Taking Kids Out of School?

[pbdennis]

In a previous post, I made mention of planning a trip October 2-8. Our only real hurdle deals with the kids.

I don't have a real issue with it. My wife, on the other hand, has reservations. She is also a pre-school teacher. She is worried that the school will look down on us for this. She attends one of the top public schools in the state and apparently attendance is a big issue.

My daughter is fairly smart and I feel will have not problem catching up.

My oldest will be in second grade this fall. My youngest will be in pre-school.

Any thoughts? My opinion is if this is the best time for us to go at the best price, go for it. I know other families do the same thing. That doesn't make it right. However, should I feel guilty if we do this?

[Erich32]

I took my kids, 2nd and 5th grade, out of school last october 25-29.

People worry way too much about taking there kids out of school.

Pro's, Lines were small, Longest line was 20 minutes, the rest of the time we walked on and sometimes like Buzzlightyears, R&R RC, and T of T we walked on twice. We used fast passes on a few rides. It was my first trip for my wife and kids and they have no CLUE what lines can be at disney.

Cons were that they missed a little school. Big deal. I am a college graduate and I don't think my childrens education will be upset by missing a week of school.

We did Everything we wanted to do due to the lack of crowds. Also in October the Halloween party and EPCOT food and wine festial were both BLASTS.

[Googlie Bear]

Tell your kids' teachers about the trip right from the start of the school year. Work with the teacher to create a plan. Most teachers and parents will agree its best if your kids can do the extra work over the weeks BEFORE they leave, so they dont have to "catch up" when they get back. Ask the teacher about a special project they can do, that relates the trip to the subjects theyre learning:
Social Studies: Report to the class about one of the countries in the WS.
Writing: Keep a journal during the trip or write a letter to the class.
Math: Help with the vacation budget, or do word problems related to WDW. (like figure out how many turkey legs are consumed in a day at MK?)
Science: Do a report on the Land, Living Seas, Mission Space, Universe of Energy, etc.

Some teachers and administrators will give you a hard time, but a GOOD teacher will recognise the educational value of the trip, and appreciate your commitment to keeping your kid on track with the class.

Good Luck!

[faline]

There are a lot of very specific feelings on this issue on both sides of the coin.

I feel it's a personal decision. If it works for you and your family, then go for it. By the way, we would take our daughter out of school to vacation in Disney World when she was growing up. Some teachers were more cooperative than others. She's a college grad so it couldn't have harmed her too significantly!

[DVC2004]

I think education is important, but so is family time. I can understand your wife's concerns working for the school and all, but I would go ahead anyway. Her personal life is her business. I have taken my children out for vacation a few times over the years. My oldest son attends a year round school (he gets a few breaks throughout the year) and the school is very supportive of us. They send along homework and tell us he doesn't need to complete all of it, but we have him do it all anyway. As long as your kids are not struggling in school whereas they may fall behind, or there's no major exams, I would say it would be fine! My kids are 6 and 8, so when they get into high school we may not continue to pull them out as they will be missing much more.

[E-OR]

My husband has always looked at things like this "How is this going to effect our kids in 1 year/5 years etc.." His thought is that our vacation is something that they will always remember, a week of school is just a week of school. Every kid is different and so you have to base your decision on that too. If you and your kids are able to get the work ahead of time or when you get back and committed to getting it done - go for it. My oldest is 21 and in college. We took him out for a week vacation many times. He had no problem catching up and always did really well in school. Those times we pulled him have had no negative effects on him in college. My youngest is a freshman and we don't take him out. When he was younger and before he started high school we would pull him out for a week vacation but now that he is in high school we don't. He has a hard enough time keeping up while in school. I know that you are going to hear other people, and probably teachers, say that you should not pull them out for one reason or another but we always looked at our time together as something that was important too. We have always made our kids realize how important school is but sometimes I think that we forget that family time can be really important as well. We have also had teachers tell us that they learn alot from there vacation. Even though I never worried about it you can look at it and figure how many kids have been to Kennedy Space Center and seen a shuttle go up? EPCOT can offer some educational experiences as well. Bottom line is, I believe, there my kids and I know what is best for them.

[Strmchsr]

This is where homeschooling is an advantage for us! If you want every possible side of the topic imaginable examined, do a search. This topic was discussed about a month ago with 80+ posts. Seems folks on both sides of the issue feel quite strongly about their position. Imagine that.

[Gusgus]

There is a looong and opinionated post here about this.

Gusgus

[countrycharmer]

Personally, I think that it is a matter of what works for the families and finances, not what the schools want! The administrators do not realize that it can be a large financial strain to families to travel on SCHOOL HOLIDAYS, etc., plus how crowded it is. Most people who work go when it is convenient for them. Kids and their parents can also ask for homework for the missed time, etc.

I worked in a school system who really shook the "NONO" finger about time off for students & staff on non-sanctioned school time, however it is the same group of people who seemed to take their vacations when wanted, not when the school calendar said they could!!

Your family is the most important, and you should do what you want for your family...believe me school will always be there!! Have a great time and enjoy your family without the worries!! [img]graemlins/thumbsup.gif[/img]

[Praying Colonel]

For those ages, I don't see a problem with it. If they're older, there's homework and other things which make it a tougher call, IMHO.

[Granny Jill A]

My granddaughter had her teacher assign homework for each night she was at Disney World. It worked great because her mom is a former teacher -- no slacking off allowed.

She didn't mind the homework at all. In fact, it helped her unwind.

Have fun!

[wdwcarrie]

Hi all,

Just wanted to put in some perspective from a high school teacher...it is very hard for me to read posts that say "so they miss school, big deal" or "I don't care what the school says." I would say that all, or at least most, school personnel understand the importance of family time. But we all care about the kids too, and worry about their ability to comprehend the material that our districts (and now, government) mandate. And I think that what I and my colleagues do is extremely valuable, so it's hard for me to read posts that seem to dismiss the value of attending school.

As I put in a previous post, vacations are least problematic when parents are considerate of the school's point of view, and, as several of you have mentioned, arrange well ahead of time for assignments, avoid exam or state testing times, and even schedule appointments for makeup lectures/tutoring. In most of those cases, it's not a problem. But, if you have a struggling student, particularly in the higher grades, missing 5-10 days can seriously put his/her grade in jeopardy. Is it a life or death situation? Probably not...but just something to think about.

Just remember...schools and their employees care about kids; talking to a teacher or administrator proactively can help make the vacation enjoyable and minimally difficult.

[pbdennis]

Wow! Great responses. Great input.

The main reasons we are considering this time of year are crowds, money and timing.

I work all year here at the TV station and I am also a college teacher. My vacation time rarely works out with the kids.

If we do this, we will likely do what many of you have suggestive...work with the teachers. I think that is a great idea. We should find out who her 2nd grade teacher will be at the start of August. If she appears to be agreeable, I am sure we will go. If not, we still have time to cancel and make plans for another time.

Believe me, we wouldn't be doing this if my daughter was older. We don't want to send the wrong message.

Family time is so important...so is school. We want to balance the two.

[countrycharmer]

I must add a bit more, sorry! I also am a teacher in an elementary school. When we go on vacation, it is usually more expensive to go during school breaks. We have always tried to go just a few days before or after when prices at resorts and airlines are less. I am not saying throw education to the curb, but I am saying that family is as important, actually more, and the adults need to make sure that they are responsible in maintaining contact with the teacher, in advance, and obtaining missed school work, etc. I cover grades from PreK-Gr.6 and there are those who struggle more than others, but you cannot hold that against them and take their vacations away! My view only, and not meant to offend anyone.

[ddoll]

We've got three kids we've been taking to WDW for many years. When the older boys were in elementary school and we had personal relationships with their teachers, taking some time off for a family vacation was no problem. The teachers were very good about supplying schoolwork for the kids to bring with them so they wouldn't fall behind the class.

However, as they entered Jr. High, most teachers were not only unwilling to do this, but they had so many other students that they really weren't concerned about our specific request (which is understandable). Some went so far as to penalize the kids for missing class.

We found that it just wasn't worth taking them out when they got into the upper grades. It took them too long to catch up and the kids ended up suffering for it in the longrun.

So my outlook on it now is to take advantage of the bargain time and go when they're little and it's not too big a deal. You won't have that opportunity when they're bigger.

Also, I don't think it's necessary to tell the teachers where we're going. I just write them a note saying we'll be out of state for family reasons and my child will be out of school.

[Ima codfish]

I am an elementary teacher, but I am also a parent of two boys, one a fifth grader and one who is in high school. It may be easier (by working with the teacher) in the elementary grades to take off for vacation days, but it does depend on the child on how much he/she can actually miss without getting behind. I just know when my sons were absent from illness that they always had a lot of work to make up. Our high school is very tough with attendance, especially now with the Leave No Child Behind federal law.

[taravh17]

Make sure you talk to the principal beforehand and that you KNOW what the school's attendance policy is. I teach in an inner-city school and attendance is a BIG issue! The only absences that are excused in my school are those that are due to illness. Vacations are unexcused and we are NOT ALLOWED to give ANY make up work to the students. The child is considered truant and the parents will be taken to court and fined for the missed school. Keep in mind that i work in a public school and attendance is mandated by the state. NOw, most schools are not this strict. But they all have the ability to do this to students that miss school.

Now this might sound sever, but many of the students in my school are from other countries and parents think nothing of taking their child back to their country for a month for vacation. This is a necessary evil to combat that.

[Golf Grumpy]

I am a high school teacher and we try to go around Thanksgiving. I insisit on my kids being in school BUT, they miss a day or two for me a year, (Band Dir so we go on trips) and they will never have perfect attendance. We always tell the teachers a few weeks in advanced so they know, and they are usually pretty cool about everything.

[Lady]

I teach third grade and every year I have families that take vacations during the school year. I try to accommodate them as best I can by giving upcoming quizzes or tests before they go if possible so the child does not need to study over vacation. I do not make up a "neat little homework packet" for the student to take to do homework on vacation. I have too many other things to do to prepare for my own lessons. During the week the student is absent I assign a responsible student to collect any worksheets I pass out or tear out workbook pages and put them in a folder I supply. At the end of the day, I write out what pages were covered in class and what homework was given. If a test was missed, I assign a day that the make-up test will be given and write that on the assignment sheet as well. Upon the student's return, I briefly conference with him/her about the work and when I expect it to be completed (usually I give the same number of days to complete the work as days of vacation, i.e. missed 5 days of school, then he/she has 5 school days to make it up.) I don't do make-up science lesson that are hands on but I do copy the lesson so the parent can do it at home or come before or after school and use my materials. I help when I can but I have a busy family of my own and plan to get the majority of my work done at school so I only have to grade papers at home. I feel this is fair because I shouldn't have to do extra work because a student is on vacation and I don't feel a student should be penalized because of a vacation. When a parent talks to me about vacation, I explain my policy and most think it is great because they don't want to worry about school on vacation.

[merlinmagic4]

Lady,

I agree with you 100%!!! In the previous thread on this topic, I suggested just what you do as opposed to asking a teacher to prepare everything ahead of time. That is a lot to ask of a teacher even though the majority of the people who take their kids out said the teacher didn't mind!! The child may be a bit behind but if the parents aren't concerned about the actual class time missed, they shouldn't be opposed to making up the work AFTER the vacation and after the teacher has presented it. It makes much more sense for a teacher to accumulate the work covered for the week than to try and get it all done ahead of time. Imagine if every one of your 20+ students took a week vacation - that's a lot of extra packets to make [img]smile.gif[/img]