Homework at Disney World

[padawans]

If you don't feel your child needs to do homework on vacation then don't have them do it. Your the parent. Your child in not going to suffer missing a week of school.

 

[3PrinceMom]

I sometimes question why it's a big deal, especially at the elementary age. My oldest, in hs will be missing 6 days this trimester (they only allow 5). Too bad. The consequence? Must pass the final exam at 66% to pass the class. Really? No assignments...nothing. He will have no problem with this. They have just given him the green light to slack off all trimester. He's asking to do it again next trimester. Can't say I blame him. I could have showed up once a week for four years and made it through high school with those rules!

If the elementary teachers really think I'm going to stress about getting the work done while we are away.....they have another thing coming. They will work on it before we leave....and do an appropriate amount in a day. I will pick what they do....and what they don't have to do.

Disney is always a learning experience, especially at the elementary age.

 

[lcj19]

My mother would take my brother and myself out of school for 5 days every school year for a WDW trip and we were always given assignments to take with us and we did them while we were traveling or before bed each night. It was never a big deal to us because it wasn't interfering with the "real" fun

 

[21hearts]

Every time I missed school to go to WDW as a kid (3ird grade to senior in high school) I had homework. There was just no getting around it. Some times it was easier "keep a journal of what you do" or a packet of stuff I had to do before I got back.

I say do the homework. What happens if you DD doesn't do the homework? Will the teacher give her a 0?

 

[deegack]

As I see it education is a partnership between the teachers and parents. If the teacher assigns homework it should be done or it leads the child to believe that what the teacher says in not important and even that education is not important. My dd is young but we went with my sister and her kids last trip. They got up every morning and did their homework while everyone was getting ready and eating breakfast (they were in a villa and had a kitchen). It worked well for them and they actually finished all their homework by the fourth day.
The while I'm the parent I will so what I want is not helpful to anyone. Neither is the whole I'm the teacher I know more about education than a parent. Everyone needs to work together to educate the child. Sometimes it may mean saying it may not be what I want but it must be important because the teacher wouldn't bother putting it all together if it wasn't.

 

[mjkacmom]

That is very kind and considerate of her teacher to gather up all of the work ahead of time! We've only had one teacher do that for us, in the past. The rest of the kids had to scramble when we got back from vacation. Now that I have a middle schooler and a high schooler, we no longer take them out for vacations - just too hard to play catch-up (all of mine are straight A students).

 

[mjkacmom]

Homework may or may not effect grades where you live. In our schools, it certainly does effect grades from 1st grade up. You may do very well on test but your report card grade is going to reflect all areas of work! Grading scales and ways to reflect the work can be VERY different in every school district as well. Some school do not get letter grades till 3rd grade or higher and others get them from 1st grade on. Only you can decide how important these grades are to you and your family. In reality grades mean very little until high school and then they are VERY important. Sometimes middle school grades can effect a child's ability to take certain honors or AP classes in high school but in our district, that is not really the case. A WDW trip may cause a child's grades to slip. maybe a lot. Only you can decide if its worth it or not. We took DS out most years k-8, always made up the work, and his grades never dropped.

Here, to be eligible to be IQ tested for GT, in the 3rd grade, you need straight A's, advanced proficient results in standardized testing, and teacher recommendation. Being eligible for GT is finalized by the results of the IQ testing. In order to take honors courses in middle school is based on grades (92 or above in subject, which is an A-), scoring advanced proficient on standardized testing, and teacher recommendation. Again, the same with honors courses (and eventually AP courses) in high school.

So, even though only the grades in HS count, everything leading up to HS counts, as well. At least here.

 

[Angel Ariel]

As I see it education is a partnership between the teachers and parents. If the teacher assigns homework it should be done or it leads the child to believe that what the teacher says in not important and even that education is not important. My dd is young but we went with my sister and her kids last trip. They got up every morning and did their homework while everyone was getting ready and eating breakfast (they were in a villa and had a kitchen). It worked well for them and they actually finished all their homework by the fourth day.
The while I'm the parent I will so what I want is not helpful to anyone. Neither is the whole I'm the teacher I know more about education than a parent. Everyone needs to work together to educate the child. Sometimes it may mean saying it may not be what I want but it must be important because the teacher wouldn't bother putting it all together if it wasn't.

I completely agree with this - very well said!

The attitude of "I will pick what they do or not do" is extremely antagonistic, imo. Yes there are learning experiences to be had at Disney, but they aren't the same learning experiences that other children are getting in school while a child is at WDW. Classroom learning can't stop moving forward because one student in a class is on vacation, nor can the teacher hold the class back upon the student's return to catch the one student up. The work assigned (whether it's assigned before the vacation or after) is to help minimize the amount of catching up the child will have to do in class. The teacher will likely still have some one on one work to do with the child in class, but ideally the work assigned will help lessen that and help both the individual student as well as the class move on as necessary.

IMO, when a parent is the one choosing to take their child out for vacation, the parent then takes on some of the responsibility in making sure the child catches up (in the form of whatever assignment the teacher asks to be finished). If a parent feels there is too much work assigned, or they won't have time - talk to the teacher! They may just work with your concerns. They may give the child x amount of days to turn in the work after vacation so that the child doesn't have to work on it on vacation. Or if the amount is a lot (like 2+ hrs/night or something), perhaps the teacher would be open to spreading out the due dates instead of requiring it all be done immediately upon return (or maybe they'd even lessen it a bit if it's that much). IME, all of the teachers I've taught with have been willing to work with parents when parents are willing to work with them. It's when parents take an antagonistic stance with parents that teachers and schools get less flexible (also IME).

 

[kaetra]

I went to the school today and picked up the vacation schoolwork & homework folder. Surprisingly it was very, very light. So I glanced through and asked DD to do just a couple pages, telling her it was "extra credit" work. (It's a surprise trip, she has no idea we are going).

Everything was super easy, as she already knew all the material so she breezed through the ENTIRE packet in a little over an 1 hour. Haha! I was all worried for nothing really. The old adage proved true - most of the things we spend time worrying about don't actually happen.

We're DONE with the homework already and we don't even leave for another few days.

Thanks again everyone for your thoughtful replies!

"Keep Calm and Disney On" all you fabulous Dis angels!

 

[RMulieri]

..I got my 2nd graders work for our trip (only 4 days of missed school)..5 math pages, a vacation journal ,spelling words for a test on return, spelling sentences, a packet on verbs ,a social studies thing on presidents and a 60 pg chapter book.All to be done during our trip.

 

[lisagirl88]

I love how my son's teacher handled this a couple of years ago. He was going to be missing 5 days of school, wasn't struggling in any of his subjects and was given the packet before we left for vacation and was told that he could have up to a week AFTER vacation to finish the make up work in the packet. That way we weren't trying to cram it in while we were on vacation and he didn't feel stressed about make up work. I hope that is what their teachers do this year!!

 

[clm10308]

I think you are lucky that the school will allow you your daughter to miss that many days for a vacation, and I don't think you should complain about her having to do her missed work while you are gone. Remember that she is will be missing class work not just the normal weekly homework. In many states third grade is when state testing starts and the increased work load reflects that.
The district where my kids went to school counts vacations as unexcused used abscences, and the kids get zeros for work that is missed.

 

[we3peas]

This whole discussion is why we decided to home school. We take our vacations when WE want and I don't give homework over them. I know my DD is learning even if she is having fun, they are not exclusive of one another.

 

[PrincessTiffany]

I went to the school today and picked up the vacation schoolwork & homework folder. Surprisingly it was very, very light. So I glanced through and asked DD to do just a couple pages, telling her it was "extra credit" work. (It's a surprise trip, she has no idea we are going).

Everything was super easy, as she already knew all the material so she breezed through the ENTIRE packet in a little over an 1 hour. Haha! I was all worried for nothing really. The old adage proved true - most of the things we spend time worrying about don't actually happen.

We're DONE with the homework already and we don't even leave for another few days.

Thanks again everyone for your thoughtful replies!

"Keep Calm and Disney On" all you fabulous Dis angels!

I didn't read through all of the responses, I've read enough of these threads to know I don't want to. Anyway, I'm glad you got a light homework load and it's not that big of a deal. Our kids are now 15, 11, 9 and 8 and we have been taking them out for Disney vacations every year for the last 8 years or so and we have NEVER done homework during our vacation. Most of the time they just have to do a few things when we return. There have been a couple of times when the teacher has given us some work ahead of time and it has been done on the plane or car ride to and from Disney, but not at Disney. I, personally, would tell a teacher there is no way we are going to do homework during our vacation, but everyone is different and has to make the choice for their own family.

Hope ya'll have a magical vacation!

 

[Southernmiss]

I think you are lucky that the school will allow you your daughter to miss that many days for a vacation, and I don't think you should complain about her having to do her missed work while you are gone. Remember that she is will be missing class work not just the normal weekly homework. In many states third grade is when state testing starts and the increased work load reflects that.
The district where my kids went to school counts vacations as unexcused used abscences, and the kids get zeros for work that is missed.

I have read through the thread and agree with the above. I felt badly about taking our 4 kids (11th grade, 8th grade, 6th grade and 3rd grade) out of school for 3 days to attend their grandfather's funeral. I went to the 3 different schools and getting the absences okayed at the elementary and middle school were easy, however, the high school was a little tougher and all 4 of my kids are great students and there was makeup work for each kid.

There is a funeral on Monday locally for one of my husband's uncles. We asked the kids if they wanted to miss school for the funeral and they said no--too much to catch up.

Each district is different.

 

[kaetra]

I have read through the thread and agree with the above. I felt badly about taking our 4 kids (11th grade, 8th grade, 6th grade and 3rd grade) out of school for 3 days to attend their grandfather's funeral. I went to the 3 different schools and getting the absences okayed at the elementary and middle school were easy, however, the high school was a little tougher and all 4 of my kids are great students and there was makeup work for each kid.

There is a funeral on Monday locally for one of my husband's uncles. We asked the kids if they wanted to miss school for the funeral and they said no--too much to catch up.

Each district is different.

This is terribly shocking and sad. If any school even hinted at giving my family a hard time about my children attending the funeral of their grandfather I would raise absolute H.E.double hockey sticks. Names would be taken, letters would be written, the school board would be petitioned and you can bet your bottom dollar that I do not need the school's "permission" for my childrens' bereavment absense. They have absolutely no right whatsoever to be anything but sympathetic in the situation of an immediate family member's death. How.Very.Dare.They.

My sympathies to you and your family for your husband's uncle's passing.

 

[labst60]

These posts make me sooooo glad we homeschool! I would not do well at all "answering" to an elementary teacher regardign when we go on a family vacation or what we will spend our time doing when we are there!

 

[kaetra]

This whole discussion is why we decided to home school. We take our vacations when WE want and I don't give homework over them. I know my DD is learning even if she is having fun, they are not exclusive of one another.

Thank you for your reply. Learning is not now, nor has it ever been limited to a classroom. Though it is not an option for our family, I have great respect for parents who have the dedication, patience and courage to homeschool.

 

[labst60]

Thanks Traci
It just sort of fell into our lap- so I can't take much credit there but I have found I have gotten very spoiled by running our own schedule! We actually do a virtual school - so we do have some accountability but a ton of flexibility.

I just get so frustrated on behalf of families that want to /need to vacation at a certain time (finances, parents work schedules, etc) and the schools give them a hard time about pulling their kids out for a few days. Just to your point - there is **so** much learning that takes place **outside** the classroom - but since that stuff isn't going to be on "the test", teachers and administrators often fail to recognize it's importance.

I'm glad that the homework packet worked out for your DD and she was able to get it done ahead of time. What a bummer for the families whose teachers expect them to do homework packets WHILE ON their family vacation!

 

[DopeyDame]

This is terribly shocking and sad. If any school even hinted at giving my family a hard time about my children attending the funeral of their grandfather I would raise absolute H.E.double hockey sticks. Names would be taken, letters would be written, the school board would be petitioned and you can bet your bottom dollar that I do not need the school's "permission" for my childrens' bereavment absense. They have absolutely no right whatsoever to be anything but sympathetic in the situation of an immediate family member's death. How.Very.Dare.They.

My sympathies to you and your family for your husband's uncle's passing.

When I missed school for my grandfather's funeral the only thing the school said was "so very sorry for your loss, let us know if there's anything we can do to help." I can't begin to imagine a situation when any school - preschool through college - would be anything but sympathetic and supportive of students whose loved one just died. (And really, it's not unusual for a grandparent of a high school kid to die, so you'd think they'd have a reasonable and comforting policy in place!!!)
Vacations we can argue about until the cows come home, but funerals? Who the heck does that Principal think she is? Totally blown away by this...