pulling kids out of school to cruise...

[feelthenspeak]

I could see 4 weeks being excessive, not sure where that came from? Maybe a post I missed?

But one or two weeks is not that big of a deal in the grand scheme of things. And yes, it could impact the teacher (although, it shouldn't impact that much, if lesson plans are prepared enough in advance).

As far as school ranking, to be blunt, I don't really care if it affects the school's standardized tests or not, that's their problem, not mine. The same goes for funding, if they can't handle it, they need to push that family reasons become excused absences. Bottom line is employers are required to give time off for family reasons, why not schools? I know schools don't want to hear this, but again, FAMILY is the most important thing we will EVER have and it takes work to keep a family together. Yes, sometimes that work is playing together, but that is still doing work to keep the family together.

Personally, I like to schedule my vacations around holidays, so that get more time with taking less vacation time, which would also happen to coincide with school breaks in most cases. But, if I needed to, I would not hesitate to pull the kids out for a week or two. If I had to, I would put them on independent study (which the school is apparently required to permit in our state) or, if the school doesn't permit that and was being insistent that they can't miss, as I said before, I pull the kids out and homeschool them.

Totally agree.

 

[sippican]

I could see 4 weeks being excessive, not sure where that came from? Maybe a post I missed?

But one or two weeks is not that big of a deal in the grand scheme of things. And yes, it could impact the teacher (although, it shouldn't impact that much, if lesson plans are prepared enough in advance).

As far as school ranking, to be blunt, I don't really care if it affects the school's standardized tests or not, that's their problem, not mine. The same goes for funding, if they can't handle it, they need to push that family reasons become excused absences.

Personally, I like to schedule my vacations around holidays, so that get more time with taking less vacation time, which would also happen to coincide with school breaks in most cases. But, if I needed to, I would not hesitate to pull the kids out for a week or two. If I had to, I would put them on independent study (which the school is apparently required to permit in our state) or, if the school doesn't permit that and was being insistent that they can't miss, as I said before, I pull the kids out and homeschool them.

Post #42
Absences that impact ranking or funding are based on student attendance percentages in the school or district, it doesn't matter if the absences are "excused".
I am not aware of any school department that tells a parent they cannot take their child out of school. In many states there are truancy laws that may be enforced if a child misses a certain number of days (for whatever reason). Sometimes that number is pretty low. Most schools never choose to pursue the issue unless it is a chronic problem. School rankings and funding do impact the entire community: tax base, real estate value, etc.
Home schooling is certainly a wonderful option for those who feel they can best serve their children's needs in that manner.
Again, in the scheme of the Universe, it's a personal decision. Great discussion, many good points made, but I'm sure no one is going to change their plans.

 

[Four Swampers]

Just wondering what the consensus is in regards to removing a child from school for a cruise. As a working mother I feel as if this time is a necessity to keep my family intact since I cannot take vacations during "prime time" season. Does bonding time supersede schoolwork?

I missed a day of first grade; now I can't read, write, nor do calculus. I sleep in my parents' basement and have only a Norwegian brown rat for company. And he's mean.

Boy, you will never get a consensus around here on that question!

My personal opinion is that a week of missed schoolwork can still be learned. If my children are doing well in school and will still do well despite missing a few days or a week, then I will take them out of school. If their grades will suffer if I take them out, then I will leave them in. While people on the boards have pretty strong opinions about this, I feel that you can do what is right for your family. For my family: we will only have our daughters live with us for 18 years each. We will remember a week on a Disney Cruise much more than a week of school. That's not to say we should replace ALL the school weeks with Disney, just that I think my daughters can grow up well-rounded and intelligent and knowledgeable even if they miss a week of school each year.

 

[amejiajr8]

I missed a day of first grade; now I can't read, write, nor do calculus. I sleep in my parents' basement and have only a Norwegian brown rat for company. And he's mean.

Boy, you will never get a consensus around here on that question!

My personal opinion is that a week of missed schoolwork can still be learned. If my children are doing well in school and will still do well despite missing a few days or a week, then I will take them out of school. If their grades will suffer if I take them out, then I will leave them in. While people on the boards have pretty strong opinions about this, I feel that you can do what is right for your family. For my family: we will only have our daughters live with us for 18 years each. We will remember a week on a Disney Cruise much more than a week of school. That's not to say we should replace ALL the school weeks with Disney, just that I think my daughters can grow up well-rounded and intelligent and knowledgeable even if they miss a week of school each year.

Yep

 

[MikeAndNick]

Post #42
Absences that impact ranking or funding are based on student attendance percentages in the school or district, it doesn't matter if the absences are "excused".
I am not aware of any school department that tells a parent they cannot take their child out of school. In many states there are truancy laws that may be enforced if a child misses a certain number of days (for whatever reason). Sometimes that number is pretty low. Most schools never choose to pursue the issue unless it is a chronic problem. School rankings and funding do impact the entire community: tax base, real estate value, etc.
Home schooling is certainly a wonderful option for those who feel they can best serve their children's needs in that manner.
Again, in the scheme of the Universe, it's a personal decision. Great discussion, many good points made, but I'm sure no one is going to change their plans.

FYI
In California you get the first Truancy Letter after your student misses 3 days. You get the second letter threating to take you to court after missing 6 days. After 10 days they start visiting your house and bringing you into meetings and possibly court. How they decide an absence will differ from district to district. My sons school, it is any absence that is not a Doctors visit or Illness. For all California schools missing more than 30 minutes of school time is counted as an absence even if they were there the rest of the day.

 

[yarlenna]

I used to be a science teacher. If a child missed a whole week, he/she would have a hard time. Every week, my children had book work, class work, a lab and a quiz. The quiz covered all of it. The child could read the book, and go to the library to read the source work. The labs were done in groups. There was no money for extras - make up labs. My yearly budget was 5 dollars per child for the whole year.
I would never force a child to miss a week of class and expect him/her to do well. I can still remember parents asking why a child had such a low grade. Some of the parents never seemed to understand that missing school does have consequences.

 

[twinstars]

Personally, I think sometimes it can be. And like a PP said, taking a week off of school is hardly sending a message that school doesn't matter. Instead, it can send the message that sometimes family matters more than school, especially when it's the only time a family can afford (either in time or money) a trip.

To the OP, only you (and your state laws, apparently) can decide what's best for your child. Personally, I say go for it!

I find it interesting that people are justifying it by saying it is opportunity to spend family time....do you not spend family time on a regular basis? I think if the argument is to spend quality time with your kids, then it isn't necessary to take them out of school to do so.

 

[feelthenspeak]

I find it interesting that people are justifying it by saying it is opportunity to spend family time....do you not spend family time on a regular basis? I think if the argument is to spend quality time with your kids, then it isn't necessary to take them out of school to do so.

I'm sorry, I'm really not trying to be rude, but this is laughable. Isn't that what a vacation with your family is?....family time.

 

[bigvig1130]

I find it interesting that people are justifying it by saying it is opportunity to spend family time....do you not spend family time on a regular basis? I think if the argument is to spend quality time with your kids, then it isn't necessary to take them out of school to do so.

I think this is very insensitive to people who don't have the opportunity to see their children on a regular basis. I have my DD every other weekend. I take any opportunity I can to spend time with her, even if it means missing a week of school. Don't assume you know everyone's personal family situations.

 

[lbgraves]

Today I attended the funeral of a young mother with three boys ages 5, 6 and 8. Today was also the last day of school in our county. I certainly hope that their family did not hold off taking a family vacation until the summer this year.

 

[momof2n2]

Today I attended the funeral of a young mother with three boys ages 5, 6 and 8. Today was also the last day of school in our county. I certainly hope that their family did not hold off taking a family vacation until the summer this year.

Amen.

I've always balked when people say they aren't taking their kids to WDW until they are older b/c they won't remember it. What if the situation changes... I'd sure like to think the memories of the parents or the photos would be treasured. Life doesn't wait.

 

[ZoeBell]

My daughter was in 8th grade this year when I took her out in January. I looked at the school calendar and picked a week there was only 4 school days instead of 5. I somehow felt better she was missing only 4 days instead of 5.

 

[lbgraves]

Amen.

I've always balked when people say they aren't taking their kids to WDW until they are older b/c they won't remember it. What if the situation changes... I'd sure like to think the memories of the parents or the photos would be treasured. Life doesn't wait.

God forbid that the reverse happens and a child is lost. I will never forget what I learned from the tragedy of EmmasGrammy here on the DIS.

 

[Castillo Mom]

Our vacation in '07 overlapped the beginning of the school year for my sons and my niece. My SIL and I initially felt that we should do a shorter trip or schedule it at another time at first but then made the decision to go ahead and take the out of school. We had absolutely no regrets. They didn't miss out on anything that first week of school and we all had a wonderful time.

I lost my husband, my dad and grandmother last year, all within months of each other. Kind of changes your perspective on life and makes you realize how fragile it is. Family time is important, whether it's on a beautiful ship at sea or at the dinner table at home. We're taking another extended family cruise next year in October and we can't wait!

 

[MikeAndNick]

Something to think about. On Tuesday my son is going to start U.S. History in independent Summer School. He will meet with his teacher 7 days this summer (once a week). When he is done he will get credit for taking a full year of High School U.S. History. Last year he did the same thing for World History and received an "A" on his grade. If he can do this in 7 days how much can it hurt missing 5 days out of a 180 day school year?

 

[DisneyDreamer2504]

I'm so glad to see a discussion about this. My DH and I don't have kids, and traveling during the school year is most convenient for us. But every time we go there's always so many kids, and we wonder which are homeschooled and which were taken out. We both agree though, that if we had kids we would take them out, barring circumstances, rather than travel during the dreaded spring break or summer. It's def a personal decision, so I think it's important not to judge other family's choices.

 

[rentayenta]

Just wondering what the consensus is in regards to removing a child from school for a cruise. As a working mother I feel as if this time is a necessity to keep my family intact since I cannot take vacations during "prime time" season. Does bonding time supersede schoolwork?

As long as they can keep up, yes. Unfortunately we learned the hard way that taking my daughters out is no longer an option. Live and learn and to each his/her own. Every child and situation is different.

 

[jaywalker17]

We've taken our son out for many vacations. This time was a little harder for him to catch up. He's in 3rd grade. It won't stop us next year, but at some point, we know we'll have to plan around his spring break.

 

[ChrisParker]

Another teacher opinion here...

I teach high school English. It's not unusual for 3 or 4 kids per semester to miss a week or two of my class. Because we are semestered, students have 4 classes each day for 75 minutes, so a week is quite a chunk of time.

I fully appreciate the educational merits of travel - I lived in Europe for 3 years after Uni and have schlepped my children across the pond more times than I can count. And were I not a teacher, I would take my primary-aged kids to WDW/DCL when it is cheaper. So no judgement there.

I will say that I don't feel that it is my job as a teacher to prepare work before a vacation. If I know what's coming up, I'll let a student know, and I'll pretty much always let kids hand things in late for a vacation, within reason (I don't particularly like marking an entire semester's work the day of the exam for example...it happens here ). If I know exactly what assignments are coming up, I'll happily let students know but if we're doing a novel study, for example, there are about 100 assignments I could assign during that 5 week period to assess the skills I need to see, and I decide based on how the class is going, so I don't usually tell students before they go exactly what they'll be missing. And it is the student's job to find out when they get back. Like I said, I'm pretty accommodating (read: a bit soft ).

Totally agree with the previous educator's post that a lot of the learning that happens in a classroom is in the discussion. Even if students make up an assignment, they have missed the teaching, which to my mind is more important in terms of education.

I have a student right now who is going to Halifax for two weeks to take part in a drum core event. Wow, I said. Fantastic. That's amazing. He's writing the final out there with the VP's approval. Another girl this year went to Israel for 2 weeks for her sister's bat mitzvah. Fantastic, I said. What an opportunity. Because we were doing a novel study at the time, she wrote reflections about her journey which I substituted for the reflections we wrote about the novel, because I thought that was where the authentic writing was for her, and the education.

So I guess to sum up, I think it is wonderful when families can go away on vacation. But they need to realize that is a choice, and part of that choice is missing the class time, and sometimes there are repercussions, whether they be not understanding the material as well come exam time, or having to do more work when they get back. As long as the parents don't deem it my job to give them work to take away or make sure they hand things in when they get back, I wish them all the best and usually wish I could go too!

 

[socababy]

I took my kids out of school for two weeks for the Panama cruise last Dec. They were in 4th, 2nd and pre school. Their teachers were more than accommodating. The boys didn't have a lot of homework to make up but the grief they gave me about doing the work itself was enough to tell me that this would be the last time I take them out of school for that amount of time.

I am hoping to go on the Panama cruise next May. I do plan on taking my daughter who will be in Kinder but I already let the boys know they will not be able to go because of school.