How do I tell teachers?

[Michelle Proper]

We are going to WDW the last week of November & first week of December... My lovely daughters will miss 6 days of school. I am dreading telling the teachers! I know they frown upon the children missing school for "vacations".

Any suggestions on how I should break the news to the teachers & schools?

Thanks for any tips!

Michelle

p.s. How do I put the "ticker" on the bottom of my post, to show the number of days, hours, etc... until our next visit to WDW? That is SOOOOOOO cute!

[A Mickeyfan]

What grades are they in?? When my kids were in elementary, I always told the teachers the truth. They were fine with it, some even suggested little reports for them to do. In middle school, they really didn't care much, never suggest any extra work for them to do....and in high school....I found out the hard way, telling them the truth gave my children an "UNEXCUSED" absence! They don't consider having to go out of town a reason for missing school. Now unforturantly, I can only have them miss 3 days at a time & I have to say they are sick. Anything over 3 days will require a dr's note or it will be "Unexcused". So even if they are really sick for more than 3 days, if I don't spend the money on the dr's, the days out will count against them. (and sometimes the dr's feel if they aren't running a temp...they don't need to be seen!?!?!)

[MELISA]

We will be there at the same time!:) My kids will miss 4 days of school and I plan to discuss it with their teachers at our Fall
Parent/Teacher conferences. I will get the work they will miss and do it before our trip!

[Otto's Doll]

oops, check next message!

[Otto's Doll]

I would make a point of telling them as early as possible, and asking for some ideas from them on how the children can use this trip for some educational credit, such as reports they could write, and perhaps even plotting the journey on a map. If you go to the teachers and they see that you are trying to work with them, they may be very willing to help you out.
I also gave the teachers a time period in which all missed work would be made up. (I said one week from our return).

Have a blessed time!
Otto's Doll

[ohMom]

Michelle - welcome to DIS!! to get your countdown clock click here (http://disboards.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=381216)

As for missing school - i also am pulling my DDs (grades 1 and 6) out of school for 7 days in the beginning of December. We did this four years ago on our only other trip to WDW.

Each school district is probably different, check your handbook for your specific policy. Our district requires written notification two weeks prior to the absence. I will probably tell the teachers soon though, and then submit my official written notification three weeks ahead. There is no guarantee that the teachers will allow them to make up their work, but most teachers really do want their students to succeed and are willing to work with the parents to get all work done. My first grader actually has the same teacher my oldest had for second grade on our 1999 trip! I'm a bit reluctant to tell her, but I know her well enough to know that she'll be thrilled that my DD has this opportunity and there won't be any problems.

My oldest DD is at an intermediate school and has three teachers so --- I'll just have to wait and see :) From my teacher friends too I have learned that teachers really want to keep a good relationship with parents so I would think most will try hard to work out something. Now if she has to take a zero or two in the gradebook b/c our vacation, we will do everything we can to get extra credit, etc to raise her grade back up. I know that is the risk we are taking.

Good luck!!! Maybe we'll see you at WDW!!

[Michelle Proper]

Thank you all for the previous tips.

Maybe I am being a little neurotic, but we have just attended a Middle School Orientation for my DD 6th grade - and the teachers kept stressing how "important" it is for the children to attend EVERY day of school, etc...

I know the teachers were referring to the problem students that are continually truant, but I have to tell you, I am sweating bullets!

My youngest DD is going into 2nd grade, and I am confident that I will be able to speak frankly with her teachers.

Thanks for the tips, and check out the "counter", OhMom!!! :D

[lsh]

Teachers love WDW, too. I am a teacher and I have never had a problem with my students being pulled from school for a family vacation -especially if they get to experience the magic of Disney. Just be up front about it and give the teacher(s) plenty of notice. I usually try not to send a lot of work with students - it is a vacation! If I know in advance, I can do any necessary assessments/testing or important assignments that the child may miss prior to departure and they can just go and have fun! The only thing I would check on is whether there will be any formal standardized testing done with your child(ren) during the time you will be at WDW. Sometimes there are limited windows for testing and if the teacher knows in advance, any tests could be given prior to your child leaving. Fortunately, most of this type of testing is done in the Spring so you probably won't need to worry about it. I wouldn't ask for additional work, projects or reports unless you really want to do them and know you'll have time. At my grade level (2nd grade) much of our work is hands-on and new concepts require the student to be in class so all I could really send home is practice type 'busy work' which really isn't very productive. Worksheets etc. are not only not very fun for the student, but it does make more work for the teacher as well. I would much rather know in advance, be able to preteach any important concepts to the child before they leave and then follow-up with them after they've had a wonderful vacation. If your child is having some difficulty in school, perhaps taking the current reading book they are working on and reading on the plane would be most beneficial. Don't stress over telling your child's teacher. I know if I had the opportunity, I would much rather pull my child from school and go to WDW during the off-season. Unfortunately, we do not have that option. I'm sure your child's teacher will understand. Go and have a blast!:)

[tinaluis]

Michelle,
I know how you feel. My daughter's first grade teacher stressed how important attendance was, gave them charts and graphs, etc., so I though she would give us a hard time about taking her out for 2 weeks. Lying is not an option because I knew my daughter would be excited and want to share her news and I didn't want to teach her that it was OK to lie. I told the teacher at the parent/teacher conference in the early Fall (our trip was in January) and she couldn't have been happier for us, which was a great relief. However, I'm sure there will come a time when they aren't so happy, but we're still going to schedule our vacations and go anyway. Most advice I've read on this board says to be matter of fact (not apologetic) and to stress that you understand that school is important, but that family vacation time is important too. Good luck and let us know how it goes.

[shady]

Why tell them anything? For elementary it might be hard because the kids will want to brag, but for High School just write a note saying the absence is/was permitted by the parent. THey cant do anything unless you give them a reason to do so. Quite frankly, it's none of the schools business when and where and for how long I choose to take my child out of school.

I do like the elementary idea of reports though. Makes learning fun for the kid.

[helenm29]

Actually, we have a form you fill out in the front office so that the kids don't miss out on their home work and the school system knows where they are so they can still get paid for the kids. My kids tend to start telling their teachers at least a month ahead of time just because they are so excited! what grade is your daughter in? my 10 year olds are in 4th and 5th which can be fairly busy but not insurmountable. My 16 year old is a Junior and THAT can get kind of sticky! we'll just make sure that he has all his work done as far ahead of time as possible. Good luck!

[momoftigger]

I am so frustrated! We will be taking our boys out of school 4 days over Labor Day week. The new policy in our city states that if they have two absences by the end of September we will be sent a letter and identified as a possible problem. If they have four absences by the end of October we will be sent another letter and have to attend a 3 hour truency class! I have done everything I know to do. I have let their teachers know as soon as school started and talked to the Principle. We have made arrangements to make up any work necessary and do a project for each. One just started Kindergarten and the other is in 2nd grade. The school suggested that I call the court liason and see if we fall into this "punishment". I just got a call back from the court liason and they said yes, we would have to attend the truency class....and it will be during the day, which we will have to take off work!! My second grader has had perfect attendance (except for bronchitis last year) up until now. I am at the point where I feel like calling the kids in sick for two days and the other two will be unexcused. I understand that there are some parents that do not keep an eye on their children and do not follow their education. But I am not one of them. I am trying to do all I can to be upfront and make up any work necessary. I just had to vent.

Marie

[helenm29]

momoftigger: I can hardly believe that your schools would be so STRICT! I know it's hard to keep track of kids while so many parents are at work all day and the schools are getting tougher but in special cases like this they should have a way to work with the system! I would go with calling them in sick and taking a hit for that! I would think that they have some kind of documentation on the information you've given them and the kids should not be punished when the system KNOWS what you are doing - you are a good parent who cares about the consequences! I tend to gripe about OUR system but it's NO where as tough as yours. GOOD LUCK and don't let it ruin your FUN!

[nancyL]

Im taking my kids (ages 9-4th grade, 7-1st grade and 3-preschool) out of school for 2 weeks the second and third weeks of school this year. Last year I did it for the middle two weeks of october. Life is way too short not to spend as much time with your family and to stress this much about a few days of missed school. I write a note to the school (in this instance I will hand deliver it to each teacher b/c of the time frame- they will only be back a week when we leave) stating (not requesting etc) that my children will be out of town from x date and they will return to school on y date. End of story. If the teacher chooses to send home work, we do it before we leave the house if time permits, or on the plane. If they dont, we write a daily journal while on vacation and just do as much homework as necessary when we return till the kids have caught up.
Hello?
What country do we live in? Anyone heard of FREEDOM??? Since when do we not have the right to spend some quality time with our families at a time and place of our choice?
(stands back w fire extinguisher).
:)
NancyL

[cfewell]

What happened to the good ol days. My parents pulled me out of school all the time for vacations etc.

I dont remember ever having a problem and I spoke to my mother this evening and she said she never had a problem. She just sent a note to school and it said I would be gone from this day to that day and that was the end of it.

What is going on with the schools, do they not remember 100 years ago when kids were pulled for weeks at a time just so they could farm their parents land, or even pulled out of school altogether so they could work on the farm full time.

I am sorry, this is really stupid. With the way "family" life is now a days, with everyone being so busy, I believe it is VERY important to take that special time for the family.

Sometimes parents can only take their vacations during school season. Fortunatly for me the only non busy time at my work is in October. My son will start Kindergarten next year so I do not have to start worrying about it for another year, but you want to bet that I will be taking him out of school every year in October for our vacation.

Mommy and Daddy cant get away any other time so we will take our vacations and make sure our son makes up any time/work that he needs to keep caught up with the rest of the class.

I cannot believe our school system has gone this out of control. I realize that there are problem situations out there where children miss a lot of school, but with a signed note from a parent saying that child will be out of town there should be NO reason for that to count against your child in any way. ESPECIALLY if that child is an above average student and able to make up any work without falling behind.

I am having a real problem with this as you can see and I have not even gotten into the situation yet.

I am sorry for the school district "officals" that feel they need to put these restrictions on kids just because they themselves cannot take vacation whenever they want - however some of us cannot take vacation when we want either and it just so happens that our time is a different time than theirs.

Again I understand some restrictions for problem situations, where a child just misses willy-nilly, but I am not talking of these situations.

SORRY ABOUT THE B...... Session I just had - LOL.

[BostonTigger]

Originally posted by Michelle Proper
Maybe I am being a little neurotic, but we have just attended a Middle School Orientation for my DD 6th grade - and the teachers kept stressing how "important" it is for the children to attend EVERY day of school, etc...

I know the teachers were referring to the problem students that are continually truant, but I have to tell you, I am sweating bullets!



You're right, the teachers were stressing this to the problem students. Most teachers are willing to help those that show up to classes 90-95% of the time as apposed to those who don't. So with that in mind, I would say that most teachers are willing to help those students who do well and don't miss a lot of school.

[Otto's Doll]

Just a note.. I sent notes over the summer to both kids teachers, informing them we are leaving tomorrow. Both came home today with assigned work ~ a story and 2 practice pages for my DD8, and some Social studies questions and reading, and math reading and questions for my DS10. Both teachers asked the kids to keep a journal of their activities to bring in the first day. ~ I thought this was more than fair, and was glad I had let the school know early. The kids started school yesterday, but the teachers had no problem letting them goon vacation. I even had a note from the 8 YO's teacher, saying she was jealous, and wanted to go too!

I think communication is key in this type of situation!

Jeanne:wave:

[NotUrsula]

"What country do we live in? Anyone heard of FREEDOM??? Since when do we not have the right to spend some quality time with our families at a time and place of our choice?"

Personally, I don't bother telling the school where we will be when we are out of town, I agree that it is NOTB. However, my child attends a private school.

I *firmly* believe that the primary reason that public schools are adopting really draconian policies these days is money. Cold hard cash. The states all pay public schools X amount per day for each student that is present that day. If children are out, the district loses money. Where I live, getting public school kids to attend the first day of school is traditionally a problem. Last year, 25% of 40,000 students missed the first day of school, and the district lost over $600,000 in state funding for just that ONE day. Right now, the district is many millions of dollars in debt, largely because attendance problems created a huge shortfall in the amount of state funding that the schools were expecting.

So, as an additional strategy, you might offer to make up for any state funding that the school will not receive if your child is out. (I am NOT suggesting doing this as a bribe to get the principal to overlook the absence; I am suggesting it as a way to allow school officials to protect their fiscal interests while still allowing the absence.)

As to truancy boards, calling is not the thing to do. Send an advance letter, via certified mail, with copies of all of your correspondence with the school and teacher regarding the absence. Obviously, the tone of the letter should be polite, but groveling is not necessary. Believe me, a truancy judge is NOT going to want to waste his/her time with a concerned and involved parent who presented a make-up work plan *in advance* for a few days of out-of-town travel. They have MUCH better uses for their time. However, once the wheels of the truancy courts process get moving, they are hard to stop. Sending an advance letter should be much appreciated, as it makes it possible to head all of that paperwork off before it starts. The return letter will probably contain a suggestion to try to schedule on a school vacation next time, but will almost certainly excuse you from truancy charges for the days in question.

[jdads2]

My kids are in grammar school and I tell the teachers and the principal that we are going to WDW. I also let them know that there will be no homework during our vacation. I let them know well in advance so that my kids can get ahead of others before we leave. I have gotten into a few discussions with a couple of teachers and explain it this way. Our family doesn’t have the luxury of getting summer vacation time. I work nights and weekends and my wife works days and have weekends off. As a family we have a maximum of 27 hrs of family time (hrs we are all awake) together each week. We feel that it is very important that we spend quality family time together. It just happens that we are able to spend our vacations in someplace as nice as WDW. We haven’t had any problems.

I have the kids perform different age appropriate tasks. My oldest keeps all receipts and keeps tabs on outgoing cash. He is also responsible for writing reviews of attractions and restaurants. My 9 yr old is also responsible for the receipts and must write short stories about what we did for the day. My 6 yr old will have to draw and write sentences of our adventures.

All this could change if the kids grades suffer or if the school workload gets to be too much.

[helenm29]

how strict is your school system? I've been hearing from a lot of prople about truancy problems just for 2 or 3 day trip! we always start telling the schools about our trip just as soon as school starts - we're going 1st week in December also. Most of the time the teachers give report assignments that the kids can log in a notebook and some times some math and spelling. We TRY and get those done before we go and save the notebook for the trip.
Also, my Junior has a lap-top in which he can do his homework and e-mail it in! it's great! GOOD LUCK! HM

[MickeyMonstersMom]

I am a teacher - used to teach 9th-12th grades, now teach 7th - and I've come to hate hearing that students will be gone for vacation. Why? Many, many students ask for the work, but only once in 9 years has a student actually handed in the work that I assigned.

When a student or parent informs me of an upcoming vacation, I put in at least an hour of extra work, figuring out which days the student will miss (we're on a rotating schedule, so this is a pain), copying and compiling notes, handouts, and assignments, and then annotating them with explanations of which to complete first, which items should be kept and which handed in, etc. Except for that one case, everyone returns with blank (or lost) papers and NO idea what the class is currently doing. Then I have to help the student play catch-up and sometimes even deal with parents who claim that the low report card grade was a punishment because their child missed class (not, of course, because they did not complete the work and/or failed subsequent tests).

Last spring, a student told me she'd be gone for the entire month of May to visit a parent who'd been serving in the armed forces out-of-state. Understanding how important this trip would be for her, I forgave all her assignments except one research task that she would add to a group's project upon her return. I also reformatted (to be compatible with her dad's computer) the notes she'd need to study for our final exam and e-mailed them to her along with detailed instructions on the research task. Despite the fact that she had a month to do the work as well as computer access, she never bothered to print out the notes or even find out what topic she was to research. She returned 3 days before the Final completely unprepared and asked for an extension - how on earth could I grant it?? Her average nosedived at the end of the year, where she had no chance to bring it back up.

As a parent, I understand the value of family time, and understand that you can't always go during school breaks - however, if you do take time off from school, PLEASE make sure your children complete the work that their teachers went out of their way to prepare. It will help keep the kids on track academically - and maybe help us teachers be less curmudgeonly as well!

[/rant] (Thanks for listening!)

[Pinnie]

MickyMonstersMoom,

Well said and gives this discussion another view.

I, too, am a teacher that spends extra time getting materials ready for a student to take on vacation. Parents need to keep in mind that WE as teachers have a family at home, too. This extra work that I do is on my OWN time, since I have only a set amount of time to prepare materials for the whole class in general. I have sent packets of lessons home and it is a rare occasion that I get them back completed. The attitude, "We were on vacation" bothers me. If you have NO intention of having your child do the assigned work, do NOT ask your teacher to spend the time getting materials ready.

Another incident bothers me. Parents are so quick to call a distict in non-compliance of an IEP. I have had parents that take their child out of school for vacations and miss speech therapy, OT or PT. Then when they come back and our speech therapist, OT or PT are absent, they are the first ones to complain that their child is NOT getting proper services. You can't have it both ways!!!

I always say to parents that it is their decision to go on vacation. But, keep in mind that their grades may reflect missed work!

pin

[Danauk]

I am also a teacher but in the UK. I teach children aged 7-9 and they are allowed to miss 10 days per year for holiday time etc and we authorise the absence. I do not mind my children missing a few weeks of school, they will catch up but I do mind being asked to set them work to do when they are away as this has to be done in my time. Also this work rarely gets done. I usually suggest they keep a diary of what they do each day and then at the end of the holiday write a report of the favourite things they did. They can then share it with the class when they come back, showing pictures as well etc. I do however keep a copy of homework that has been set in their absence as ask them to complete it upon their return this way they have some idea of what they have missed in class. As usual though I will be willing to go through the work with them. I also give them copies of spellings and multiplication tables we will be learning whilst they are away so they can learn these as well.
I forgot to say that I love WDW too and have just returned from 2 weeks there which I will deffinately be sharing with the kids when we go back next week and share what we did in the holidays!! I even bought a toy tigger for them to keep in the classroom. The table that behaves or works the best during the day gets to have it on their table!!

[LisaGoeke]

I agree with NotUrsula in that a lot has to do with $$ for the school district. The more the child is there, the more they get. I was informed that they (our school district) gets much, much more if they have students attend summer school, and there are even incentives given to the students to attend summer school every day (my daughter got $100 gift card for 17 days of summer school) so it must be pretty much.

We go to school year round and when we leave for Disney we will be on cycle break. However, while we're on the cruise, that Thursday, everyone will be returning to school. Hopefully my daughter will only miss two days of school, and since it's right after cycle break, I don't see that as being a big problem.

I will inform DD's teacher in a few weeks but don't anticipate her having any type of work or assignments (she's in 2nd grade).

[cfewell]

I am not going taking a side, nor am I trying to make anyone mad.

BUT HELLO!!! most of us take work home with us that we have to do on our own time.

I have spoke to many people in our schoold district who are teachers about this discussion we have been talking about (a lot of them I graduated in high school with and are freinds) they sure do not mind spending the time getting school work papers together for their kids, and say it usually does not take that long to do, they also admit that once and awhile a student has not done their work HOWEVER most of the time when the papers and instructions are sent home with the parent who requested them the work is done on time and handed in completly.


When I say I have spoke to many, I mean many, I was quit upset about this discussion as you can see from my eariler post, I have spoken to 8 different teachers, 1 K - 1 1st - 2 3rd - 1 6th - 1 High School English - 1 High School Spanish Teacher and 1 High School Record Keeping Teacher.

I also spoke to a Vice Principal that came into our shop last Friday.

What a burden it seems on some of you.. that is sad, a lot of people have to do things in their job that they do not like. I have clients that try to but in on other clients time, but I have to deal with that too.

Well Some us only have a certain time frame that we can be away from home too, and sometimes it conflicts with school, however my oldest brother has taken his two kids out of school every year since they started - 1 is a Freshman and the other a 6th grader. Both are A students with an occassional B+/B. He works in the same shop I do and he can only take his sons out in Oct. also. He said they always had their assignments turned in when they returned.

So I say this, take your child out of school, get their homework done before they get back, if the tacher is gracious enough to give it to you, and spend the time with your kids.

Life is WAY TO SHORT, and having lost a brother myself at a very young age, you NEVER know what is going to happen tomorrow so HAVE A GREAT TIME AND THE HECK WITH WHAT THEY THINK OR SAY!

[Pinnie]

Cfewell,

Please understand that I was NOT complaining about getting materials ready on my OWN time. My complaint is that by doiing it for students and parents who have NO INTENTION of completiing the work, takes time away from MY family and from the other prep work that I do at home.

Trust me, after 27 years of teaching, I see a BIG difference in attitude of parents and students. Years ago, it was very rare to have a family take a vacation during school time, now it is common. I still say kids belong in SCHOOL during school hours. I am sorry that so many families can't do it any other way. Maybe THAT needs to be looked at!

pin

[cfewell]

May I ask - What needs to be looked at?

I believe your work only gives you a certain time to go on vacation.

My work only gives me a certain time to go on vacation also, it just does not go along with yours.

I would hope that you are not suggesting that this world STOP for school hours... I believe if everyone took their vacation during the summer as you have too then vacations would stink anyway.

I dont get 3 months out of the year off... I do not get Spring Break off. I get a small window opportunity in Oct to take my 2 WEEKS off. So I ask again what needs to be looked at?

This world and economy is nothing like it was 27 years ago, and we cannot stop times from a changin.

Kids DO NOT need to be in school everyday of every school hour to maintain high grades - ie my brothers children that I mentioned previously.

so again I say this..... take your child out of school, get their homework done before they get back, if the teacher is gracious enough to give it to you, and spend the time with your kids.

Life is WAY TO SHORT, and having lost a brother myself at a very young age, you NEVER know what is going to happen tomorrow so HAVE A GREAT TIME AND THE HECK WITH WHAT THEY THINK OR SAY!

[nataliesdaddy]

Originally posted by Michelle Proper
We are going to WDW the last week of November & first week of December... My lovely daughters will miss 6 days of school. I am dreading telling the teachers! I know they frown upon the children missing school for "vacations".

Any suggestions on how I should break the news to the teachers & schools?

Thanks for any tips!

Michelle

p.s. How do I put the "ticker" on the bottom of my post, to show the number of days, hours, etc... until our next visit to WDW? That is SOOOOOOO cute!

OK so a comment and several suggestions

First, at such a young age if the kids are yanked out of school they aren't missing much if anything but fellowship with their friends and recess. Not like when they come back they will be expected to have gone over the differential equations part of their text books.

next - reasons to give

1) Grandma Daisy in Florida is deathly ill and may not be with us much longer - Uncle Donald also

2) Your child is suffering from a mental disorder and some laughter and levity is prescribed to lift the child's spirits (Any shrink will give you a note to this effect as they all tend to be living in Fantasyland anyway and they think everyone has some type of disorder)

3) Your husband is in the military and has been stationed in Orlando Florida extremely close (if not actually on property at Disney World) - to keep from traumatizing the children due to seperation from their father you will be moving to this new duty station...albeit only for a week or when the parkhoppers passes run out.

4) Your children are actually midgets and beyond school age anyway. You just make them attend to give them something to do so they will have people to hang out with that are their size.

5) Your children suffer from a mild yet potent form schizaphrenia and must follow a routine or they suffer a break with reality and its subsequent psychotic episode. As your Disney trip is part of their routine, not taking it will trigger a psychotic episode and psychological harm ...and "the school doesn't want to do that a child, now do they?"

6) And lastly, a great excuse is - Your child must be present at the Nobel Prize ceremony to recieve their award for theoretical representations of "Quantum
Mechanics as Illustrated on Paper with Crayon and Glitter Glue."

All joking aside - at that age the kids aren't exactly having intense crash courses in anything. Just tell the school that the child must miss a week due to family issues. You don't have to tell them what family issues.

[MickeyMonstersMom]

Originally posted by Pinnie
Cfewell,

Please understand that I was NOT complaining about getting materials ready on my OWN time. My complaint is that by doing it for students and parents who have NO INTENTION of completing the work, takes time away from MY family and from the other prep work that I do at home.

Ditto.

The philosophy of my school is to educate and nurture - and since family vacations can be a very important "nurturing" activity, I'm happy to support that (and their education) by organizing students' work. As I said previously, though, I can recall only one instance over nearly a decade in which the students actually did the work which they had requested in the first place. (I have taught Social Studies in grades 7, 9, 10, 11, and 12.) I'd much rather they not waste my time by asking for the materials if they aren't going to use them.

[Pinnie]

*****HAVE A GREAT TIME AND THE HECK WITH WHAT THEY THINK OR SAY!*****

And people say the SCHOOLS are FAILING. Sorry, I can't teach children who aren't THERE.

There is a lot of work that just can not be made up outside the classroom. School is your child's work and we as parents and educatiors need to get back on track with that mode of thinking.

pin

[ls1222]

Well, I just "broke" the news to my childrens teachers (1st and 3rd) and filled out the vacation papers to be "approved" by the school district. Regardless of approval or not, we are going as the trip is booked and paid for. Our children will be missing 6 school days. I see both sides- as a parent, I really feel it is my decision regardless of how the school or teachers feel about it and I won't feel guilty. I will have both children complete all assignments in a timely fashion. I can also understand how important regular attendance is at school and I am sure it would be frustrating for a child not to complete the make up work.

[DumboFan]

My husband is a middle school Science teacher & loves it when his students take a vacation to WDW! He spends hours each summer coming up with questions from EPCOT for them (ie, do you really move on the hydrolaters, what is test 9a on Test Track, & my daughter's favorite, what smell is sprayed during Figment!?) This year, he took the video camera on all the rides to use for his cirriculum.

I will be taking my daughter out for 5 days in December for a cruise & a few days at WDW. She starts kindergarten tomorrow. Sniff, sniff Our school district allows 5 vacation days a year. I'm not too concerned about missing time yet. In a few years, I know I'll have to really think about taking her on vacation during the school year, but not yet. I haven't told her teacher yet because we just found out last week who her teacher is. I'll probably talk to her during Back to School Night.

I agree with the family being part of the "nuture", especially extended family. My brother is going with us for the first time since my husband has to stay home & teach!

[cfewell]

unfortunatly PINNIE did not pull the whole quote, nothing like being a teacher and misquoting someone out of context LOL. (either you are only reading what you want or you do not comprehend well LOL)

I believe I mentioned getting their homework done if the teacher is gracious enough to give it to them.

I also believe the 8 teachers I spoke about in my previous post that said they rarely have ANY problems when a parent asks for work ahead of time and the instructions are sent home to the parent that asked for them.

I would not pull my kids out if they were c/d or f students, I would also not take my children out if they were pron to sickness a lot and missed due to illness. That being said.

I am not furunate to have 2 months off a year and given a spring break and a bunch of extra holidays.

I get 2 weeks in Oct., and for you teachers information it is mostly for you. If I did not work, you would not have grade cards, letterheads, Env., payroll checks, lunch tickets..etc., these things are ordered while you are out enjoying 2 month vacations, someone has to print them for you so when you walk back into the school building they are there. Grade Schools, High Schools, Universities. We also do Football programs & Basketball programs, the only break I get it is inbetween these two programs. Which just happens to be in Oct.

I was taken out of school for vacations every year and that was a long time ago... I dont want to show my age LOL...and I was an A/B student.

MY GRANDFATHER NEVER FINISHED 8th GRADE AND HE OWNED 5 BUSINESS AT ONE TIME PLUS 6 RENTAL PROPERTIES, he will never have to want for a thing in his old age. Tell him he should "get back on track" LOL.

You dont have to be in school every single school day of the year to get good grades and be a good student.

Each parent is different and each child is different each should be given a chance. Not the "I CANT TEACH IF YOU ARE NOT HERE" attitude. A lot of great people and great minds didnt even finish school.

I would certainly not tell my child he needs to go to "WORK" at age 5. I do not believe school is their work. I would be shocked if one of my sons teachers told me that. I must come from a different kind of school system. AGAIN EACH CHILD/PARENT is different and should be treated as such.

I believe I will be taking my son out of school for his vacation when his time comes, I will make sure his work is done if he is fortunate not to have a teacher who is so closed minded.

Mickeymonsters mom.. I understand your previous post about doing the extra work and then it not being completed, that would really upset me also, I am sorry you live in such a place where the parents do not care. I happen to live in a very small community where the parents do care... from what the teachers around here have told me. I did not mean anything by my post to offend that comment. I wholeheartedly agree with you, and I wish more parents would make sure their children were getting their "reg. assignments" done also, not just their "vacation assignments".

I did not start my first reply on this thread to become a debate with PINNIE... however it has turned into one... it is one that neither of us are going to win, because it is called having ones OPNION .. I only stated my opinon the first time and was slammed for it..so I replied, I believe I am am allowed to have one of those and speak it, it is sad that everytime you do so however their is someone out there that wants to point you out and slam you for it.

I do not believe I will continue on with this thread due to I believe life is way to short and it is really not worth arguing about, it is actually kind of childish, because each parent is going to do what they want to anyway, no matter what is said in this thread.

This is a Disney board where fun is supposed to be had not slamming people for their opnion when it does not suit yours.

[disneyjunkie]

Wow,


- Teachers may have 2 months off during the summer, but many use that time to plan for the next school year,and/or take courses to keep their certification current.
Since you've spoken to such a huge number of teachers, I'm sure they've told you this.

- You'll find parents that "don't care" about their about kids education in all areas. They are in small, large, rural, & urban communities.

- If my son attended a school where he could be out for a week and not miss anything, I'd be very concerned.

- My sister and I were never taken out of school for vacations. Heck we didn't even miss school to go the doctor. (All of our appointments were afterschool or on Saturdays. ) We were good students and both went to college. (My mom nor my dad completed high school) Kids who are taken out for vacations and kids who work around the school schedule can all be great students.


I don't understand the "the school can't tell me what to do with my child" attitude. :confused: Of course they can. They tell us
which 180 days our kids have to be in school, what time they have to be there, what time they have to leave, how they have to act while they are there....

I think all families have to do what works best for them. No one should feel guilty about the choice they make. No matter when we vacation, I'm sure all of our kids will turn out just fine.

[TimeWarp]

Be truthful to your teacher!

[JodyTG]

Ok...I can't resist it...I have to put in my 2 cents. I am not a teacher, but one of those "concerned parents" you keep hearing about.

In my daughter's school district, if a child has more than 9 absences in a semester, the child loses credit for that semester. Period. This is for EVERYONE K-12.

Even if this was not so, I would NEVER consider taking my child out of school for more than 1 day unless she were ill. School is getting harder and harder. What our parents got away with when we were kids is no longer possible. There is no more "breezing" through school. Even the "smart" kids have to work hard. The United States is such an advanced country in so many ways, so why are our children not equally advanced? Why are our kids' test scores not the highest in the world? I feel it is because we do not make our children look at their education as a top priority. When we let them miss school to go on vacation, we are telling them that school isn't that important, so why should they think that it is?

I believe someone mentioned before that SCHOOL IS THEIR JOB! It needs to be treated as such. Don't steal your kids education from them. They will need it in the future.

[helenm29]

You know, Even if going to school is "Their job", EVEN those who HAVE jobs get a vacation! when your kids go to school year round you only get a certain amount of time for them to be off right? well, what if some of your kids go year round and some of your kids go traditional? we are stuck! all of our high school and some of our junior high schools are traditional while elementery kids are 99% year round in our district. I TOTALLY agree that kids and parents should make school number one but lucky for us that in our district you are able to pull your kids out of school with the provizo that YOU AND YOUR CHILDREN MUST TURN IN THE WORK when you get back! If you do NOT, they will lose their semester grades. School is SO much harder now...I'll admit to not having a clue on how to do some of my kids homework. We make sure to either do the work as far ahead of time as possible or have it finished and ready to turn in when we get home.

[Crazy4mandms]

(I hate getting off topic but I just can't help myself) As a parent and future teacher (just grad w/a degree in Ed), I appreciate the attempts to justify our summers off. Quote>>>>>I get 2 weeks in Oct., and for you teachers information it is mostly for you. If I did not work, you would not have grade cards, letterheads,...... these things are ordered while you are out enjoying 2 month vacations>>>>>>>. Sorry that there are so many bitter over this, however, there were many reasons why I (and am sure other teachers) chose to become a teacher and HECK YA!! having my summers off was one of the great perks!!! The majority of teachers attend workshops, teach summer school, etc...however, there are others who just GO ON VACATION and blow their summers away! Who cares? It is up to them just as your week or two vacation is up to you! One of the reasons a teacher's salary is less than other careers that require a Master's Degree is because we are contracted for 10 months and that is reflected in the pay! We do not live under communism, you can chose your path in life...If you want your summers off....become a teacher, if you don't want to be an educator then don't condemn those of us who chose that path and worked hard to get there!!

[helenm29]

Hey crazy4mandms: I'm sorry if it sounds like I'm critisizing teachers! Honestly, I admire teachers SO MUCH...especially since my kids are getting in the upper grades and I have sat in on some classes. I don't know how you all do it! it's been a tough thing to discuss because so many of us are in the same position
and the teachers are stuck in the middle. I guess you just have to go with your gut feeling and do what you have to do. Take care! Helen
'

[Crazy4mandms]

Helen, we must have posted at the same time because I wasn't responding to your post. I didn't think you were critical of teachers at all in the last post (and I pulled my kids from school last year, too!). I was gearing it towards the person who seemed especially steamed that he/she had to work all summer (for teachers) while teachers get to vacation for 2 months. I appreciate those who attempt to justify the 2 months off by saying that teachers do training, teach summer school, etc., however, to me it isn't necessary! I substitute now but when I have a full time teaching job I will do some training over the summer and will probably need 2 weeks to set up classroom/begin planning (probably more!), however, you'll see me at WDW and lots of other places as I travel with my kids for MOST of the summer!!! And that's my point...my vacation (unpaid because, again, teacher contracts are for 10 months) is MINE and I'm going to do what I want with it!! Thanks to those of you on the board who are supportive of teachers!! BTW, back to the original post, when I pulled my kids from school last year to go to WDW I let the teachers know (well ahead of time) that I did not expect them to give my kids work ahead of time so that the teacher wouldn't have extra work to do and that I understood if they were not allowed to make the work up. The teachers did give my kids some work to do ahead of time but my 5th grader did most of it when he got back on his lunch hour/recess time. He left his elementary graduation ceremony with honors and awards!

[helenm29]

Hey crazy4mandms: Sorry to have sounded like I was ranting at you! I just think this is way too touchy of a subject for some people. you are so right about the way you worked it out with your child last year....I guess I wasn't thinking about the extra work the teacher does to have it available for us to go. I think maybe I will approach it the way you did this year and not push the teachers although the school system here requires them to give the kids the work ahead of time so it's going to be hard. again, no hard feelings? Helen

[cfewell]

Crazy4mandms

FYI: I am not steamed that teachers get two months off, please do not quote me out of context. If you read the whole thread you would know I was critized for not taking vacation during the summer and attempting to pull my child out of school, by one of the teachers posting. I was only defending myself and if you would have read the whole thread you would know that, if you did read the whold thread then I really feel sorry that you do not see where I was coming from.

I do not care what teachers do with their summer, I really dont care, my point was not everyone can take their vacation during the summer, and I have to take my child out of school if I want to have ANY Family vacations with him in the 12 years of his high school career.

I am sorry that I offended anyone, however again, I am entitled to my opinion, this thread should be moved to the debate section of these boards, because it seems that anything anyone says is taken the wrong way.... to touchy of a subject for a HAPPY DISNEY BOARD LOL.

[Mermaid02]

We are taking our 2 children out of school for 7 days this fall for our first REAL family vacation EVER! I went to open house and told all of my dd's teachers Thursday night. Everyone was fine with it. Her science teacher and vice principal turned out to be "Disney Freaks" and gave us loads of advice and "must do's". My dd is in 8th grade- very difficult accelerated classes- but very bright and self motivated. My ds is only in 1st grade and his teacher said travelling is educational in itself at this age.

[Doodlebug939]

First off let me say that I am a military wife. I have never been on a vacation with my family in the 10 years we have been married.

My husband has been gone for four months this year as well as several weeks here and there. I am taking my child out of school for four days before Thanksgiving break. He is in kindergarten for some added info.

I talked this over with the teacher on our first meeting because I feel that we have to develop a relationship together and work as a team to educate my son.

I must say that she was very helpful and understanding. She said that what she could pull out ahead of time she would be happy to do so and whatever else she would save for him when we return.

I think a lot of it is about respect. I respected her enough to tell her what I was doing and why and she respected me with an offer to help. I dont want her to take more time out of her schedule then she has to. She told me that she works on her lesson plans about two weeks in advance so it shouldnt be a problem.

The school though said that it could be counted as unexcused and would be reported to the state. I feel that I have an excuse, I am trying to have some family time. But we will see how it goes in November.

[Niagara2]

My boys now ages 8 and 9 have been going to Disney or on a cruise for that last 7 years. We have pulled them from school twice a school year. We give the teachers alot of notice and ask for work. Some trips we have gotten ALOT of work to do!! Well, we do all of it and we have had half days taken up by this work. I am not complaining as we get to Disney at least 2 or 3 times a year and half a day of learning is fine with us as it isn't a once in a lifetime experience. I do believe that the trips will cease as the kids get older and will only be during school breaks or a day or two around normal days off. We have done journals, picture scrapbooks, alot of reading, but mostly we truly spend time teaching the kids about what they are experiencing. Epcot is a two or three day stop for us at times. We have been to dozens of countries and experienced so much. When they do get to some of the facts of these countries in History or Geograpgy they excel. We have all A's and B's.....one C last year. We have memories and expereinces for a lifetime.
With all the said, we leave in three weeks for a cruise to Haiti, Jamacia and Mexico. We have never been with the kids to any of these places and look forward to learning together the history and facts of each stop. Now, I do not look forward to informing the teachers on Tuesday at the Home school meeting, but will so that if they want to work with us we can bring the work along with us. I hope they are OK with it but I go with a clear conscience as we spend alot of time together learning, much more so than a normal work week for me and DH.
Oh by the way, we always bring back a souvenir as a thank you to the teachers. They seem very appreciative of that too!!!

[Gomez Gang]

my dd just began 2nd grade and I told the teacher last week that she would not be there for a week(luckily 1 of our vaca. days falls on an institute day!) I was truthful about us going to WDW. I told her "I don't expect any preferential treatment or for you to go out of your way. If you could let me know what needs to be covered I will take the responsibility". Well, her teacher was SOOOOO nice about it! She said it was refreshing to hear a parent not expecting that the teacher to do extra work and she appreciated my willingness to help. The "work" she has assigned her to do is to read 15 minutes every day, write 1 paragraph a day telling about the things she did that day and most of all to have fun! Hopefully you will have the same luck with your kid's teachers!:D

[Whosemom]

Oh the guilt!:crazy:

We're going to miss 8 days of school (I'm a bad mom, but (brag alert) - the kid reads 5 grade levels ahead ).

I discussed it with the principal before buying tickets (I'm an unassertive weenie).

I get annoyed with people who miss more than two days of MY class {10wk x 2 classes community college remedial math} (I'm a hypocrite)

My girlie will miss the Christmas program that they are ALREADY practicing for, so she is a little bummed every music class (Isn't that ridiculous??? Can't we maybe learn something besides 2 songs in 18 weeks?)

We already aknowledge that our 2nd is not going to be the book-learner that the first is, so this will be the last school time trip. (I'm being pessimistic)

On the other hand, we'll have a great bonding, loving time. My children will learn about parts of our great country as we drive down. We can grab some science and social studies at epcot, money skills and reading everywhere, cooperation and responsibility at the campsite, good manners and patience in line.

All in all, everyone has valid points, I could personally argue it adamantly both ways (a testimony to my insanity). All of parenting is such a balancing act, and changes not only with each family and each child but each and every day. Let's share our "truth" in love :)

Beloved, let us love one another, for Love is from God. 1 John4:7

[BrerMom]

I honestly don't mind if a kid is gone from my class for a family vacation.

I don't even mind tutoring before or after school to help the student catch up.

I do mind if the parents request work and either don't do any of it, only barely start it, or - my personal favorite - don't even pick it up from the office after they request it.

I do mind if a student can't learn the new concepts because he hasn't done the make-up work.

I mind when the parents think I can magically fix it when the child fails the semester because of too many missed days in one semester. This is a school policy, not a teacher policy. (It's a strange fact that many kids get sick when they return to school, thus missing more days than the parent originally intended.)

I really mind when the parents are angry AT ME if their child's grade is any lower than usual for the marking period.


With the pressure schools are under to perform and with state aid being tied to attendance, is it any wonder attendance is stressed?

[Miss Mickey Mania]

As a teacher in Scotland I just tell a kid going away to have a great time. It's school policy here NOT to give any work to be done while on holiday, even if the parents ask for it.

This year, we now have to mark absence for holidays as Unauthorised.

My main problem is when the kid comes back. For example, my class this year is 6 year olds. We started back after summer in mid August and already one of the children has been away for 2 weeks!! TWO weeks! He returns on Monday and has missed a lot of work. All the new stuff we have covered so far will have to be caught up. That's what annoys me. I know people often go out away out of season to save money but it's really getting out of control over here.

Louise

[JodyTG]

Very well said, Louise. I appreciate hearing from another country that has the same problems we have. When my daughter was younger I helped out at her school quite a bit. It seems that the teachers were completely OVERLOADED with helping kids to "catch-up" due to being absent too much. Illness, of course, can't be helped; but vacations can. So......time the teacher would have usually spent with the entire class was taken up by one or two kids whose parents just can't get them to school. Is this fair to my child and the other children that are not gone for days or weeks at a time on vacation? I think not.

I'm sorry if this is upsetting to people, but it's just the way I feel after seeing way, way, WAY too much of it. Our kids need to be in school. There's summer break, winter break, spring break and some districts even have fall break now. This is more vacation that most adults have from their jobs. Isn't it enough time to use for vacations? I also agree that we shouldn't save money at the expense of our children's education.

God bless our teachers and keep them strong (and sane) for out there, right not, one of them is teaching our future President.

Jody

[mevamom]

We are going to WDW in October. I just wrote the teacher a note asking about makeup homework. She said that all she requires is that the child keep a journal during the trip to share with the class when we get back. We will catch up with homework a little at a time so not to be overwhelmed.

[airhead]

I live with a 4th grade teacher. I hear the stories about kids
being pulled out of school for a family vacation. It seems like there is a lot of concepts that are taught in a week that kids need to be in school to grasp or they risk being "out in left field"
when they come back. Some kids never catch up from that family vacation,and I can only imagine how hard that must be for a kid,always feeling like you "missed the boat". There's nothing like that feeling of success in class. Ya know what I mean?? The teacher teaches a new math concept,like fractions or long division
and the kids practice and ask questions.The teacher is there helping to make sure each kid gets it!! How awesome that must feel,to actually know how to solve the math problem!! And the next day,the class moves to the next concept building on what was taught the day before. I can only imagine the lost feeling of coming back from a great family vacation and being so far behind,playing catch up after only a few harmless days off.
I think parents really have to be totally honest with themselves about their kid's capabilities of playing "catch up". If you think
your kid can handle it,have fun on your vacation. But if you think your kid is going to struggle and feel like they've been left behind,shame on you. I say,you're the parent,you own the kid,you own the situation.

CJ

[btmyank]

I happen to be one of those people who have a job where they cannot get summer vacations or a vacation that coincides with school vacations. And although I may be a little envious of teachers schedules , I don't resent them, nor am I bitter.

I will be taking my children out of school for 5 days so we can have a family trip to WDW. Some argue that this may hinder the child's education, I disagree, people should reallize that school is not the only place a child is educated. Life experience is just as important as school work.

In response to Airheads comment on "being out in left field" or "missing the boat", I pose this question, how do you think that same child would feel if he/she never went on vacation like all the other kids did,just because Mom or Dad was unable to get time off?
Could that possibly hinder a childs developement ,self-esteem, self-worth,etc...? I think so.

And I'm not trying to flame or insult anyone, just asking for some understanding for people who have different situations.


Thank you, and by the way I've never had a problem with any one of my childrens teachers, I've been happy with each and everyone of them so far.

[airhead]

...you own the kid,you own the situation. As the parent,you know if your kid is going to have difficulties catching up in school if he/she misses a week. If you feel your kid will do just fine,great.
But if you know that your kid has a hard time catching up on school work when they miss just a day or two of school,I think its not good to do. Especially for self-esteem. There's nothing worse for a kid's self esteem than feeling "left behind" in school.
As far as "hindering a child's development" by not going on a family vacation,sorry I don't buy that. Many families don't go on
vacations,and they develop just fine.
Look,Im not pro or con on this subject. It really depends on the kid,not on a parent's vacation schedule.

airhead

[btmyank]

I agree, that different kids have different needs, and luckily my children have no problem catching up.

But to say that not experiencing something as good as a family vacation has no impact on a childs developement is ludicrous. Maybe the child who was never taken on a vacation(because a parent could not get time off) may and I stress may resent his parents for not letting him have the same experience as all of his peers.

So you "not buying it " makes it so. Than I buy that many people who drop out of school turn out just fine. Look at Bill Gates.

And of course going on vacations will not be the one and only deciding factor in a childs developement , I bet it sure helps.

In my opinion if it does not harm your child and it makes your child a happier healthier person than you should do it. And I feel that a week away from school will not harm most children.

[airhead]

...a week away from school won't harm most kids. Like I said,if you know your kid isn't going to have a hard time,no big whoop.
Go to Disney and have a ball.

That comment on dropping out of school and doing just fine,you may want to rethink that one....

I'm so done with this.....
airhead

[btmyank]

Was just being a little sarcastic on that one.

[Jynohn]

When I was a kid my parents took me out of school for vacation all the time. The most time I missed was almost one month when I went to France. I was always a very good student, but struggled in math. After missing time in school, sure I struggled for a couple of weeks afterwards, but I wouldn't trade those experiences for the world.

I am in no way underestimating the importance of a formal education, but there IS something to be said about learning from life experiences. Thanks to my parents, I've travelled all over the US, Canada, parts of Europe, not to mention several family visits to WDW. I've made such wonderful memories with my family, as well as seeing first hand some of the things we learned about in school. I hope to someday be able to give the same to my kids.

We're planning our trip to coincide partly with my son's Christmas vacation, but he'll still be missing a week of school. I'm willling to put in the hours before we leave and after we get home to help him keep up with the class, because I hope that we'll make memories that will last him a lifetime!

Everyone needs to decide what is best for their child and situation. I know that for mine, this is the right choice...