What Makes a Person a Real Teacher?

I have to be honest, I don't necessarily think of a Sunday school teacher as a teacher. I certainly wouldn't expect a SST to tell me if my kid is up to par in reading and writing. But that being said, you are around a lot of kids, study curriculum and have many years experience so if I knew that I would take your advice into account. Doesn't mean I would completely trust it, but I'd definitely hear you out.

You sound as though, most of the time the way you've talked to parents has worked. It sounds as though this may just be one of those difficult parents.

Honestly? Yes. (Not meaning to offend--just being honest.)
It was my first thought when I read your post.
I'm sure you a concerned and dedicated Sunday school teacher.
I'm sure you have seen enough kids through the years to "pick out" when a child is "struggling."
I don't think I would seek out or necessarily take the advice of a Sunday school teacher as seriously as I would a school teacher. But this particular child has no other teacher--it's his mom...

A Sunday school teacher is not considered a real teacher nor are they considered a glorified baby sitter. You are there to teach religion and sorry to break it to you but you are no more a teacher than the parents who teach public school religion at my parish.

Teachers have to be credentialed, they must pass tests and regulations. Until the state says you are a teacher you are not a real teacher, sorry.

As a former Director of Religious Education, I can tell you that most parents do not think of their child's religious education as really "education." I worked for the Catholic Church where most people think of Confirmation as graduation for religious education. The Church is working on this, but it is still a common belief. Most Catholic schools teach religion every day as part of the curriculum. I worked at a parish that did not have a school, so we had religious ed for 1 hour, 24 Sundays each year. Not exactly the same as 180 hours every year like the schools. We had religious ed for kids in grades K through 11, and boy did parents complain that that wasn't fair. We did not have Confirmation until 11th grade, and some really complained.

I think it's sad that some people don't consider their religious education to be as important as their traditional education.

Please keep working hard for those kids. Not everyone is going to take it as seriously as you do, and not everyone is going to appreciate the tremendous gift you are giving them. I guess this is just one of those areas that you have to be ok with just knowing in your heart that you are doing something important.

What makes a good teacher is loving the kids. School teachers can feel like glorified babysitters at this age. That's how I feel when I teach dance to younger kids. You are going to offend parents by telling them their child is behind. You can only make assumptions by comparing them to other kids. You can't do that. With homeschooling, you compare the kids to their past progress. I homeschool my 5 children and I had one daughter who is way ahead it seems. She's 10 and reading at a high school level, she completes her work quickly and is always ahead. My others seem behind compared to her. My other son seemed behind so I had him tested and he tested two grades ahead. I thought my other daughter had a learning disability so I had her tested. She tested at grade level but it didn't show that she had a learning disability. So I talked to her doctor about it. Her doctor said that as long as she's improving, she doesn't have a learning disability. She was improving but it seemed slow to me. Her doctor said that it should get better around 10 or 11 and if not, she'll do further tests. She was much better by 10 although she still struggled. I have another son who you'd probably say that he's behind. He is exactly like what you described. He may not be progressing as quickly as his brother and sister but he's progressing. It's like potty training or walking. Kids walk and are potty trained at all different ages but in the grand scheme of things, most of the time, they all walk and potty independently eventually. Being critical of parents or children doesn't help. I think being patient, loving, kind and fun is what makes a great teacher. The homeschooling mom already knows where her child is academically. If she's going to be criticized about it in SS then she won't feel comfortable bringing her child and her child won't feel loved but he will feel condemned and put down. Trust me, I know!!! You're a great dedicated teacher. Don't feel like you need to tell the parents everything. They already know. Have fun with the kids and address severe problems that you have. Good luck!!