New poster: What age should we start our son at Catholic Sunday School?

[laumiere]

Hi Mums,

Our DS is 2yrs 5mo at the moment and is christened Catholic. My DH (also Catholic) and I are very keen for him to go to a Catholic school if possible and be raised in the faith. However... DS has diplegic CP and a speech disorder, so attends a special nursery. I'm a bit over protective anyway and concerned that he might be overlooked in a SS because of his inability to communicate. On another point, my DH works weekends, so I would need to take my son and I am a Druid (although very much want my DS to be raised Catholic), so there is no way I would be joining the church.

So in a roundabout way, how early should we enrol him in SS to get used to being in a Catholic environment?

Any advice welcomed!

[AMumInScotland]

Hi, you'd have to find out how your local churches operate, but in C of E churches at least days there is usually an assumption that the parent(s) are in the church for the service. The children often go out from the church at part of the service or come back into the church for the later part of the service, so it may be tricky for you to not attend at all. But if you're ok with being there for the service but just not joining in the parts you are uncomfortable with, then I don't think they'd have a problem.

As far as when to send him, a lot of sunday schools start from about his age, so it might be better to start when he is still young - that way the helpers and other children can get used to his needs from the start, while there's less expectation on what they can do etc.

I wuld think the best thing would be to go along to your local church and try to meet the people who do the sunday school, see what age they usually start, and make sure they seem able and willing to deal with your son's needs.

[Weegiemum]

It depends on the church - our church is happy to take children who do not have a parent in the service, if they can get a moble number adn someone is able to pick up in an emergency.

A good church (ours is baptist and very child focussed - we have a dedicated children's pastor) will have a policy for dealing SN. Just go and ask!

[nickytwotimes]

Hi laumiere.
I take our catholic Sunday school (or childres' liturgy) during mass every Sunday.
AS has already been said, most churches have a dedicated Children and Youth co-ordinator. You will probably be able to contact them via the church website.
Ours is aimed at nursery to primary age. Soem bigger churches have more specific age groups and the kids are divided accordingly. Sometimes the little ones need their parent with them. This is usually fine, but some churches are neurotic about CHild Protection regulations and you should mention it beforehand. I only say this because my old priest was really neurotic about following them to the letter, which meant no parents unless they had their CRB check!?

I hope you are all given a warm welcome and your son enjoys it.

[laumiere]

Thanks everyone, I'm a bit new to all this! I was raised in a secular home so no Sunday School at all, but DH went to Sunday School and Catholic school and is very positive about the experience.

[geogteach]

At our (catholic) church. Liturgy is split into pre school, reception and yr 1 , yr2 and yr3. Most parents stay in the pre school group. Parents would be expected to be in the church for all groups, the children return to the church during the service, I think that is the norm in catholic churches - they usually come in at the offertry.