Just e-mailed the principal

["Cinder" Ella's Mom]

Originally Posted by smidgy

I live in Illinois. in the 90's, in high school, you could have 10 unexcused absences.per semester. after that, you didn't get credit for the semester. vacation (however educational) was not an excuse. a doctor's note was.

my word was not. if my son was sick, I had to take him to the dr. and pay $40 for the dr. to tell me that he had a fever, have him drink fluids and get plenty of rest.

when I was in high school in Illinois (back in the early 70's, private school) my mom used to let me "cut" for opening day at Wrigley field . (see, there was her big mistake...had it been Comiskey...I married a white sox fan). (I got good grades, so she thought it was ok)

one year the school counselor went to the game to "spot" truants. (tough job for him, huh?) I was seen and suspended. my mom had to come to school and she raised holy heck. the Dean said calling in wasn't enough,she should have written a letter ahead of time requesting it, as other parents would do so for a family vacation and it was excused. my mom said I had her permission and it wasn't their business why.

so I guess laws in Illionois have gotten stricter. (maybe cause of my mom!)

Omg . Are you Ferris Buehler??

["Cinder" Ella's Mom]

Just want to add one more thing: I hope those of you who are pulling your kids out of school for a week at a time are aware of the extra work you are causing for their teachers. A little gift from Disney(and a sincere thank you) would not be out of line...especially those who are so understanding to your "family time."

[smidgy]

Originally Posted by "Cinder" Ella's Mom

Omg . Are you Ferris Buehler??

by the way, I didn't give an opinion about taking kids out for a week.. I mentioned that the high school my sons attended in the 90s in Illinois was pretty strict about attendance. a parent's permission was not an excused absence.


and the day I "cut school" (with my parents' permission) it was only one day. I did enjoy the game, though!

[luvmy3]

Originally Posted by SaraJayne

Actually, the fact we have a pretty lax attendance policy is why people don't take advantage of it, but we're lucky in that our school lets us decide what is right for our families.

Our school lets us decide as well. We are free to take our kids out of school for vacation, nobody is telling us we can't. We are not free to have that absence excused though.

[jlhansen]

Okay, very rarely do I post, but started to read this and am appalled. I am in awe that the original poster has received so many insensitive and over the top responses. In my opinion I don't believe she was asking for anyone's input, criticism nor opinions in regards to her letter.

She was sharing a great moment for her family and that's what DIS boards are all about. Yes, I know there are many, many people who think Disney is not educational, kids should not be taking out of school etc...and to those people I respect your opinion, but it's not mine end of story. If you don't like her letter, keep quiet and move onto another post.

To the original poster, ignore the people who are on their high horses as they have too much time on their hands. I think your letter was great and good for you for doing it! Have fun in Disney.

[luvmy2babies]

Personally my only concern was her getting held to all the details in the letter. I know we went for 10 days and I had plans change and some things we had planned we missed entirely. I wondered if she'd be given a hard time if her daughter didn't have those conversations with CMs in World Showcase for example.

She said she wouldn't.

I agree it can be educational. My daughter is a very hands on learner so I find ways to get learning into every trip we take. She's not much on documenting what she picks up though and I have two empty journals from previous trips to prove it. She can tell me orally.

I can't personally do it because my daughter and I couldn't handle it. She's Dyslexic and we already have a lot of accommodations at school. We have to work very hard already. She is already extra work for her teacher. It's best she is there every day she is able.

If I had a child I could do that with, I probably would, not for a whole week, but I can see adding two days on to a break like say the fall break they have every year.

[luvmy3]

Originally Posted by jlhansen

Okay, very rarely do I post, but started to read this and am appalled. I am in awe that the original poster has received so many insensitive and over the top responses. In my opinion I don't believe she was asking for anyone's input, criticism nor opinions in regards to her letter.

She was sharing a great moment for her family and that's what DIS boards are all about. Yes, I know there are many, many people who think Disney is not educational, kids should not be taking out of school etc...and to those people I respect your opinion, but it's not mine end of story. If you don't like her letter, keep quiet and move onto another post.

To the original poster, ignore the people who are on their high horses as they have too much time on their hands. I think your letter was great and good for you for doing it! Have fun in Disney.

The OP is below. She was not asking input, she was informing us of what she did. Clearly she has reservations about whether it would be well received by the school as she "gulps" and "hopes it works!"
So, just as she is free to inform all the people who read this public message board, we are all free to share our opinions about what she did. That is how it works. She didn't ask for anything, she came here announcing something. Sorry but if all you are expecting are pats in the back, tell your IRL friends, don't announce it to strangers on the internet

Originally Posted by Andrea464

Just e-mailed the principal to try and get credit for my daughter for three of the six days she'll miss at school from our Disney trip. I hope it works!
I wrote a one page letter detailing everything she'd be learning at all of the parks. *gulp*

[ccgirl]

Originally Posted by "Cinder" Ella's Mom

Just want to add one more thing: I hope those of you who are pulling your kids out of school for a week at a time are aware of the extra work you are causing for their teachers. A little gift from Disney(and a sincere thank you) would not be out of line...especially those who are so understanding to your "family time."

I'm sorry, I don't agree with this. What exactly would I be thanking the teacher for? Should the teacher also bring back gifts for all students when he/she goes on vacation?

In my DD's case there is no "extra" work for the teacher. She gets nothing ahead of time. It all sits in a box and waits for her return.

In many other posters case, they were asked to keep a journal so not sure of all the "extra" work there either.

[SaraJayne]

Originally Posted by "Cinder" Ella's Mom

Just want to add one more thing: I hope those of you who are pulling your kids out of school for a week at a time are aware of the extra work you are causing for their teachers. A little gift from Disney(and a sincere thank you) would not be out of line...especially those who are so understanding to your "family time."

"Extra work"? How exactly is putting a sheet of paper in a pile to be picked up when we return creating "extra work?"

[dillydilly]

Originally Posted by ccgirl

My school allows the time away as well. It still doesn't change the fact that public school funding is tied to attendance. What if a parent decides their child is okay to miss 10 days a semester? That could decrease funding for all students. I don't think anyone on here has a school where a child cannot miss 5 days of school.

OP - have a great vacation.

This is one reason why we left public school and imho why schools have become so strict in their policies (and perhaps feel the need to tell parents what to do with their kids). It boils down to money. When my oldest 2 went to a certain public school, the teachers encouraged parents to bring sick children for attendance (which several did, they would sit in the back of the classroom away from other students). They would then walk to the office afterwards and pull their kids out of school because they were sick. I took my kids out on rare occasion for a day trip to DL (which was closer to my home) with the school's blessing. The only thing they asked for was that I was there for attendance.

[luvmy3]

Originally Posted by SaraJayne

"Extra work"? How exactly is putting a sheet of paper in a pile to be picked up when we return creating "extra work?"

Because when that child comes back and hands in that work the teacher has to correct it. She/he will have most likely have moved onto a new lesson, working on that and correcting papers for that one. Now she has to make sure Jr. has all his stuff from the previous week done, and needs to make sure Jr. understands the lesson he missed because he'll be behind the rest of the class if he doesn't. It wouldn't be "extra" had he been in class when they were working on it, but he wasn't so the teacher has to "work" on him on top of her current lesson.

Do you think teachers just put papers in piles?

[RedHeadedFairy]

Originally Posted by "Cinder" Ella's Mom

Just want to add one more thing: I hope those of you who are pulling your kids out of school for a week at a time are aware of the extra work you are causing for their teachers. A little gift from Disney(and a sincere thank you) would not be out of line...especially those who are so understanding to your "family time."

My DD will only be missing 2 1/2 days of school (3rd grade - pulling her out early on Friday to make the drive) but I feel like every missed day is important overall. I originally posted & thought that I would just skip informing the school & call her in as sick for those 2 days (She wouldn't be required to supply a dr's note until day #3) & not worry about the missed half day since it is literally the last day of the quarter for them.

However, this plan was not sitting well with my little rule-follower so I went in yesterday & spoke to her teacher.

I let her know the dates she'll be absent & it turns out she was scheduled to do some end-of-qtr testing on that Friday. Teacher agreed that DD will have no problems missing the 2 days (straight-A student) and offered to have her do all of her tests on Thursday so that she is ready to go Friday no matter what time we decide to leave. (She may not even go in at all now!) If she has the next week's work ready she'll supply the worksheets, spelling, vocab, etc. And the best part is that DD is much more at ease about her missed assignments & class time. Things like this cause her anxiety because we teach her to follow rules & then we're essentially asking her to break them, and that's kind of a mixed message for an 8-yr old, IMO.

So our teacher IS jumping through a few hoops to make this as easy as possible on my DD & I appreciate that! I think a small token of our appreciation is a WONDERFUL idea!

(BTW - I'm not asking for the time to be excused.... I don't want DD 'working' on our family vacation. While I know she WILL learn a LOT no matter what, I'd rather it was informal & relaxed. She's earned this trip too, it's not just being gifted to her so I want her to enjoy it & focus on making memories not homework assignments.)

[SaraJayne]

Originally Posted by luvmy3

Because when that child comes back and hands in that work the teacher has to correct it. She/he will have most likely have moved onto a new lesson, working on that and correcting papers for that one. Now she has to make sure Jr. has all his stuff from the previous week done, and needs to make sure Jr. understands the lesson he missed because he'll be behind the rest of the class if he doesn't. It wouldn't be "extra" had he been in class when they were working on it, but he wasn't so the teacher has to "work" on him on top of her current lesson.

Do you think teachers just put papers in piles?

No, and I still don't think it makes extra work for the teachers. They are going to be correcting/grading homework regardless of when it was handed in.

I don't factor in how it will impact teachers when I make a decision about my family. It's part of their job and would be the same if a student was sick or out for any other reason.

My kids aren't being pulled this year anyway, so it's a moot point for me.

[luvmy3]

Originally Posted by SaraJayne

No, and I still don't think it makes extra work for the teachers. They are going to be correcting/grading homework regardless of when it was handed in.

I don't factor in how it will impact teachers when I make a decision about my family. It's part of their job and would be the same if a student was sick or out for any other reason.

My kids aren't being pulled this year anyway, so it's a moot point for me.

I don't either, and I didn't bring back a gift for any of their teachers when I pulled them out
I know I made some extra work for them when I took my kids out, but hey it was free dining!