Feeling guilty about taking kids out of school for vacation.

[Tigger&Belle]

Originally posted by HollyJoy
so we are going from 12/4- 12/10.

We'll look out for you! Make sure you wear your lime green ribbons.

T&B

 

[Skatermom23]

Originally posted by PlutoPony
Just curious...how much time do you think it should take an elementary school child to make up all class work missed in a day they are out (for whatever reason)? Let's assume they're in school learning 5 hrs./day (here they're in school 6 hrs, minus half hour lunch, 15 minutes recess - but I'll round down to 5 hrs spent on school work).

Half an hour? An hour? 4 hours??? What do you all think?

Two Hours daily tops! I was an assistant in a third grade public classroom for 1/2 of a school year in MD. I actually calculated how much learning went on during a 7 hour school day. This was a consistant number day after day. After 1/2 the year, I took my kids and put them in a private school that was considered fairly academic and there the make up time would have been about 3-4 hours a day. I don't think parents realize just how much down time and interruptions go on during the school day.

 

[Skatermom23]

We are taking our middle schoolers out for a week. The school was fine with it. I waited till the day after the first report cards came home and wrote a letter to the principal and made copies for each teacher. I then went to the principal in person and told him what we were doing and showed him the report cards. He told me to have a great time! I got emails from 4 of the teachers saying how they appreciated the time I took to write an intelligent letter explaining what I was doing. I have no doubt that I can fill in the gaps that my kids will miss during this one week and our family time will be priceless!

 

[Becky2005]

I won't get into the debate about taking them out or not, that's your decision (all depends on the kid too, I have one that could get caught up in no time & one would be torture for! LOL!).

Anyway, I can completely understand your feelings though, as my DS got sick and was out for a week. It took us forever to get caught up and he's only in 2nd grade. I couldn't believe the sheet that listed all his assignments and stuff for make-up. I didn't think we were ever going to get caught up and since this was my child that school is hard anyway, it was not a pleasant task.

Good Luck!! Have fun on your vacation though.

 

[Micksmom]

I think you should go for it!!! We are leaving on Saturday for a week and my 3rd grade dd will miss 5 days of school. I talked to the teachers at the very beginning of school (at orientation) and then sent a "reminder" note this week. She has two teaches and they didn't have a problem. I'm not sure about the work ahead of time though, they said they will send what they have prepared and the rest can be made up Thanksgiving week.


You child won't ever forget this vacation, I know I never did and hence am taking my child!!!

 

[xyymom]

We took ours out for 6 days in October (Gr.3, Gr.1 & JK). Luckily we had very accomodating teachers My Gr.1 was given all his work ahead of time (there wasn't much). My Gr.3 was given a bit ahead of time and the rest when we came back. She worked solid for one Saturday when we got back, but was happy to do so My JKer obviously had no work to do, but he missed the entire week before our trip due to stomach flu, so he actually missed 2 weeks of school in a row (he only goes alternate days).

Have a great trip

 

[CarolA]

What we were told was that she is our child and the school cannot say anything about us taking her out for that time.

Actually the above statement is not really accurate. All states have truancy laws that require a parent to have a child either in school or an acceptable alternative. I somehow doubt the amount of time you go to Disney is going to trigger this, but....

 

[tink2]

I am a second grade teacher. I am taking a week off work and taking DD in Kind. out for a week. Due to DH's work schedule- he and only get off certain times of the year- usually not during vacations. Anyway, talked to principal and teacher- both said fine- no problem. And, as a teacher, I've had several children taken out of school for a week for a vacation- Disney World and others. As long as it is only once a year and does not become a constant thing of missing school for vacations a lot during one school year- and the child is doing well- I have no problem with it. To me, family time is the most important thing. Parent's vacation schedules don't always fit the school's. If they aren't struggling- they'll probably gain a lot more on a family vacation than one week in school.
JMHO

 

[paigevz]

Originally posted by Skatermom23
Two Hours daily tops! I was an assistant in a third grade public classroom for 1/2 of a school year in MD. I actually calculated how much learning went on during a 7 hour school day. This was a consistant number day after day. After 1/2 the year, I took my kids and put them in a private school that was considered fairly academic and there the make up time would have been about 3-4 hours a day. I don't think parents realize just how much down time and interruptions go on during the school day.

and also depends on what you consider "down time" and what you consider "work".

Not negating your experience at all, don't get me wrong, there are plenty of teachers within schools and plenty of schools in general that in my opinion, don't educate properly.

However, in my school............we don't always do paperwork, but we always work when in the classroom. We are allowed 20 minutes recess once a day and that includes bathroom and water breaks on the way in, so it's really about 10 min. We have 30 min. lunch, all seated at the lunch table..........this would truly be down time, but is necessary, of course. Our kids go to "specials" for 50 minutes a day, however it is fine arts, physical education, and computer work.............I feel privileged they get this and don't consider it down time. The rest of the time thekids are with me, and we begin learning as soon as they walk in and continue until the bell rings. We take two bathroom breaks in the day besides the one at recess.......during those times the kids quiz each other on basic math facts and spelling words.

Paige (who is using my lunch to surf the boards!)

In between lessons and daily assignments we do small groups with teacher, pull-out reading, speech, tutoring and counseling, a computer-based phonics program and independent reading. If a child has done allthat and all his assignments..........which are given according to his abilities in tiered groups..........are finished, he can choose to explore in one of our exploration centers which have tasks that must be completed, read in the library, or play a board game...........all wonderful learning opportunities that my low socioeconomic status kids don't get to do at home. No child ever gets more than 45 minutes tops to do this in one day.

Again, I believe your experience, but not all schools and not all classes are the same. Any child missing my public school class misses 5 1/2 hours of actual learning...........however, Disney World would definitely give back that time and more!

 

[Poohbearfan]

Originally posted by CarolA
Actually the above statement is not really accurate. All states have truancy laws that require a parent to have a child either in school or an acceptable alternative.



When truancy isn't an issue it doesn't matter. Therefore she is our child and we can do what we want.
The school has always given her the time excused without any problems. Family's get so little time together anymore because of most parents working, that one week out of the school year isn't going to hurt. Quality time with family is what matters and the child will cherish forever.

 

[LuvN~Travel]

Well we had a unique take on this. We told our kids to tell their teachers about being off Friday the 19th since we are leaving that day. My daugher comes home and tells me that one of her teachers said that she'll be down there too! And, that she might call us that night to talk about meeting up with us down there.
So now we have plans to meet up with her teacher and her teacher's parents on the Wednesday we are down there! Most kids definitely don't hang out with their teachers at WDW!
Kim

 

[Aurora in blue]

Wow! Thanks for all of the input. I am looking forward to this trip even more now. There are a few things I can do without his teacher sending work,such as, I am going to bring math flash cards and his vocabulary flash cards too. I will also have his spelling words for the week so I will have him write them and practice them. We are driving so we will have a lot of time for school work. The rest of it he canmake up later. I read so many helpful things . The most important being the reminder of how special family time can be.

 

[paigevz]

He will have so much fun and so many new experiences. Just that little bit of practice on his math, spelling and vocabulary will really help him when he gets back, too! Have fun!

 

[aquidneck]

We're going the same time. My son's 7th grade teacher said it's a great time. They'll just be reviewing. My twin daughter's kindergarten teachers are putting together a travel journal for them to take. My husband works hard and we've had this trip planned for over a year. I recently went to my gyn and have a mass in my left breast. We also have truancy court in my town. Nobody is about to tell me I shouldn't be going on this trip. It is a fantasy for my four children and I'm going to make sure that it's as magical as can be. If for some reason the teacher has difficulty accepting it, maybe it's the teacher. You best go enjoy yourself and make the best of this vacation. I know for myself, I don't know if they'll be another vacation. I'm not doing any mammograms before the vacation. I'll deal with the school and any other complications after we have the best vacation we can. In my opinion you should do the same. Enjoy!

 

[CarolA]

Just an FYI.. And keep in mind I don't have children or really care. (I do have a social worker friend who is always telling me these great stories of why kids are allowed to miss school, vacations that last a month, they were just too tired, they don't like the teacher etc. which trigger the system to start the truancy process which gets her involved)

She gave me this law info for one of my Girl Scouts one time.

This is what Tennessee defines as truant:

"1) It is the duty of the principal or teacher of every public, private or parochial school to report promptly to the superintendent, or the superintendent's designated representative, the names of all children who have withdrawn from school, or who have been absent five (5) days (this means an aggregate of five (5) days during the school year and not necessarily five (5) consecutive days) without adequate excuse. Each successive accumulation of five (5) unexcused absences by a student shall also be reported. "

Now if your trip was approved or excused you would not be truant. However, in my case I had a Girl Scout who was selected for an event in Europe. It took us several weeks to get the principal to agree that it was an "adequate excuse" to avoid the girl being penalized. We went to a lot of effort since this was an inner city school with a principal who really clamped down on truants. (Which overall was very good for the kids, but.... how many times does an inner city girl get a free trip to London for an international event? Isn't that educational? We got all her teachers to help us with the principal in order to win him over!. I also had to provide copies of plane tickets etc... He really thought we were making this up.)

So my advice is to make sure you tell them. You would be amazed at the number of parents who just take the kids out of school with no warning. I am sure the teachers get worried about those kids.

 

[Aurora in blue]

I just talked to the teachers again yesterday. They are aware of the trip . I can take books with us they just can not assign work ahead of time ,as I said before. I feel much better after reading the boards. It also helped that we had conferences yesterday and both kids are right on track at school and ard doing well. Thank You so much for all your well wishes . 15 days and counting.

 

[peacefulgirl]

Aurora in blue,

This subject gets me !

I haven't read anyone else's reply .. but here is mine ...

I just took my DD (5th grade) out for 4 days to go. Now mind you, it is a private Christain school and I pay ... but the schools policy ... I had NO problems ! Actually, the teacher is new this year and came from a public school ... she said, what she likes to do is give the kids NOTHING to make up, she explained how important family is and she felt that over-rode stresses the family out with makeup work... all she asked was that the child wrote each night a lil about their day ... HOW COOL, a journal only adds to the memories ! Now she said the schools policy was that they do the work... well, she did have my daughter do the journal ... and she gave her very lil work to do. The school closed 2 days for convention, so we had 4 days after the trip to get that done and it was a breeze! She would have given the work much before the trip, but I think she was too busy.... it must kind of be a pain for the teahcers to get that work together.

Now when I took my son (was in 3rd grade) out of public school years ago, I got a call from the prinicpal and he was against it. I told him, I am pregnant with child #2 and this was a week (not Disney) that I planned to spend with my son before I have the baby and I knew that it would be the last of times that me and him would have time with "just us". I didnt care what he thought... I did it anyway !!

OK, so IMHO .... your children are small ONCE in their lives. ENJOY them and do not listen to any hogwash about it being a bad thing to take them out of school! These memories are what your kids will remember, time togehter at Disney, not those # of days in school ! PLEASE do not feel guilty !

Now that said, if I were you, I would explain to the teacher that you realize there will be make up work and that you appreciate any time she has to spend preparing that.... ect... and I would get her a lil something to show your appreciation with a thank you card ... I think that will go a long way ... just showing you understand it is more work for her/him ... also journal, even if that means writing what the lil ones says about her day.... great memories!

Now doing that, knowing you are not commiting a crime here ........ go and have a blast and remember ..... MEMORIES !!!!

Your a great Mom ! Trust your instincts !!

p.s. my short trip was a lot of traveling from SIL's house to Dis ... I am planning another trip for spring to make up for the fact that we were only in the parks 2 1/2 days ...... he he he

 

[Aurora in blue]

Thank you peacefulgirl. I feeel so much better about the trip after reading so many positive posts. I really appreciate it!!!!

 

[erinz]

When I was 10, I was attending a private school that was very strict about missing days. My mother said that when she told my teachers about our family taking a vacation during shcool, they made her feel pretty guilty about putting "fun" infront of education. But she and my Dad pulled me and my sister out anyway, and we spent a week in Europe together.

Two years later, my father died of a heart attack.

Now......what do you suppose my mother, sister, and I remember of that week? How much work my sister and I had to catch up on when we got back?

Yes, school is VERY important. But if the system cannot accomodate one week of absence so that a child can have a special vacation with his/her family.........something is kind of screwy....

 

[Dchef]

I recently planned our very first trip to DW for this January. I knew full well the kids would be in Kindergarten!
The reasons I decided to was they are at a great age for this disney experience. At 6 they will get the full effects of the magic of disney and in a few years that part will be lost for them (or at lease it won't be like the first time).

So for me, I wanted to go at the least busiest time--
During Kindergarten when their work load isn't so large
At a time when it would be a nice addition to our year and the heat wouldn't wear us down or them.

I talk to the teacher and she fully supports us going in fact she know me as a parent and that I will have no problem supplying them with many learning activities. Each evening they will have things from school given to me by their teacher, that they will have to work on. Fruther, they will need to provide the class room when they get home of some things they learned at DW and about the state of Florida which they have never been.
So, don't feel guilty--just embrace the oppertunities to teach at every single turn on your trip.