked at" (like mail tampering)... but he later figured out that it was the natural punctures that all the Ensigns are wrapped in.

Because she's a convert, it's probably a different story and different experience than if one was "born and raised" LDS and chose to go to a non-LDS school.

[Sunday21]

Having primary children attend a catholic school is quite common here. It seems not to cause a problem. Bear in mind that a public school is likely to teach beliefs that you may not share eg masterbation is good for you, divorce & homosexuality is normal, transgenderism occurs, moral relativism etc.

[Guest]

Yes. My nephew is going to a Jewish school.

[Just_A_Guy]

I thought seriously about Ave Maria Law School (a Catholic school that heavily recruits BYU grads). I also went to an evangelical Christian preschool/kindergarten.

So, I say--go for it, if you like the program.

[Woodendance]

While I don't have kids currently nor have I personally done it (though I did not grow up LDS and with family members who were just about every religion possible to think of) I can say I personally would stick my child in a school that wasn't lds. My former boss growing up actually did attend a catholic school. She was LDS. She used to tell me how much she actually loved it! She was able to be exposed to other religions and cultures. Plus she got a really good education to top it off.

[NeuroTypical]

We homeschool, and we've involved our kids in different co-ops over the years.

A totally secular one full of liberals that my wife hated, and we eventually left because of their sneering dismissiveness towards faith.

A co-op run by Nazarenes, which we eventually left because it was on the other side of town and our friends in it moved away

For 3 years now, a co-op run out of our local mega-church - still going strong.

Pros:

* Kids surrounded by good God-fearing good Christian people.

* Faith-based worldview

Cons:

* The occasional antimormon idiot gets on my wife's nerves.

* Stay away from the science classes, because of their creationist worldview.

When you think about it, when you send your kids to public school, you are making a similar choice about the religious affiliation of the district, teachers, and government regulations. You're choosing to keep faith-based stuff away from your kid's educational experience.

[Lakumi]

I never understood the term God-Fearing, and heard it now and again in Catholic school

[Backroads]

I have absolutely no problem with the concept of enrolling my daughter in a religious school that wasn't LDS.

That being said, I have a teaching degree and we're thinking of homeschooling.

[Palerider]

A family in our Ward send their kids to a Catholic school

[Quin]

We homeschool, and we've involved our kids in different co-ops over the years.

A totally secular one full of liberals that my wife hated, and we eventually left because of their sneering dismissiveness towards faith.

A co-op run by Nazarenes, which we eventually left because it was on the other side of town and our friends in it moved away

For 3 years now, a co-op run out of our local mega-church - still going strong.

Pros:

* Kids surrounded by good God-fearing good Christian people.

* Faith-based worldview

Cons:

* The occasional antimormon idiot gets on my wife's nerves.

* Stay away from the science classes, because of their creationist worldview.

When you think about it, when you send your kids to public school, you are making a similar choice about the religious affiliation of the district, teachers, and government regulations. You're choosing to keep faith-based stuff away from your kid's educational experience.

LOL. No doubt, right?

And yet, I missed Noeo for YEARS Becuase it was put out by christian publisher., so I didn't been bother looking at it.

And it is hands down the best elementary/middle school science program I've ever found.

Loathe their new website, though.

I still send my kids to away-school with the reproduceable pages to take notes for science.

Homeschool - Logos Press

AND I'll have ya know... I taught anatomy & physiology, and microbiology in a catholic homeschool group :)

One of the astronomers from the university did earth & space science.

Q

Edited February 22, 2014 by Quin

[Quin]

I'd be fine sending my kids to either a Jesuit / Catholic, Muslim, or a Jewish school.

I'd have more problems sending them to a Protestant Christian school.

Because I know enough about he first group, and not enough about the other.

Why ARENT there LDS schools, anyway?

Q

[NeuroTypical]

I suppose I should be a bit more specific. We stay away from their geology and earth history classes. Nothing wrong with their botany, math, ancient Egypt, electricity, earth science, and meteorology classes.

We just figure that when it comes to the age of the earth, and dinosaurs, and all that - it's important to learn about such powerful tools as radiocarbon dating, and not spend effort trying to instill a certain set of beliefs despite what these tools have to say.

Fun story: My kids and I went on a field trip to a nature center with these folks once. On one part of the nature hike, the guide pointed out an area where folks could find evidence of fossilized plants and trees and whatnot. More than one parent shied away from the location like a mormon who had just been invited to go into a bar and smoke a cigarette. One poor lady was being assaulted from all sides by her inquisitive kids, who kept hurling questions about fossils at her from all sides. It looked like she was about to collapse under the blows, so I tried to step in and help.

"From what they tell me, fossilization happens when a stick or bone or something gets buried in the mud for a long time. Over time, the mud turns to rock, and eventually the plant or bone sits in the water long enough that the minerals seeping in eventually replace the stick or bone, and it turns into a different kind of rock."

The kids were sort of disappointed - I think they were expecting something more sensational or melodramatic - maybe something with demons? I dunno. The poor woman was closing her eyes and forcing herself to nod, coming across almost as someone who was worried her faith was under assault, but somehow managed to avoid getting directly hit. She eventually came up for air, and told her kids to thank me for the appropriate explanation.

Near the end of the hike, there was a log in the river, and I heard her calling her kids over. "Come look at this log! It's fossilizing!"

:)

[Backroads]

Why ARENT there LDS schools, anyway?

Q

Actually, there are. At least in Utah.

Though I think they happen to be run by LDS members based on LDS principles rather than sponsored by the Church itself.

[pam]

Actually, there are. At least in Utah.

Though I think they happen to be run by LDS members based on LDS principles rather than sponsored by the Church itself.

The one that I specifically know about in Utah Co. isn't funded in any way by the church. It's run by LDS members and funded by donations and the tuition charged for attending.

[Dravin]

I never understood the term God-Fearing, and heard it now and again in Catholic school

Fear in this context means to have reverential awe, respect, or piety, it's an archaic definition that's maintained because of it's use in non-modern language translations of the Bible, a prime example being the KJV. It can be a little confusing because the word is also used in the scriptures in the 'scared' sense, but the term God-Fearing is talking about people who hold God in reverence and respect him not people who are terrified of him.

Edited February 22, 2014 by Dravin

[Bini]

There's a couple options I'm looking at, both are Montessori programmes, but only one is faith based. The one is Baptist affiliated. It's a smallish establishment it looks like, very intimate setting, good reviews from parents (unsure if they're Baptist or not). I like that there's a big emphasis on community, alike some of the Jewish schools I've seen (not in our area, though).

[Bini]

To those of you that have experienced this, or a family member, another question.. For Montessori/preschool age, do faith based schools tend to teach about gospel at that early age? I can see where my LDS views of the plan of salvation would conflict with other faiths, and that sort of thing.

[Lakumi]

I suppose I should be a bit more specific. We stay away from their geology and earth history classes. Nothing wrong with their botany, math, ancient Egypt, electricity, earth science, and meteorology classes.

We just figure that when it comes to the age of the earth, and dinosaurs, and all that - it's important to learn about such powerful tools as radiocarbon dating, and not spend effort trying to instill a certain set of beliefs despite what these tools have to say.

Fun story: My kids and I went on a field trip to a nature center with these folks once. On one part of the nature hike, the guide pointed out an area where folks could find evidence of fossilized plants and trees and whatnot. More than one parent shied away from the location like a mormon who had just been invited to go into a bar and smoke a cigarette. One poor lady was being assaulted from all sides by her inquisitive kids, who kept hurling questions about fossils at her from all sides. It looked like she was about to collapse under the blows, so I tried to step in and help.

"From what they tell me, fossilization happens when a stick or bone or something gets buried in the mud for a long time. Over time, the mud turns to rock, and eventually the plant or bone sits in the water long enough that the minerals seeping in eventually replace the stick or bone, and it turns into a different kind of rock."

The kids were sort of disappointed - I think they were expecting something more sensational or melodramatic - maybe something with demons? I dunno. The poor woman was closing her eyes and forcing herself to nod, coming across almost as someone who was worried her faith was under assault, but somehow managed to avoid getting directly hit. She eventually came up for air, and told her kids to thank me for the appropriate explanation.

Near the end of the hike, there was a log in the river, and I heard her calling her kids over. "Come look at this log! It's fossilizing!"

:)

I always found the whole evolution thing and fossils and etc to be utterly facinating. How truly old they said things were, and when someone told me about creationism, I remember telling them "that's not true" in my mind there was no proof of creationism, and there is for evolution, and whatnot.

(And I still believe that)

[Guest]

To those of you that have experienced this, or a family member, another question.. For Montessori/preschool age, do faith based schools tend to teach about gospel at that early age? I can see where my LDS views of the plan of salvation would conflict with other faiths, and that sort of thing.

Yes,they do. But for a Christian school, you'll find what they teach is more aligned to LDS in these early years. Basically, prayer, honesty, God made us - things you find discussed in Sunbeam class. My son spent pre-K in a Baptist school. He memorized all the books in the Old Testament, learned about Jonah and the Whale, Daniel and the lions, Noah and the ark, Moses and the Red Sea...

But, I have to say, faith-based Montessori is redundant. Denominational faith-based Montessori is almost an oxymoron. This is because Montessori is all about self-discovery. Faith is an integral part of a child's make-up so much so that Christ always tells us to be like children. Knowing the truth that we hold, denominational Montessori clips the wings of that self-discovery and channels the child towards untruth to align with the denominational faith. Sure, the denomination believes that what they teach is true, hence a child who veers from it is in error and needs correcting. But, this is not how it is supposed to work. A child is supposed to discover for himself what is true as it aligns to his universe of knowledge and builds up from it so that he becomes self-correcting. As he grows to be of the age of reason, he could then match his truths with the denomination that follows it.

So, denominational Montessori (there are Catholic ones too) is not really pure Montessoris. Make sense?

[Bini]

Yes,they do. But for a Christian school, you'll find what they teach is more aligned to LDS in these early years. Basically, prayer, honesty, God made us - things you find discussed in Sunbeam class. My son spent pre-K in a Baptist school. He memorized all the books in the Old Testament, learned about Jonah and the Whale, Daniel and the lions, Noah and the ark, Moses and the Red Sea...

But, I have to say, faith-based Montessori is redundant. Denominational faith-based Montessori is almost an oxymoron. This is because Montessori is all about self-discovery. Faith is an integral part of a child's make-up so much so that Christ always tells us to be like children. Knowing the truth that we hold, denominational Montessori clips the wings of that self-discovery and channels the child towards untruth to align with the denominational faith. Sure, the denomination believes that what they teach is true, hence a child who veers from it is in error and needs correcting. But, this is not how it is supposed to work. A child is supposed to discover for himself what is true as it aligns to his universe of knowledge and builds up from it so that he becomes self-correcting. As he grows to be of the age of reason, he could then match his truths with the denomination that follows it.

So, denominational Montessori (there are Catholic ones too) is not really pure Montessoris. Make sense?

Anatess, I hear what you're saying. I remember going to a Catholic private school when I was 7 or 8 and although there was prayer at lunch, I don't recall any kind of gospel study at that age. So I needed to ask what others experiences were.

[Quin]

The only Baptist run preschool I'm familiar with, may very well not be representational of baptist preschools in general.

What I didn't like about it:

- Corporal Punishment (pants pulled down and spanked in front of other students for the peer pressure aspect, as well).

- Hell. As in talked about a kajillion times a day. And how bad little girls were going straight to it, and wouldn't mommy be sad?

Q

[McLainDow]

I have friends who tried to enroll their children in a religious school here in NC and they would not take then because of their LDS beliefs.

[apexviper]

Would you consider sending your child to a religion affiliated private school that is highly rated even if you don't subscribe to that faith? Have you experienced this? Pros and cons?

I am intrigued by such a school for my daughter but understand that the establishment does not share LDS gospel. That said, I kind of keep in the back of my mind that BYU is LDS based, yet has other faiths enroll, so maybe differing beliefs in God isn't necessarily a deal breaker?

It really depends. Make sure your child knows what he or she is getting into. There are in fact a few schools that require you to sign a form saying you refuse to accept the Book of Mormon as scripture. These are the hardcore Bible-only schools. Aside from that it can be great.