Taking kids out of school for Disney

[Michiganfamily]

Hi- We are working on planning our first trip to Disney next fall. Our oldest will be in second grade. What experiences have you all had with kids missing school? I'm worried about what the teacher's reaction might be, and I don't want my daughter to fall behind. She'd miss 4-5 days of school. I know missing school is not a great idea, but it sure seems like a good time to go in terms of disney timing.

any thoughts/experiences????

 

[HappyDznyCamper]

The best place to start is with your school handbook, check to see what your district's/school's policy is on vacation absences. In my district vacations are not excused so any work or test missed may not get credit. Most elementary school teachers will however let the kids make up the work, for older grades that is not always the case. If you do take your child out for vacation, let the teacher know as soon as possible and then remind her as the time gets closer, ask the teacher how she would like to handle the missed work. Some will send it with you, some will ask that it be made up upon return.

 

[mom*to*2*princesses]

I went straight to the top and asked the principal before we did any real planning. Once she gave us her blessing we booked the trip-the principal is the one who has to okay the absences in our district. Our DD will be missing 5 days at the end of April. I also told her teacher at our fall conference to confirm that it wasn't a problem and to express our willingness to do whatever necessary to not make a burden on the teacher. It seems like it will be a-ok for us. Good luck!

 

[Happy4Disney]

Last month I took DD5 and DD7 out of school for 4 days for our WDW trip. I talked to the teachers well ahead of time and the principal's son is in DD7's class so we talked to him also. DD5's Kindergarten teacher was fine although she said she discourages kids out of class for any reason other than illness. Both teachers provided the homework ahead of time and we did it on the trip.

Last week I got a computer generated letter from the county listing the number of unexcused absences. My kids should have had 4 unexcused days each but the letter had 3 per child. I called them and they said not to worry about it unless I get to 21 unexcused days and then it is principal's discretion.

Enjoy your trip!

 

[wdwdancerwannabe]

In our district, the building social worker automatically sends out letters if the child misses 10 or more days in a quarter. (this is their documentation if they need to hotline for Children's Division).

I wouldn't request that the absences be excused --- that's tacky.

As long as you don't anticipate your child being sick for the rest of the quarter/semester....you should be OK.

Sometimes teachers will have their students write a story about her experience, calculate the distance on a map from home to WDW, read a book and write a book report about WDW....whatever - to make up - that way the child is working on GLE's (grade level expectations) and curriculum while the student is gone.

 

[GrumpyOne]

We used to go in May, before the end of the school year.

I always provided a note to the school and followed up with a phone call. It was an excused absence because I requested it. Nuff said.

The kid's education won't be ruined because she delayed how to spell "squirrel"

I don't take well to Disney during the crowded times (see the handle) and felt that any time the family could go on vacation with a reduced chance of the experience having problems, the better.

Perhaps there's something I'm overlooking but my opinion is that quality family bonding takes presedence over a week of 2nd grade.

 

[Elmo888]

It seems to depend on the district, teacher, and school. If it works for you, then go for it. We are taking DD out of first grade for 5 days, and the teacher seems to be fine with it. Our district counts absences the same, no matter what the cause. They don't designate excused or unexcused, at least at the elementary level. DD is doing very well, so I'm not concerned with her missing school. If you factor in all of the variables (district, teacher, school, child, etc.), it will probably be easy to see if it will be a problem.

 

[marcyinPA]

We took our kids out of school a few times for our Disney trips. Most recently, we took them out at the end of September 2005 for a week. My oldest was in 5th grade and my youngest in 1st. We surprised them, so they had NO idea about the trip. This was a GREAT thing, because they remained focused on school right up until we told them we were going to WDW the night before we left. I spoke with each of their teachers in private, told them the boys didn't know about the trip, and they were more than happy to get homework together and to me without the boys knowing. Our district requires that we fill out an extended absence form before a trip, so I did that without the kids knowing too.

We are planning another trip in May 2007. There will only be 3 weeks of school left when we go. My oldest is in 6th grade, and the youngest is in 2nd. I did check with my 6th grader's teacher to be sure there was no district testing going on, before I made our plans. I figure with only 3 weeks of school remaining, there won't be a ton that either one of them will miss. The only thing I found out AFTER I booked was that my 6th grader's middle school band concert will be held during our trip. There's nothing I could do about it now, since I already bought airfare. What's done is done. I haven't told him yet, because they don't know when we are going. They KNOW we're going, but they THINK we're going in June.

My only advice is to try to keep the trip a surprise if your kids are obsessive about things like mine are. My oldest is especially like this and will totally lose focus a few weeks before the trip. If he doesn't know about it, he can't obsess over it. It works for us!

Have fun!

 

[daisyduck123]

Hi!

First grade teacher here.
I think family time is very important, so I never mind when one of my students goes on a vacation.

My own DD (11yo & in the 7th grade last year) & DS7 (2nd grade last year) each missed 11 school days last year for 2 WDW vacations.
This year, they will each miss 6 days for our May trip.

I'm all for it. Going in the off season is such a big plus....shorter lines, cooler temps than summer, less crowds.

 

[Miss Jessr!ca]

yay! next year (my senior year of HS) me and my best friend are getting taken out of school for a week to go to disney with my family! im so excited

 

[MSSANDRA]

We took DS out in K-1-3 -5 and never gave it a second thought. Third grade they gave him a lot of make up work but other years he had none. I had decided not to do it agin in middle school but the principal (also a friend says why not!!) We are going next month but I almost wish we were not doing it. DS is an all A ,never struggles kid but he has had some respritory issues that caused him to miss some school. We thought we were under total control but some flair ups has cost us several days being absent. I stress everytime he coughs!!! Also the work load has increased in the last month and I am dreading all the make up work he will have. Trip is paid in full and we will go but will have to deal with the cosiquence. This will be the last out of school trip. I would absolutly ask that is be excused as sometimes unexcused days result in all 0's during that time. We belive that all travel is educational and WDW is no exception. I offer to have DS do something educational from the trip INSTEAD of all the makeup work but we have never been asked to do that. I totaly expect that DS will have to make up 100% of his work and he will do just that.

SO.....Second grande I would not even give it a second thought !!!Go enjoy and make memories!!!!!!

MsSandra

 

[Caitsmama]

We just had dd (gr.k) out of school for 5 days for WDW in Nov. And we are going again next yr - however, it works out she will just be missing 3 days next Nov. BUT , then we are going on the DCL in Dec, and she will miss another 3..
To be honest, i could care less what the teachers reaction or principals reaction is.. This is family time, memories being made.. and if that is the time we chose to go, so be it.
I will never plan my family vaction around what a school offical will say.. never. The most important thing in life is family.
I say go for it, and don't look back.

 

[JacobsMommy11002]

I was expressing concern to my SIL (A teacher) about this being our last January trip, because next year the kids will be in school. She said to me "Johanna, don't worry about it. There is nothing the kids are going to learn in school from k-atleast grade 4/5 that can't be made up. Missing a week for family time is not going to make them an unsuccessful adult." and she is right. Kids are pushed so hard now at such an early age, they deserve a week to take off.

 

[Starr W.]

As a parent of a 4th grader, we pulled him out the 2 days of Thanksgiving week. They don't do "anything" that week, since it's only 2 days. He had 4 math workbook pages, one homework page, read 3 pages in SS book and one Science worksheet.

I have also found out that after the 3rd quarter ends, the school year seems to start winding down. It really accelarates after the state tests. So I would have no problem yanking him for a day or two then either.

Our district doesn't seem to mind week long trips, our district is one of the tops in the area and very upper middle class. It' not just WDW trips, but other places too. Now I know some of the church schools(not just Catholic) give you a lot harder time about missing time for vacation or even misssing a week being sick. My SIL had to go to a meeting with Dr's notes to show my DN was sick with step for a week, not skipping school. Geez. I have a friend who swears they load up on the homework just to discourage in-school trips.

 

[rileysmommy]

We are pulling my dd out of Kindergarten for 5 days for our Disney cruise in 3 weeks. January is the only time we can afford to cruise so that's when we are going. With it being Kindergarten I am not really worried about her missing too much. She does have an alphabet book each week as homework so she will have to make that up but nothing else. My 2 nieces (8th grade and 2nd grade) and my nephew (5th grade) are also missing school and they have a ton of work to do about the trip plus make up all the work they will miss while they are away. It must be made up in the same length of time that the trip was so since they will be out of school for a week they have a week to get it all made up. Fortunately they are all very good students so it shouldn't be too much of a problem for them.

 

[mom2-four]

We're going in late Oct, and I plan on telling the school, as soon as the year starts. My oldest will be missing a whole week and a half. I'm not worried about the work he'll be missing (he'll only be in 1st grade), and I will be telling him upfront all the homework he will be receiving when he returns.

 

[jchick]

You didn't mention the grade your child is in, but mine is in 3rd and we went this year, and I wouldn't do it again. She stayed out a whole week. We brought a ton of work with us, did it while we were at our hotel, then had even more to do when we got back. Notice I say "we" because it really is "we" when they are in elementary school!

My parents like going in Jan/Feb and they are taking us in 2008 and want to go then...I told them we had to work it around a school holiday, but at the most she could only miss 3 days.

 

[WAHMto5]

We take our kids out for vacation. I believe it really depends on the child and how they are doing in school. I let the school know well in advance the dates they will be gone. I know they are not crazy about it, but it works best for our family.

 

[mjantz]

My oldest is in 3rd grade & after seeing the amount of homework he has currently, I would never take him out of school for a vacation. Possibly the Winter Olympics in Vancouver in a few years but not Disney, which is open 365 days/year.
My kids school seriously frowns on taking the kids out for vacations because they're a charter school & recieve less money than the public schools & every absense costs the school money.

 

[1Prince2Princesses]

Take her to Disney and don't worry about school! It's easy to prearrange an absence. You don't have to tell the teacher where you're going, you can just say you're going on a family vacation, but I bet even the teacher would be excited if you did tell!

There is nothing your daughter will learn in school those few days that will stick in her memory like a Disney vacation. Have fun.