A team sport would be far more important to me that any religious training/school. You can always get a tutor for the religious stuff scheduled on your child's down time - which is obviously not the case with a team activity.

And you do not want him resenting his religion due to not being able to play a particular sport.

Depends on the stage of religious school. Are you Jewish and his religious school is required for bar mitzvah prep? Then, for me, religious school would be the priority. Are you Catholic and CCD is required for 1st Communion or Confirmation? Again, for me, religious school would be my choice. If it was generic CCD in 4th grade and not one of the prep years, I would withdraw him and come back for the prep year.

Anonymous wrote:I'm probably in the minority & will likely get flamed for this but I don't believe in forcing religion on children.They should be able to choose for themselves when they are older.So if your son would rather do swim team, I'd let him do swim team.

I'm of a similar viewpoint, only I believe in exposing them to as many options as possible. By the time they're in high school, they will have a basic grasp of: Protestant denominations, LDS, Catholicism, Judaism, Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, Shinto, various pagan and Wiccan practices, and a few Native American and African beliefs. They know what I believe, but I'm encouraging the exploration that my mother allowed but didn't encourage.

I'm probably in the minority & will likely get flamed for this but I don't believe in forcing religion on children.They should be able to choose for themselves when they are older.So if your son would rather do swim team, I'd let him do swim team.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We want are not religIous but being associated with our religion and learning the holidays and traditions is important

Then you can do this other places/other times. It's not as though you have a strong connection with this church or temple if you don't go regularly and are only really using the youth education aspect.

I think it's probably easier for someone who is non religious to teach swimming than it is for them to teach religion, and potentially a language (if we're talking about Hebrew school too).

The point is there are lots of places that do religious education. My guess is that she can find a class that doesn't conflict with the swim team.

There are a lot of places that have equivalent sports teams, and most kids switch teams and levels many times throughout their development. Mu guess is she can find a team that does not conflict with church school.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We want are not religIous but being associated with our religion and learning the holidays and traditions is important

Then you can do this other places/other times. It's not as though you have a strong connection with this church or temple if you don't go regularly and are only really using the youth education aspect.

I think it's probably easier for someone who is non religious to teach swimming than it is for them to teach religion, and potentially a language (if we're talking about Hebrew school too).

The point is there are lots of places that do religious education. My guess is that she can find a class that doesn't conflict with the swim team.

We've had this happen with DD a few times, where something she wanted to do conflicted with Hebrew School. In our small town, there aren't multiple synagogues or enough kids that Hebrew school has multiple session options. So, she just couldn't participate in those activities (I'm looking at you, girl scouts!!). It stinks, but it's a lesson for her that Hebrew School is very important to us even though we aren't super religious.

If there are other swim team options, I'd move him there. He's only 8 and it will be fine and allow him to do something he loves (swim team) and something that is important to you as well (religious school).

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We want are not religIous but being associated with our religion and learning the holidays and traditions is important

Then you can do this other places/other times. It's not as though you have a strong connection with this church or temple if you don't go regularly and are only really using the youth education aspect.

I think it's probably easier for someone who is non religious to teach swimming than it is for them to teach religion, and potentially a language (if we're talking about Hebrew school too).

OP, if this was a one season thing (e.g. U9 soccer conflicts with 3rd grade Hebrew school, and from then on it's fine) then I think the suggestion to get a private tutor or homeschool for religious school would be great, but it doesn't sound like that's the issue. If there's swimming practice for 8 year olds, there will probably be practice for 9 year olds. I'd look for a new swimming program that is either more flexible if there's a confict, or consistently practices on days or times that work. Or, if that's impossible, I'd look for a new religious school. Both swimming team and religious schools are about community, so I'd want to find places where he could stay long term, but at the same time one move at age 8 wouldn't bother me.

Anonymous wrote:For me religious school would be 100% required.

Frankly this is a big reason why we are considering Jewish day school. More availability for evening/weekend activities.

This is what we did. Yes it's a lot of money. But it is worth it so that my kids can do all of the super fun weekend/evening activities. I think they are getting a stronger judiac/hebrew education than would be possible by attending hebrew/Sunday school. The secular education is good. And as an added bonus, many of their school friends attend shul on Shabbat. That means they want to go too. Which means I get 3-4 hours of quiet time for me. As a family we attend shul now but I get lost in my own thoughts or socialize with my friends. I love Shabbat mornings!

Sometimes I'm amazed by what people post here. Why do you need someone to help you make this decision? People have conflicts all the time!

Anonymous wrote:We want are not religIous but being associated with our religion and learning the holidays and traditions is important

Then you can do this other places/other times. It's not as though you have a strong connection with this church or temple if you don't go regularly and are only really using the youth education aspect.