Considering pulling the kids out

[Albytaps]

LOL @ this thread. The only thing the OP asked, and everyone is doing just that. WTG Disboards!

Don't judge. So... Rather than a debate as to why you think this is or is not a good idea. I really just want to know when is the best time to go if you are taking your kids out.

 

[katieandrob]

We also pull our kids out of school for disney vacations. This year we are going the end of April. I think Sept. would be a wonderful time to visit as far as weather and crowds. I would maybe talk with their teachers and get their opinion on which month they think would be best for your children and their schedule. I would say November if they have a hard time adjusting to the new school year, this way they have time to get into the new routine of the new school year.

 

[Iwant2BAprincess]

For the first time ever I am considering taking the kids out of school next year for vacation. The county changed our colander and it has left is between a rock and a hard place. Although we are on a balanced calendar that gives the kids 13 weeks out we are running into the problem of us not being able to take off the time they are out. DH has been with his company 15+ years and still doesn't have he seniority to get the school breaks plus both if our jobs have some blackout weeks that aren't an option. Combine the cost of non value season travel and we aren't left with much choice. The bad thing is our kids are only allowed 5 absences per school year before they turn you over to the legal system so I am truly torn as to how to preserve our family vacation. I really wish they would allow the students some additional time, it only seems fair since our teaches can take vacation time during the year.

 

[crazycatlady]

My vote is for late October. I know it wasn't one of your choices, but the weather is great (not as hot and less rain than September), the crowds are fairly low, fall decorations are nice and it is cheaper than a lot of other seasons at Disney (not as cheap as September, but I like to stay farther away from hurricane season). Plus, we have had free dining all of our last 3 trips.

We have taken our kids out of school for at least a week for all 7 of our Disney trips. We notify their teachers in writing a month in advance and then again a week or so in advance. My kids complete whatever make-up work they are given while on vacation, or before if some teachers are able to give them some of their work in advance. Both my kids are honor students and DS17 got accepted to every college he applied for, so I do not for one second regret any of the missed school time. If either of my kids had difficulty in school, however, we wouldn't have taken them out for vacations.

 

[3girls4me05]

For the first time ever I am considering taking the kids out of school next year for vacation. The county changed our colander and it has left is between a rock and a hard place. Although we are on a balanced calendar that gives the kids 13 weeks out we are running into the problem of us not being able to take off the time they are out. DH has been with his company 15+ years and still doesn't have he seniority to get the school breaks plus both if our jobs have some blackout weeks that aren't an option. Combine the cost of non value season travel and we aren't left with much choice. The bad thing is our kids are only allowed 5 absences per school year before they turn you over to the legal system so I am truly torn as to how to preserve our family vacation. I really wish they would allow the students some additional time, it only seems fair since our teaches can take vacation time during the year.

Can they? In our district we can't. We can get in big trouble if we do.

 

[nooneshome]

We took our kids of school three times to go to Disney. each time we went in October during teacher parent conferences. DW was very active with the school and the teachers so conferences were not needed. Besides that whole week the kids had half days and there wasn't much teaching going on.

 

[Virtucomp]

When our kids were in grades 1-6 we would take them out of school to go on vacation. They were doing well in school and would be able to catch up without trouble. The school system had budget cuts and actually dropped the accelerated program to save money. Both of my kids were in the program in grammar school so they got bored when they program was dropped.

I agree that I would not have pulled them if they were struggling to keep up.

We used to go at the end of October so they would get started with the class before missing. As soon as they got back the teachers would give them the work that they missed and gave them a deadline to get it complete to catch up. For some reason they refused to give any work for them to take before trip.

Once they kids got to the higher grades we stopped pulling them out and switched to going in the Hot summer times.

We have some great family vacation memories that are just as important as the week of school they missed.

 

[deezeealum]

First off I don't think anyone has the right to judge what is best for anyone e;se's family. That being said, we puller our kids out this past January for 6 days. My oldest is in 2nd grade and younger one is only 1 1/2. My older daughter's teacher was informed during Fall conferences and she was totally cool with it. Our school has a no homework policy during breaks so we had to word it as daily work she would miss and she had to continue her 20 minute a night reading. Sent an email a week before we left and no worries. She did her daily work on the plane, read every night then reviewed the work on the flight home.
Family time is just as important as our kids education in our opinion.As long as our kids are good students we will continue to pull. The lasy week in January has been great to us with weather (we are coming from the NE but have been able to swim) and crowds were nonexistence.
Have a magical time making a lifetime of memories!!!

 

[squirrel4569]

Wow, this is a hot topic. I can relate to it on both sides of the equation as well.

When I lived in Michigan my ex and I pulled our kids out for a week in May to go to Disney. We talked to the teachers ahead of time, got the assignments and they did them while we were on vacation. There were a couple of things they did miss in school, but that was their one and only trip to Disney so I feel like that was worth it.

Now I live in Texas and their policy is much stricter. We simply can't take the girls out of school for a vacation without consequences. The laws don't allow it. We pulled DD1 out for a long weekend to California and got the evil eye from the administrators for it once. Same thing when we had a death in the family and had to go out of state for the funeral. The school didn't want us to go since it was in the middle of the school year.

Last year we were planning a trip in November for DD2's birthday and while we would've loved to have taken her on her actual birthday, which was during the week before Thanksgiving, we couldn't justify the fight with the school nor the missed time for DD1 when she was going to get the entire week of Thanksgiving off, so we went then. It turned out to be a blessing though since we got to see the soft opening of New Fantasyland while we were there.

Our next two trips are bracketing the school year. We're going just before school starts in August as a just because trip and we're going at the end of the school year in June next year to celebrate more birthdays with friends. Both trips will be more expensive than off season, but it's what we can do with our situation.

All of that being said I think that everyone's situation is different. Ages, school districts, teachers, etc play a part in the decision if it's OK to miss school for a vacation. I don't think there is a way to completely make up the experience of being in class everyday, but some of the learning can be made up. Some students react OK to missing class and some struggle. It all depends. Lastly, if going during peak season is simply out of the budget then I would probably say that a short trip during a slower time in school would be OK.

September is hot but the crowds are low. November is a tad chilly but the decorations are awesome. May is also warm but low crowds too. I would totally go back at Thanksgiving again.

Good luck with your decision!

 

[Colleen27]

There are many school systems where missing a week would be very detrimental to a student's progress, it just varies from location to location sadly.

And from week to week. For example, our December trip involved the kids missing the last 4 days of school before Christmas break - a time when elementary schoolers are generally to excited/distracted to learn as much as in a normal week and when they're about to be out of the classroom and scholastic habits for two weeks so teachers adjust and present little/no new material. Our January trips have been in the short week created by end-of-semester (3 half days and a teacher inservice day), again, a time when little gets done in class aside from "housekeeping" type duties. Our middle schooler arranged to take his finals early and both kids missed very little.

That's why I suggested Sept to the OP. While it is an important time as far as social interactions, if they aren't changing schools the kids are likely familair with those expectations, and much of the material will be review that can be made up far more easily by parents than work assigned in the heart of the school year. In my state, testing is in October so those first few weeks of school are among the easiest to make up - they're reviewing material learned in the previous school year and brushing up on test-taking strategies, not moving ahead with new content.

I know that no one on this thread will agree, but taking one's child out of school for an extended trip to Disney World is hardly necessary when there are 13 or more weeks of school vacation every year. The OP actually said that he/she was just considering this to avoid crowds. My husband and I are both teachers, so our Disney time is usually during these vacations. Really, the crowds aren't so bad that they justify missing a week or more of school.

That's fine when you're a teacher or in another profession that can easily take off during school breaks, but the world doesn't shut down over the holidays or summer and a lot of people can't vacation at the times the kids are out of school. Those are the most desirable times to put in for vacation time and it often takes a good deal of seniority to get requests for the popular weeks approved. And many jobs are by their nature seasonal; when you can't work during the winter because of the weather, taking time off in the summer isn't looked upon too highly for anything short of a true emergency.

I definitely cannot disagree with this! I am embarrassed that I misread your previous post, but I know I didn't misread the other posts on this thread that were definitely anti-teacher/school...

I think it is very important to separate anti-teacher and anti-school. I'm not anti-teacher. The teachers I've known, both in our family and in the kids' school experiences, have been dedicated, caring professionals trying to do their best with what they're given. I am sometimes anti-school when it comes to draconian or inappropriate policies, but teachers don't set those policies. Administrators, most of whom have never been classroom teachers, do. And often they're acting based on concerns that have nothing to do with educational efficacy - funding, AYP, school rankings, and political forces are sometimes at least as important as educational priorities, sometimes moreso.

 

[Tonka's Skipper]

There is no problem at all with taking your kids out of school.....provided.... their grades are good enough and your comfortable with it.!


Don't let the school systems bully you , YOU ARE THE PARENTS and this is our decision.

One problem with SOME, school systems these days are that they think they are in charge of your kids.they are not!

We took our kids out up to 10 grade, for 2 to 4 days and did all there homework in the day on the ride down. The rule was no parks until all the school work was done and approved by my wife or I.

We always gave the school and the teachers plenty of notice and never had a problem. We have teachers in our families and they have asured us that he teacher lessons are at least 2 weeks ahead and should be a month, so dont let the school tell you its not available.


what ever you do have a great vacation!

AKK

 

[roomthreeseventeen]

As a kid, we usually went over Spring Break, but my parents had no problem taking us out for a few days. My siblings and I are all in our 20s and 30s now, and we have many, many wonderful and hilarious memories at Walt Disney World. If any of us spent a few extra hours making up schoolwork on a weekend, we have no recollection of it, and it made zero difference.

 

[clareita]

We have teachers in our families and they have asured us that he teacher lessons are at least 2 weeks ahead and should be a month, so dont let the school tell you its not available.

I don't know where your family members taught, but as a former teacher I can tell you that while I had the broad outline of what I would be doing 2 weeks-1 month ahead of time, I did not have detailed lesson plans for classes this far in advance. I certainly didn't know what I would be assigning for homework. Even if I did, it wouldn't make much sense if you weren't in class, since it was either in preparation of something we would be doing in class the next day, or based on what we did in class.

 

[Love Tink]

I don't know where your family members taught, but as a former teacher I can tell you that while I had the broad outline of what I would be doing 2 weeks-1 month ahead of time, I did not have detailed lesson plans for classes this far in advance. I certainly didn't know what I would be assigning for homework. Even if I did, it wouldn't make much sense if you weren't in class, since it was either in preparation of something we would be doing in class the next day, or based on what we did in class.

Nor is it your responsibility, as a teacher, to do extra work to provide lessons ahead of time to students who will be out of school for any reason.

We pull our kids out almost every year and I don't have any problem with it - but I would never dream of asking or expecting my kids' teachers to provide work before we go. It's not their responsibility to accommodate my vacation decisions. That attitude smacks of having a real disrespect for both the teachers and the schools.

 

[disneycrazi]

We have taken our son out each school year for a trip to Disney. We get flack and his absences are unexcused. I totally get that children need to be in school to learn. However, I think schools need to lighten up a bit. If my son is ahead of the curve in every area as well as test scores over grade level then back off. I feel as if they want every child there, every day to get their tax money. My son is that MY son, and I have the right to pull him out for vacations and if I deem appropriate to pull him out and home school him. I don't mean to offend anyone but this is a very touchy area for my family and I get a little fired up about it.

 

[roomthreeseventeen]

Theoretically, yes, it is the teacher's job to make sure that all students, regardless of absences, are caught up.

 

[ryalluvdiz]

Theoretically, yes, it is the teacher's job to make sure that all students, regardless of absences, are caught up.

I dont agree.... I have kids that are absent for weeks at a time to go to mexico, india, africa etc to visit relatives... There is no way i can get them caught up... Sorry thats not my responsibility... But I, as a teacher, have no problem with parents taking them out, as long as the PARENTS put in the time to get them caught up and are ok with the grades they get get from being out.

 

[roomthreeseventeen]

I dont agree.... I have kids that are absent for weeks at a time to go to mexico, india, africa etc to visit relatives... There is no way i can get them caught up... Sorry thats not my responsibility... But I, as a teacher, have no problem with parents taking them out, as long as the PARENTS put in the time to get them caught up and are ok with the grades they get get from being out.

I understand what you're saying, but as a teacher, your job often depends on student performance. I'm not saying that's good or bad, but it's how it is.

 

[stormer]

We always gave the school and the teachers plenty of notice and never had a problem. We have teachers in our families and they have asured us that he teacher lessons are at least 2 weeks ahead and should be a month, so dont let the school tell you its not available.

what ever you do have a great vacation!

AKK

I find that very hard to believe. I always plan Thurs. Afternoon for the following week. Almost every teacher I work with does the same or plans on Friday for the following week. Education is very unpredictable and teachable moments constantly arise. A lesson I plan on taking 20 min can turn into an hour very easily and change everything I had planned. It is very difficult to accurately plan that far ahead because you never know what will happen with children. A good teacher has to be flexible and Go with the flow. Planning a month ahead would mean making a million changes along the way.

 

[sammons70]

As a teacher, I have to say there is a right and wrong way to do this. Most schools should offer an Independent Study Contract if your child will be out for more than 3 days. This will allow your child to have homework assignments before the trip begins, and your school will be able to collect ADA funding for your child once the completed work is turned in. This is the best for both the school and the child. The school doesn't lose funding, and the child doesn't fall behind academically.
It is true that the older the child is, the more they can fall behind. Once the child hits 6th grade, it is really hard for them to keep up even with an IS contract, let alone without one.