To take kids out of school or not?

[Scott2tune]

I have taken our kids out of school every other year for the past 5 years to DW and we have had an incredible time. Granted last fall it was just my DD12 (once they are in high school missing 10 days of school is a bit tough on them to catch up.

But I will (and I hope they will) always treasure our days @ DW in the fall without big crowds. We were in Epcot on 9/11 and my DD10 and DS12 watched me give blood at the hotel next door. Last fall just my DD(then 12) and I traveled to DW for 7 days and the 4 days cruise. We had an amazing magical time- I wish...I wish we could do it all again. But they are now DD13 and DD15- and I could really not pull them out of school now.
Also- I believe my obligation was to be sure our kids were able to reintegrate back into their school work and be responsive to their teachers homework assignments. I would never tell the school I'm taking them to DW- howver let's face it-not too many people "get" going to DW in the fall here on the west coast.

 

[Bojangles]

Originally posted by TexasErin

Do you think I should tell them now or wait until closer to our trip in October? If I wait, they will know that she is a good student and doesn't have an absenteeism problem.

I would go ahead and tell the teachers. They will appreciate the advance notice.

 

[seashoreCM]

(I did not read all the replies so please forgive redundancy)

As far as pulling the kids from school to help out after suffering a hurrican disaster, remember that the original reason for summer vacation was to allow kids to help the family --- on the family farm.

But things become difficult if schools close because of a storm and then vacation times are cancelled. I do not favor cancelling a vacation and forfeiting airfare if the school calendar that I already worked around was changed to create a conflict.

Disney hints:
http://members.aol.com/ajaynejr/disney.htm

 

[mariamouse]

I strongly agree with many other posters that a quality vacation with family is more important than one week of school.. it will not be forgotten by your family and I know that I am a firm supporter of the impact travel can have.

But I do think your children should decide what they think is best for themselves in terms of this vacation and their academic capabilities. I am going to be a HS sophomore and I know that I have really high expectations for myself, often stressing myself out way more than I should be. I am one of the rare few students who has actually told my parents that I was not willing to go on longer trips that would interfere too much with school (hah).. while I lovee travel soo much and am absolutely obsessed with WDW, I find that the extra burden of making up work can sometimes not be worth those extra few days (for me personally). However, I am willing to miss 3 or so days of school and have done more than this in the past. However, my high school is competitive and taking a lot of honors classes, it can be stressful to prioritize extra work, etc...even for a couple days during my freshman year, it required me to schedule my time closely. While I have never had a problem with academics, I have never found the transition back into school too hard. I do not think your son will have a problem as a senior b/c it is true that this year does include a lot of electives. I agree that teachers should not blame their students for vacations (as I have slightly experienced this in the past), although the true problem does lie within the strictness of school boards. My HS has 3,000 students, however, and I have many other friends who miss days of school for various reasons-- do not give this a second thought as long as your kids are confident in their abilities to catch up and make that extra effort!

School really does cause a lot of stress for students and I feel that we should get breaks whenever possible! They are certainly much needed! Have fun and take advantage of the time you can spend together in the happiest place on earth!

mariamouse

 

[Planogirl]

I think that for little kids, it's no big deal. For older kids, it can be a major big deal depending on how tough their curriculum is and how many activities they have.

What about going during Thanksgiving week itself? Then you would only miss two days that week. We did that one year and it was SO nice. The days prior to Thanksgiving were quiet and then we had the pleasure of seeing the decorations the weekend following.

 

[TN Traveler]

I am probably repeating what someone else has already said but I personally would NOT take my 8th grader out of school for a week. She is in accelerated classes and has HUGE projects all the time. Missing a week is more like missing 2 weeks--kids too excited before the trip and too tired/excited coming home and getting back "into the groove". I see it being harder on high school students as opposed to 6th grade or younger. I have several friends that are teachers and altho they are willing to give homework assignments in advance, they aren't very happy about it for vacations. A child out b/c they are sick w/the flu is one thing, but out to go to Disney is another.

Is there a timeframe when the teachers have in-service time and take 2 or 3 days for this? Here, the teachers take 2 days usually the 2nd or 3rd week in October for in-service and parent-teacher
conferences. This seems to be the week to go places around here. I'm a travel agent and I HAVE to know when these two days are every year b/c so many of my clients go somewhere around this week. Most don't mind taking their kids out of school for 2 or 3 days.

Hope my 2 cents help some.

 

[punkin]

Like I said, I have a seventh grader. I will take her out this October (and maybe one more time later in the year). Her teachers will be angry. She will therefore get low grades. I do not care. She is in a private school, so they are not as strict (because they do not loose state/federal funds when kids are absent) but I would do it in public school too. Let them try to procecute me for truancy for one week. I think they'll be laughed out of court (if it ever got that far).

I would however agree that in high school, when grades actually matter for college admissions, my calculations would be different. A seventh grader can afford a semester of Ds. A high schooler cannot.

 

[TN Traveler]

Wow, Punkin, you are a much more tolerant parent than I am. My DD better NEVER get more than 1 D in any subject at any time during the school year on her report card. I get upset about Cs but totally skyrocket on D's!! I understand one every now and then on a paper or a test but to have it on the report card is a great big NO NO! DD was in 7th grade last year and got Cs for 3 grading periods in a row. The first time, I let it slide, the 2nd grading period she missed a B by 2 points so I limited her going somewhat but didn't completely ground her. Her the 3rd time she was grounded from going w/her friends on Wed nights after church (not church but going out to eat afterwards). The 4th grading period she was all As and Bs and privileges returned. As long as their grades are good and I know they are really trying hard w/a sincere effort, I will allow them to be involved as many activities as they want but when the grades start slipping, my car goes into Park!!

 

[disneynewbee]

I'm taking my dauthter in 6th grade out for 2 wks in November. I don't feel guilty. Remember some of lifes most important lessons are learned through experience not a text book.

 

[cnids00]

I sent a note with my daughter to school when she started on Wednesday, one that I had typed up on the computer and inserted a picture of Tinkerbell at the top letting her teacher know that DD wouldn't be in school during such and such time as we were going to WDW on a since long planned vacation.

Her teacher sent me a note back asking: Can I go too??
That she would try to give DD some homework ahead of time, if not, it was no big deal as she would get caught up when she got back.

What a wonderful teacher!

I wish they all could be that way, at least if the children are only in Kindergarten or Elementary school. As they get older I do know it will be different, but still, this is a life time experience too + family quality time. The parents might not be able to take their vacation time until after school starts etc etc

Anyways, it just put a big smile on my face when I read her teachers note

 

[SnoWhiteRabbit]

Originally posted by weezer64
Forgive me if this has been repeated, I didn't read the entire thread.

For the first time ever I am pulling my children out of school for 6 days. I am doing it guilt free as they both are very bright students and I don't see a problem with them slipping as a result of missing 6 days.

But my MAIN reason for not feeling guilty is the shorter and shorter summer vacations we get each year. Before you know it, the kids will be attending school year round! The way I understand it (coming from a teacher in my district who happens to disagree with the current contract and amount of days off) is that the reason is so that the teachers and administration can have their days off during the year...like the much dreaded MID winter break (yeah, they really need a break 6 weeks after returning from the first of the year and goodness! it's another 6-8 weeks before spring break!) We, as parents, are expected to make OUR arrangements for our children around the scattered days off or holiday weeks throughout the year. We have to either plan around THEIR schedules or be accused of being selfish for pulling them out to accomodate when WE can get OUR time off of work.

In MI, the passed a law that the schools had to have the Friday before Labor Day off as the earlier start to the school year was affecting tourism. So guess what? They are starting back earlier than ever this year. I am fuming about that....there is no excuse for starting prior to Labor Day...NONE. Oh yeah forgot....gotta have that week off in February!

This is not just my opinion, but the opinion of EVERY parent I talk to......and that's quite a few as secretary of a local sports team.

So ya know what? What's one MORE disruption in the midst of the school year? My kids are used to it!

The teachers don't set the school calendar. The school or district superintendent does and the Board of Education approves it. The Board of Education is made up of parents and local citizens. The calendar must meet the state's required number of days. Perhaps the number of days required for your state has changed since you were a child. In NJ the requird number of days has been and still is 180 days - since I was a child.

If the Board of Education doesn't put in breaks for winter and spring, the parents complain - when are we suppose to take our vacations?! If they include the breaks, the parents complain. Why do you need so many breaks?

The number of days remains the same, whatever it is, reagrdless of the breaks and teaching training days (People complain about these too, but they would complain if the teachers weren't kept up to date on educational issues, either )

The people who complain about the school calendar should at the very least voice these complaints to the proper forum (their own Board of Education and/or SUperintendent rather than just other parents) or better yet, consider running for a position on the Board of Education -- an unpaid position -- and help make a difference.

As for taking children out of school, each family should decide what is best for their own children, within in the limits of their own state laws. (In NJ, if a student misses more than 18 days (10% of the 180 days, he is at risk for not getting course credit which can affect graduation).

As for negative comments from school staff, ignore them if you are doing what you believe will best benefit your child and family.

As for make up work, if your child's teacher gives you make up work before hand (or after returning), please make sure your child completes it. But don't get annoyed if your teacher doesn't give you work in advance - even if you let her know 2 weeks in advance. Just because you give advance notice, doesn't mean she has the material handy for a month down the road! Imagine at your own job, if somebody asked you in August for copies of all the memos and e-mails you will be sending out for the second week in September. And imagine agian that you manage to gather these future memos and the person just loses them instead of reading them.

I'm taking my kids out of Kindergarten and preschool in December for 2 weeks. I plan to make the trip as educational as possible (maps for the ride down, journal while we are there, stories from the Epcot countries, etc.) and my kindergartener will complete any work from her teacher when she returns. The trip will be a family expereince of a life time, with Grandma and Grandpa joining us this time!

 

[Bob NC]

Originally posted by punkin
Her teachers will be angry. She will therefore get low grades. I do not care.

Let them try to procecute me for truancy for one week. I think they'll be laughed out of court (if it ever got that far).

A seventh grader can afford a semester of Ds. A high schooler cannot.

Simply unbelievable. You ARE kidding, right?

 

[sweet angel]

I took my son out of school for 3 days in 3rd grade because I timed it around teacher's convention. I thought I did it the same way this time around, but the changed the dates, so now he'll be missing 4 days. The teachers were cooperative, and it seems pretty prevalent, so I'm not too worried. I'll just get his work beforehand if I can.

 

[Harambe]

Just want to say - DO IT! Life's too short to worry about other people's opinions. School is important (I'm a teacher's aide, and take the kids and myself out of school for WDW), but family comes first.

Make memories. When you look back on things, you'll remember all the fun you had together. You won't be thinking how great it was that you didn't take them out of school!

 

[gjerseygirl]

In 1997 we planned a trip for easter week to WDW. Unfortunately, I never booked our train right away. When I went to book the train, the price was so unbelievable for that week I had to cancel and change the dates to the week before easter. Ended up taking DS (4th Grade) out of school. I asked his teacher if she could give us his work a week in advance so he could make it up BEFORE we go. She said yes but didn't give it to us until the day before. There was no way I was taking his work on the train and to WDW to probably get lost in the shuffle so I told him not to worry he would make it up when he got back. When we got back the teacher was very angry that he did not make up the work. I explained to her that I wanted him to make up the work before we left but she did not give it to us in time. Well she ended up making his life so miserable (in 4th grade) that DH had to call the principal. The principal was very upset and said not to worry he will talk to her and DS would have all of easter week to make up the work. I was sooo upset and felt sooo guilty that I took him out of school. I wanted to tell the teach, it was my decision take it out on me not him.

Anyway, we are going teachers convention week this year, however, since we are taking the train we need two extra days traveling time so I will be taking the kids out Fri. and Mon. after teacher convention week. I'm a little worried about DS (from above story) who will be a Junior in HS. His grades are not that great. Although I could justify by saying having two days off are probably not going to make a difference to his grades. He's the typical rebellious teenager. He scores in teh 95 percentile on standardized tests but doesn't want to do his work. I've tried everything to get him to do better but he just doesn't care (sigh)! DD (going into 7th grade) is an honor roll student but she has to work very hard at it. I hope she'll be okay. DS (2nd Grade) is my little genius. Not worried at all.

I guess the point of my post is although I am concerned about my kids missing school and had a bad experience with it...I'm doing it anyway and going to have a GREAT TIME!

 

[jtopp]

We alternate times to miss school. One year they miss time after Halloween, and the next it's after Thanksgiving. As long as kids are doing well in class there is really no problems. Teachers give advance homework and assignments, and the on the night before we leave, the excitement and anticipation is controlled by getting ALL the assignments done before we leave, so as they can enjoy the trip. Besides avoiding the crowds during the busiest times, it is also a break that the kids can really use, considering their busy schedule

 

[3for Me]

Considering what we pay for private schools x 3 children I could pay for an entire disney vacation with the money it would cost me for those days to take my children out of school.

I don't think a day or two is a big deal, but a week or more I would start to question - although people do it all the time - I would just not enjoy myself as much worrying about it - but that is just me, and believe me - I am not judging anyone - family time is precious!