Taking kids out of school for a week!

[Mollymarie86]

Thanks for your input everyone. Had no idea this would be one of those topics you don't discuss on the internet. There will be disagreement, Everyone is entitled to their opinion and we're going regardless because it's pretty much all paid for. Just wondering because I've never taken my kids out of school and wanted to see how many other people took their kids out of school for a vacation. My son is 11 and my twin girls are 6 and this will be our FIRST family vacation, so I don't fell bad about taking them out for a week because again, we don't do it every year and with me starting Nursing school pretty soon, it'll probably be about 3-4 before another family vacation. Life is short, kids grow up too fast..wanted our first family vacation to be special and I don't see us having a better time in the summer than we would right after Labor Day. Still hard to believe that the Summer is less crowded...many people still don't like to take their kids out of school(as I can read in this post)so they go in the summer.

Thanks again for your feedback, but going regardless if it is 'frowned upon' because we have been saving for a year and I've never been to Disney World, so I'm thrilled to share in the excitement with my children.

 

[Hikergirl]

OP enjoy your trip and don't worry about them missing school, or even what their teacher's think about it.
Learning doesn't always happen in the classroom, and besides you as a parent are just as capable as the teacher is of teaching your children what they missed if need be.

 

[quandrea]

Go and have fun. I'm a teacher and a homeschooling mom. I can't tell you how much off task time occurs in the classroom. It is truly appalling. My last position before becoming a full time mom was a special ed resource teacher. I'd go into assorted classrooms throughout the day. The amount of wasted time in a day amounted to hours not minutes. Missing a week at 11 and 6 will be fine. Read while away, write a journal. Review math. Might be a good opportunity to drill multiplication, addition, subtraction, division.

I homeschool now, so we make our own schedule. Learning takes place everywhere. My daughter was always a good reader, however she didn't love it. Well, last January, on our two week trip, she became a voracious reader. I couldn't upload the books from the online library fast enough. Something clicked that turned her into a reader. Was it the time off? The relaxation? Who knows? The point is that without that break, I would have continued with our curriculum and dd would not have had the opportunity to discover a love of reading.

Learning is everywhere. Not just in the classroom.

 

[quandrea]

We took our 3 elementary age kids out last sept and will again in 2 weeks. I didn't ask their teachers, as someone up thread implied... I told them. My kids are good students and have not had any trouble catching up. We can not go at traditional school breaks due to my husband's job, and I have no regrets. The teachers have been excited for my kids, invited them to share with everyone some of their favorite experiences, and asked to tag along in their backpacks

This. You are your child's parent. You get to make the decision. No need to ask the teacher.

 

[mco65]

We have done a little bit of both. We took the kids out of school for a week a couple times when they were in Elementary school. Once they got in Middle school we went during Spring break, the first week of summer break (early June) and a couple times during Christmas break. Just this past year (Jan) we took them out of school for the first time in a long time to go to WDW. They missed the first 3 days of school returning from Christmas break. I don't expect us to do that this coming school year. We have a cruise planned for Spring Break which will trump any WDW trips for a while.

 

[TIS Grandma]

I'm a retired teacher (taught HS English for 36 years). When we started talking about a family Disney trip, my number one stipulation was that I was NOT going during school holidays. Every vacation my kids took were during the busiest, most expensive times. In January, the grandkids (Pre K, Kindergarten, 1st grade) will miss a week of school. I've told my kids to let the teachers know ahead (I hated it when a student would tell me he/she was leaving next day -- could you get my work for the next week??) and they can "blame" Grandma for planning it then!

Enjoy your trip! Can't wait for ours!

 

[StraightToDumbo]

True, family time is important ... but you have 185 days when your kids are not in school.

There are parents who can't choose their vacation dates. Also, if they eliminated all the party and field days, I'd be more inclined to oblige.

 

[cmarsh31]

Meh. I'm a teacher & a mom. We pulled our kids for a week when they were in 1st & 4th. I wouldn't do it now that my DS is in middle school... but I'd still pull him for a day or two. He's a bright kid and totally capable of making up the work (and I'm a math teacher) - I wouldn't expect his teachers to offer after school tutoring or help to catch him up if he was off on vacation, though. It's also very common in our district.

Have a great trip!

 

[rebelbuddhist]

Thanks for your input everyone. Had no idea this would be one of those topics you don't discuss on the internet. There will be disagreement, Everyone is entitled to their opinion and we're going regardless because it's pretty much all paid for. Just wondering because I've never taken my kids out of school and wanted to see how many other people took their kids out of school for a vacation. My son is 11 and my twin girls are 6 and this will be our FIRST family vacation, so I don't fell bad about taking them out for a week because again, we don't do it every year and with me starting Nursing school pretty soon, it'll probably be about 3-4 before another family vacation. Life is short, kids grow up too fast..wanted our first family vacation to be special and I don't see us having a better time in the summer than we would right after Labor Day. Still hard to believe that the Summer is less crowded...many people still don't like to take their kids out of school(as I can read in this post)so they go in the summer.

Thanks again for your feedback, but going regardless if it is 'frowned upon' because we have been saving for a year and I've never been to Disney World, so I'm thrilled to share in the excitement with my children.

I wonder if you will miss a few days or weeks of nursing school to go to WDW? Learning phonemic awareness or mathematical thinking is as important to a five or six year old is as important and challenging as nursing school to an adult. There will be a cost to your children so I hope you are willing/able to pay that cost along with your children.

 

[Mollymarie86]

I wonder if you will miss a few days or weeks of nursing school to go to WDW? Learning phonemic awareness or mathematical thinking is as important to a five or six year old is as important and challenging as nursing school to an adult. There will be a cost to your children so I hope you are willing/able to pay that cost along with your children.

Obviously not, since we're going now, before I start Nursing school. You can't compare nursing school to what they will learn in first grade...this is probably the only trip we are taking to Disney World and I don't feel bad about it. Kids grow up too fast and looking forward to this memorable experience...

 

[Realfoodfans]

Go and enjoy! They will learn so much and gain so much from their first vacation - I hope you post some reports of your time together so we can follow the adventures!

 

[StraightToDumbo]

Learning phonemic awareness or mathematical thinking is as important to a five or six year old

Then the last week of school is a great time. No phonetics or math, just videos and pizza parties. Christmas Vacation week, too I suppose.

 

[LilyWDW]

People will give their opinions, but unless they have the exact same situations as you do, their answers really won't mean a dang thing. It's about knowing your kids and knowing your school system. Are you willing to accept any negative consequences that may arise from your decision to take them out? For example, 0's on work and tests that are missed if that is the rule in your district or having to worry about any more absences if your school keeps track of those. If you do your "homework" and know the rules of the school and district and are willing to accept the consequences if there are any... then you have your answer.

 

[chicagoshannon]

I hope you have a wonderful time!

It's absurd to think you'd be damaging your 6 year olds for life by missing one week of school. In IL, it wasn't even a requirement for kids to start school until they were 7 until very recently (maybe 2 years or so ago) I wouldn't even have my 6 year old make up missed work. Just tell the teacher you'll be gone.

Again, have a great time. It will be HOT and HUMID so make sure to take a swim break during the day.

 

[DWFamilyof6]

I'm taking my kids out next week too. We started 2nd week of August. So they'll be missing Labor Day week, there 5th week. I'm sending a note to their teachers on Tuesday. I'm going to let them know if they'd like to send home their work now we can get started on it or we can take care of it afterwards. Whatever is more convenient for the teacher. My kids are K, K, 1st and 3rd. We had planned to take this trip during our fall break in October but my husband had a work change so this was our only alternative. I've decided just to let it go and not stress. If the school isn't happy about it then I'm sure they'll let me know. I hope you have a great trip and don't worry!

 

[Mr_Tom_Morrow]

Shocking that the teachers(some not all) were the most "offended" by this thread

 

[Dakota731]

[Still hard to believe that the Summer is less crowded../QUOTE]

We took our kids out of school twice for our first two WDW trips when they were little, and then tried July for our third trip. We were all shocked with how much less crowded it was, so our next four trips were all during the summer months and the lines were very manageable. I guess it's backwards psychology that everyone things summers are too crowded so less people go then.

 

[Kellykins1218]

I wonder if you will miss a few days or weeks of nursing school to go to WDW? Learning phonemic awareness or mathematical thinking is as important to a five or six year old is as important and challenging as nursing school to an adult. There will be a cost to your children so I hope you are willing/able to pay that cost along with your children.

 

[Kelly014]

Thanks for your input everyone. Had no idea this would be one of those topics you don't discuss on the internet. There will be disagreement, Everyone is entitled to their opinion and we're going regardless because it's pretty much all paid for. Just wondering because I've never taken my kids out of school and wanted to see how many other people took their kids out of school for a vacation. My son is 11 and my twin girls are 6 and this will be our FIRST family vacation, so I don't fell bad about taking them out for a week because again, we don't do it every year and with me starting Nursing school pretty soon, it'll probably be about 3-4 before another family vacation. Life is short, kids grow up too fast..wanted our first family vacation to be special and I don't see us having a better time in the summer than we would right after Labor Day. Still hard to believe that the Summer is less crowded...many people still don't like to take their kids out of school(as I can read in this post)so they go in the summer.

Thanks again for your feedback, but going regardless if it is 'frowned upon' because we have been saving for a year and I've never been to Disney World, so I'm thrilled to share in the excitement with my children.

This one always gets people fired up. As with most choices in life, do what is best for YOUR family. My daughter is in second grade and we pulled her for four days in Kindergarten and will be pulling her for five days this year. We love to go over Halloween, so that's when we plan our Disney trips. I will continue to do this until I experience or foresee a negative impact, and then I'll reevaluate. Right now my kids are still little and my daughter does well in school, so I am not concerned. She will never forget our Halloweens spent in Disney, and those memories are so important to our family!

 

[dreamer17555]

My son is autistic and is in an integrated classroom in fifth grade. I am taking him out for a week in May (actually a week and a day) I am super nervous about telling his school.

My DD goes to a residential HS and then spends her summers training all over the country. So time together with her is very limited. She has two weeks in May off as she is on a college schedule and we are going then. Our family has been through hell and back in the last two years including divorce and very serious cancer battle (I am currently in remission). My son does struggle with reading (but is amazing at math). I am sure he will miss some valuable instruction but we are still going. He is finally at an age I feel that he will enjoy Disney and after everything our family has been through I am just going to bite the bullet and take him.

Is it selfish? Yes. I am sure it is not helpful to his teacher at any rate. But is it important to our family? Absolutely.