If you've taken your elementary child out of school to go to Disney...

[whogirl'smom]

did they have a hard time catching up when they returned to school? We've pretty much decided to go next Dec. before the holiday rates begin, so that means DD will miss probably 4-5 days of school. She will be in 2nd grade, so I'm not sure what to expect as far as make-up work. I know we probably won't be able to do this once she's past 4th grade, b/c of the amount of work they do at that level, so I really want to go around Christmastime soon!

What is everyone's experience with this?

 

[daisyduck123]

I pull my DD13 (9th grade) & DS9 (4th grade) out every year for 6 school days. In 2006, we went twice & they missed 11 school days. We've NEVER had any problems with schoolwork, teachers, or anything. I'm a teacher, & also pull myself out.

You will find from the DISers here that it varies greatly from area to area as to problems encountered with pulling kids out of school.

I'm pulling them out this December for Christmas in WDW. Can't wait!

 

[JVL1018]

We took out my daughter last year(1st grade).
The teacher gave her all of her makeup work the Minday she got back and told us she could take a week to turn it in.
DD was finished in 30 minutes.

We are taking her out in June this year, and her work is a little more time consuming this year, but she usually finishes her homework in 15 minutes, so even 4 days worth(no homework on Fridays) is not big deal, she can do that in 1 day, easy.

 

[smylie1]

One thing I've learned is to contact all of DS's teachers personally. Last year, his homeroom teacher (which was also his English teacher) said she would let his other teachers know since they work in teams and had team meetings every week. She forgot. So he had most of his English work done before we even left, but had quite a bit of Math to catch up on. He got it done, but it would've been easier if he'd gotten some of the daily review worksheets ahead of time. I know she had more important things on her mind than our vacation, I should've followed up. I also should've realized something was "off" when he didn't get work from any other subject. You know how it is with all the Disney excitement, I didn't even think about it.

 

[Clang]

We've gone in May twice - our schools don't get out until June. They had to make up the work - 2nd gr & 3rd gr - but no problems. They gave them their assignments a couple days before we left, and they had to turn it in a week after we came back - but we made him turn it in the first day back. The Kindergarten teacher didn't give us any work.

 

[brooklynheights]

we pulled my DN out for 6days for our first trip to wdw his teacher gave all his homework and classwork 100 pages she was sure he would not have it all done when he went back it was all done he did most at disney his first day back he aced his spelling and math tests his teacher said he bounced back to work great she is still mad at him for going she wanted to be there to she got engaged there last year and loves disney he is in the first grade

 

[debbiet1]

We are taking out children out of school early to go to Disney for Christmas. They will miss 3 days each. One is in grade 9 one is in grade 2. The teachers for the grade 9 said no problems at all and there wont be any problem with her catching up. The grade 2 teacher said not to worry about it he wont have much catching up.
We've always taken our daughter out a couple of days 4-6 days a year and shes' never had any problems catching up.

 

[Janet Hill]

I'm taking mine out for at least 10 days this year. If we score tickets to the Feb 14 space laucn they will be out for a few more. They are in the 4th and 2nd grades and we've always gone at least 2 vacations during the school year since the older started school.

Catching up hasn't been a problem. If it becomes a problem, we'll rethink the amount of time.

 

[Tammysue5]

When we planned our first WDW vacation for 9/11-9/22 we really struggled with the shcool thing... we decided that we were doing it! DS16 (Junior) Teachers/school were wonderful. We went right to the office and DS took a paper around to each of his classes, each teacher signed it and saw the note I wrote. (saying we would makeup the homework however they felt best.. before, during or after) He did wonderful! I might mention that he is in AP classes so this was an added concern. The teachers pretty much all know him so not a problem.

DD8 (3rd) and DD5 (Kindergarten) no problems either. Actually the schools (all three different) were very supportive.. thought it was great that we were going.

 

[chipndales]

did they have a hard time catching up when they returned to school? We've pretty much decided to go next Dec. before the holiday rates begin, so that means DD will miss probably 4-5 days of school. She will be in 2nd grade, so I'm not sure what to expect as far as make-up work. I know we probably won't be able to do this once she's past 4th grade, b/c of the amount of work they do at that level, so I really want to go around Christmastime soon!

What is everyone's experience with this?

My DD was 9 (fourth grade) and 10 (fifth grade) when we pulled her out at the end of Sept/beg of Oct for nearly two weeks each time. The teachers were positively amazing with her, especially her fourth grade teacher. Both agreed, however, that family time comes before anything else and were gracious to send along work and an email address to keep in touch. My DD got emails from her classmates and emailed her class back with facts she'd learned while in WDW.

The general consensus with our teachers here in my area was that the beginning of the year is simply a review of last year anyway so we were able to really pull it off well. My DD is also a very good student thankfully. If she struggled I might have rethought it. She's starting jr. high next year so I don't know if I'll pull her out to attend again. I'm very sad about that lol, but her interest comes first!

Good luck!

 

[MSSANDRA]

Pulled DS out in K-1-3-5-8th and he never had problems catching up. He is a really good student and the teachers know he is not a goof-off in class so they all cut him a lot of slack on make-up work. k-1-5, teachers all told him not to worry and gave no or almost no homework or makeup work. 8th he had some makeup work but all teachers gave him what he needed to stay on track but no busy work. Third grade he had a LOT of make up work. We did much of it before the trip and on the car trip down and back but found that doing it at WDW was a lost cause for us. Never has his grades droped following a trip. However, remember it is just 2nd grade. EVen if they did drop one time, it is not the end of the world. Grades have little long term effect till highschool. Which brings us to the sad fact that off season trip have come to a stop at our home. High School , with honnors classes and block classes and a strict attendence policy means those days are over. Enjoy them now.

 

[wld4mky]

Try to think of the whole picture.
They are in school for a long time, 5-10 days is not going to make a difference.
Life is too short not to enjoy it.
We lost a 7 year old daughter to cancer and had two wonderful trips to disney where we pulled her and our older son out,I can assure you it will be no big deal.
We still go 1 or twice a year and pull or 15yr out of grade 10-and have 4 and 2 year old as well, Its a no brainer. Live life to the fullest!!

 

[5/4Disney]

We take our kids our every year and we have had no problems yet. They attend a Catholic School so we explain it is a family vacation when filling out the approval form.(make sure your school does not require you to fill out any paper work prior to leaving) Usally the trip is taken with grandparents so we say time for family bonding. It is a bit tough the following week just to get all the work done, but sometimes we ask for work before we go. Depending on the teacher and their work load they will more than likely work with you.

 

[alloyd1170]

Bottom line-I would check with your school prior to booking on their policy of missing school. Our district at the elementary level allows 10 unexcused days. After that, you get turned over to DSS. My son (in K) missed 5 days last month. It was no big deal for us, and my son made up the work one day after we got home.

Ive read other posts on here that said their district allows no vacation days other than family emergencies.

 

[luvmy2sams]

We pulled DD8 out of 3rd grade for 4 days earlier this month. School policy is that vacations are unexcused absences, but we met with DD's teacher back in August, and she disagreed.

Making up missed work wasn't an issue for us. DD's teacher had all missed work for us on the Friday we left, and DD completed all assignments on the drive to the airport (approximately an hour of work).

 

[Disney_Princess123]

When my children did it, it wasn't too bad. Although they had to catch up a lot, they didn't say they never wanted to go again! It was harder on my DD9, oldest daughter, but her teacher procrastinated to get her homework ready, although she had at least two months to get it done. Enjoy your trip!

 

[whogirl'smom]

Try to think of the whole picture.
They are in school for a long time, 5-10 days is not going to make a difference.
Life is too short not to enjoy it.
We lost a 7 year old daughter to cancer and had two wonderful trips to disney where we pulled her and our older son out,I can assure you it will be no big deal.
We still go 1 or twice a year and pull or 15yr out of grade 10-and have 4 and 2 year old as well, Its a no brainer. Live life to the fullest!!

I am so sorry about your daughter. I do tend to think this way about life being too short and to enjoy it; thank you for reminding us of what is important! I feel much less worried with everyone's positive responses!

 

[MiniGirl]

I think it really depends on the individual child as to whether or not it is hard to catch up. We took our 2nd grader (and our Kindergartener) out of school for a week for our cruise. Neither one had trouble catching up. Our 2nd grader is a very good student though and really breezes through school. It was a little more difficult for our friends' 2nd grader to catch up. She managed to as well though. I wouldn't hesitaate to take either girls out again. I just have to wait till the next grading period. Can't have too many unexcused absences, KWIM?

 

[toy]

We pulled our dd(1st grade) out last April for 5 days. We let the teachers know and they were really understanding. She was given assignments before we left. We worked on those assignments during the travel. We will pull our now 2nd grader and kindergartener out a few days before Christmas break. We don't mind taking them out because life is too short not to spend time together.

 

[whogirl'smom]

We are wanting to go at Christmas next year, too, and my main dilemma I think is whether to pull DD out right before the break, or for a week at the first of Dec. Then, she would have a couple of weeks of school before the break for the holidays. Better to go right before the break?