please excuse my son...

[DaisyD]

Well aren't you sweet

The FACT is that my daughter DOES have a heart condition (which I have mentioned on these boards in the past) her heart rate is about 1/2 of what a normal 7 year old should be! And it IS a factor in our decision on when we vacation. Im glad that you can send a note that is more streight to the point, but as I stated I talked to a teacher in our school system before hand and she said the the more info you can give up front the better. I am pretty confident that my request will go through with out any problems or extra who, what, when, why, or how's.

But thanks anyway for your comments.

Don't ask for opinions if you don't want to hear the comments. Why does your DD having a heart condition have anything to do with when you are vacationing at WDW? I work along side teachers all the time and was just giving you my honest opinions. The teachers couldn't care less about all that extra stuff put in there. They all know that the education side of WDW is mostly bull. They just want to know when your kid will be out and when they are returning. Like it or not.

 

[DaisyD]

My note was very short and sweet:

Dear Mrs. Teacher:

My DD will be out of school from Oct 23 thru Oct 27 and will return Monday, Oct 30.

Thank you,
Her Mom

That's it! No explanation and no asking for work before the trip. My DD will make up all work upon returning as soon as possible.

Exactly.

 

[DisneyMommyMichelle]

nicely written.

 

[Tiffer]

For me this would be enough, I see no need for the rest of your letter. I don't see why you need to explain the educational value of WDW, it's a family vacation and that's all you need to say.

Me too.

You seem to be seeking his/her approval.

In our school disctrict, it would be an unexcused/illegal absence regardless of the note. We did this last year and wlthough DD is a high acheiver, it was still a problem as our district is paid per head per day.

No teachers would give her work in advace and gave her 3 days to make up missed work.

It wound up that I didn't write the note and just called her in sick each morning so it was an excused/legal absence.

Meaning..check your district's policy before you put anything in writing!

 

[Tiffer]

This was the case in CA where I taught. It is the job of the teacher to prepare what is called an "independent study" packet of work for your child. This can be submitted to the state so that the school still gets the funding even though the child is on vacation. But....you as the parent must ensure that the work is completed and returned.

Do you mean CA canada or CA California? If meaning the US state, this was not my experience at all. They do get paid per day, per head, but no one would prepare anything for my DD to take.

 

[Schmeck]

Me too.

You seem to be seeking his/her approval.

In our school disctrict, it would be an unexcused/illegal absence regardless of the note. We did this last year and wlthough DD is a high acheiver, it was still a problem as our district is paid per head per day.

No teachers would give her work in advace and gave her 3 days to make up missed work.

It wound up that I didn't write the note and just called her in sick each morning so it was an excused/legal absence.

Meaning..check your district's policy before you put anything in writing!

Well, umm, technically, you lied about it, so it wasn't really "legal"... Nice lesson you taught your kids there, though!

Some schools do not let you make up the work if the absence is unexcused. It was rather generous of your school system to allow the work to be made up.

 

[Schmeck]

My note was very short and sweet:

Dear Mrs. Teacher:

My DD will be out of school from Oct 23 thru Oct 27 and will return Monday, Oct 30.

Thank you,
Her Mom

That's it! No explanation and no asking for work before the trip. My DD will make up all work upon returning as soon as possible.

Very generous school here too - not many schools in MA let you make up the work if it's an unexcused/unexplained absence. The key is to get it excused, which the poster with the child with the heart condition should be able to do.

 

[beattyfamily]

Very generous school here too - not many schools in MA let you make up the work if it's an unexcused/unexplained absence. The key is to get it excused, which the poster with the child with the heart condition should be able to do.

How is my school generous based on my note to them?

I do not ask for any work before our trip. If they give her work she missed when she gets back, great, if not then oh well. So far, I believe they have because she always tells me she has a pile of papers on her desk when she returns.

 

[misshilda1]

I wish you the best....In my DD10's school system it is entirely up to the teacher to decide if the abscence is excused or not. I was scared at first because I'm not very familiar with her as I have been the others. I wrote her a letter informing her of our plans and offered to let my daughter write a small essay about her learning experiences. The teacher was awesome. She accepted my offer on the essay and said my daughter could make up her work......

 

[Schmeck]

How is my school generous based on my note to them?

I do not ask for any work before our trip. If they give her work she missed when she gets back, great, if not then oh well. So far, I believe they have because she always tells me she has a pile of papers on her desk when she returns.

Your last line - that your daughter will make up all the work afterwards - it just sounded like you knew they were going to let her make up the work. Sorry I misunderstood.

 

[beattyfamily]

Your last line - that your daughter will make up all the work afterwards - it just sounded like you knew they were going to let her make up the work. Sorry I misunderstood.

No, I never assume my children will get make up work. All I meant was I don't ask for any work BEFORE my trip in the note.

 

[I Believe n Fairies]

My dd5 missed 5 days of kindergarten last week for our trip. I received a "nice" phone message from the asst principal today. She told me that she could technically report us to the truancy office because vacations are not excused absences. She, however, is not going to report us because she assumes my dd was with me. You know, those hoolagan 5 year olds skipping school all the time.

Our school district only allows for 7 unexcused absenses. Funny thing, though, Alabama law does not require kindergarten and children are not required to be in school until age 7. So, I'm getting nice phone calls about a child who does not have to legally be there. I could pull her out and they could not say anything, but take her to Disney and all heck breaks loose!

 

[maxtomsmom]

My dd5 missed 5 days of kindergarten last week for our trip. I received a "nice" phone message from the asst principal today. She told me that she could technically report us to the truancy office because vacations are not excused absences. She, however, is not going to report us because she assumes my dd was with me. You know, those hoolagan 5 year olds skipping school all the time.

Our school district only allows for 7 unexcused absenses. Funny thing, though, Alabama law does not require kindergarten and children are not required to be in school until age 7. So, I'm getting nice phone calls about a child who does not have to legally be there. I could pull her out and they could not say anything, but take her to Disney and all heck breaks loose!

That about sums it all up. I have never met an adult who told me their life was ruined by taking a few days off from school when they were young. While I do not condone 20 missed days, I do feel there should be a cap on the amount of days - nationally, not state wise. My response to any of this you know what would be, "I will expect both the teachers and the administrators to never take a sick day unless they were truly sick. If you do take a day for staff development, I as the tax payer and the parent expect a full report on how you will implement what you have learned in an essay or chart format. I expect it to be done within three days of your return otherwise I may have to report you to the superintendent and state you're not doing your job to the upmost satisfaction." By the way, I am a teacher. I fully support family vacations no matter what age. Life is meant to be lived both inside and OUTSIDE a classroom. Learning does not only take place from 8:00 - 3:00. People learn in different ways. Any experience can be a learning experience. It is what you make of it. A child who visits WDW may be fascinated by how the rides work. After visiting the park, may decide to do some research and you never know- may become an engineer. The point being, we never exactly know what will turn a child on make them desire to learn more. Whether it is a trip to WDW or Europe it can always be a learning experience.

 

[dreamalittledream]

to the op, I like the note and may use it as a guide for my own if that is ok. DD is in K and we are taking her out for 8 days. Now, I don't think it is a big deal and when we made plans, she was going to go to the private K at her daycare. Now she is at the Catholic school. I am concerned about them giving me a hard time but K isn't even required in PA. What concerns me is that they have off the entire T-Giving week and we are leaving the Thurs after! so she will be out a week, back 3 days and out for 8 (T, F, M-F, M)

I would like to request any work ahead of time so she can work on it over the T-giving break, what do you think?

Right now for homework, at most she has is 1 page (front and back) a day from a workbook. I could even see us taking it with us if it was just the page a day. I can't imagine it would be alot, her pre-K homework was alot more!

 

[shadonjenon]

I have not heard from my sons teacher yet, but my 7 yr old DD's teacher sent word yesterday thanking me for the early notice and the note and she is begining to get her work together now!
Shes a great teacher.
I also have a daughter in high school and they are much more serious about adsences, so they require a more detailed explaination because the time missed means more.

But thanks for all you guys comments.

 

[shadonjenon]

Don't ask for opinions if you don't want to hear the comments. Why does your DD having a heart condition have anything to do with when you are vacationing at WDW? I work along side teachers all the time and was just giving you my honest opinions. The teachers couldn't care less about all that extra stuff put in there. They all know that the education side of WDW is mostly bull. They just want to know when your kid will be out and when they are returning. Like it or not.

As I stated in the letter the heat at disney during the summer would SERIOUSLY affect my dd so we try not to do long trips were she will be exposed to the heat. Anyway...

I asked for your opinion-you gave it-I didn't like it-NUFF SAID!

 

[teach22180]

As a teacher who works with students who do not have the economic resources to go to Disney, I think one of the reasons we don't just take the parents' word for excuses anymore is because people have abused that right. For example, I would say the child who is kept home 5-6 days each year to interpret for their parents in various situations has the same right to make up work as the child who misses 5-6 days for Disney. They are certainly in an educational situation, as they understand more about the government and dealing with repair-people than most children their age. Parents don't tell the school the truth about those absences, so the school feels they can't trust the parents. It's too bad; most parents do have their children's best interest in mind.

 

[DaisyD]

As I stated in the letter the heat at disney during the summer would SERIOUSLY affect my dd so we try not to do long trips were she will be exposed to the heat. Anyway...

I asked for your opinion-you gave it-I didn't like it-NUFF SAID!

How sweet,

 

[LuvOrlando]

My 1st grader attends a Charter School in GA and I agree the policy is VERY strict. My son will miss 3 days this school year for vacation in February 07. Our handbook says on your 6th unexcused absence day you are reported to the school social worker and required to meet with her to determine what happens next. On the 8th unexcused day you are reported to DFACS.

I guess maybe private schools have a different policy. We have friends who took their son out of kindergarten at a private school for 20 days to go to California (where both parents are from) and house sit for her parents while they were in Eurpoe. They went to Disneyland and visited a bunch of family while they were there. He missed another 5 days for a family vacation too. This year their son has missed 6 days for a WDW trip and will miss another 5 for a trip to visit friends somewhere out of state, 3 days for Mom and Son to go with Dad on a business trip to DC (which could easily be considered educational of course!) and then another 20 days for going out to California. I mentioned to his Mom I was surprised the school let them do that but she said they had no issue at all with it last year so she wasn't expecting an issue this year either. I was surprised to hear that given that we are reported to DFACS after 8 days!

One funny thing is that I am at the end of my pregnancy with our 3rd child. The school has a policy that you can not change your "end of the day getting home" arrangements without a written note and that kids can not be picked up early from school unless the receive a written note by 9 am. I went by the school to talk to the admin people and say that we do respect their policy on that and understand why they do it that way but that I wanted them to see that I am VERY pregnant so that in the next couple of weeks there is a possibility that we will have to make some last minute changes for DS if I go into labor. I explained that DS has asked to be in the delivery room and his father and I are OK with that provided that everything is going OK (I've had VERY easy deliveries with both of my kids). Our plan was to have him picked up and brought to the hospital once we had been there for a while, I had my epidural and there wouldn't be quite as much waiting for the show to start time. The admin lady tells me she was pretty sure that would be an unexcused absence if he missed the whole day or was picked up before 11 am. LOL I am sure I could challenge that with the principal if I wanted to as being there for his brother's birth is something I could argue would be an educational experience. (DS would be watching from the G-rated "A Baby Story" sort of angle but I do believe it would still be an educational experience for him).

If you are afraid that they might not release him how about writing up a letter in 'Word' making multiple copies with different dates to cover the entire period. Then either send 1 in each day or give the batch to your child's teacher & let her/him in on the situation (or do both)? It seems like too important an issue to lose out on a technicality especially since I'd assume it wouldn't be one of the parents picking him up with you being in labor and his father presumably having his hand squished. When a non-parent shows up the administrators might get a little less understanding.

 

[LuvOrlando]

Don't ask for opinions if you don't want to hear the comments. Why does your DD having a heart condition have anything to do with when you are vacationing at WDW? I work along side teachers all the time and was just giving you my honest opinions. The teachers couldn't care less about all that extra stuff put in there. They all know that the education side of WDW is mostly bull. They just want to know when your kid will be out and when they are returning. Like it or not.

Yikes. Since when does asking an opinion give anyone the license to rip someone to shreds?

I think the Op wrote a nice letter. I think it was courteous, respectful and considerate of the fact that her child's grades are in this persons hands.