Thoughts on taking kids out of school

[ocspartan]

It really depends on where you live, make sure you know your local laws. in some states if you are out for a few days in a month you can actually get served for truancy and have to appear before a judge and face potential fines, and if a repeat offender further penalties, and this is even for parent excused days which count as unexcused absences for the schools... personally this is one of the most dumbest rules out there, it's really put in place for school funding based on attendance.

Now growing up my Dad was a high school principal, and my parents never had an issue of taking us out of school for extended vacations around the holidays if we were traveling far, I remember the teachers just giving a lot of the work ahead of time.

Personally I say the memories and learning experiences on a family vacation are more valuable than what can be missed in a few days at school. take the trip

 

[nene0182]

We take my son out of school for vacations. Because of various issues we are unable to take vacations in the summer. And from what I've read our schools must be weird. They don't get more then a 3-4 day weekend except for Christmas break and then they usually get about 10 days. But I am unable to take year end off at my job. So really we don't have a choice and I always said that I would travel with my son and take him places I never got to go as a child. Everyone does it around here especially in the winter to escape the North Dakota cold so they teachers don't care and some of them take winter vacations as well.

 

[Mickeyhugger]

It's kindergarten. Yes, take her out.

 

[jojmartin]

We're taking my son and his best buddy out of school for a week, a month after is starts. They are going into second grade. Their teacher and school administrators are aware and fully supportive. I would imagine this would be harder if they were in middle school, but it is so much easier to do in the earlier years.

 

[KansasFroggie]

First I should confess that I used to be one of those who wondered why people took kids out of school for vacation. I was a young teacher with no kids at the time (you know....back when I was a perfect parent before I actually had kids). Now, I'd say it is all dependant on your kids. If they are caught up academically I'd say go for it. The vacation is a different kind of education . However, if a child is struggling in school I'd say, no. Keep them in school. Just my 2 cents. By the way, now that I'm actually a parent, we have taking our kids out of school for vacation lots . All those young, childless teachers will get over it.

 

[MichelleVW]

My kids missed school for vacations all throughout their school years. They are both in college now and are doing great. I wouldn't worry a bit about kindergarten.

I would try and schedule vacations around school holidays so they wouldn't miss as much, but when they were in 7th and 9th grade we took a week off in December to take a cruise and they both did fine.

Some people will tell you to NEVER take them out of school for vacations but as long as your child isn't struggling it's not the end of the world.

 

[aanderson5]

We have taken DS out for a couple vacations every year and will continue to do so as long as he is doing well. We have had nothing but support from the school. I volunteer in his classroom and have had good relationships with his teachers for the past three years. They have given him no 'additional' work other than asking him to give a small oral presentation (written out with a drawing).

His teachers give a newsletter at the beginning of the month with everything they will be covering academically as well as any special events to be held at the school or classroom, plus a months worth of homework on a calendar at a time. He has access to his level of english reading books on line as well an excellent site made up by the French teachers at school with various areas of learning (he is in French immersion) which they are expected to utilize on a regular basis. If kids are off school for any reason (sick, vacation ...) they are able keep up with their work.

We believe vacation time is important bonding time for our family (DH has a very demanding job). We try to minimize loss of school time by scheduling around holidays and also vacation in the summer. If there comes a point where taking the kids out of school will put them behind we will alter our plans but I don't see that being a problem until DS is out of elementary school.

 

[jjje]

I have always taken my kids out of school for vacations. They usually miss between five and eight days of school a year because of our travels. I've always thought it was worth it and I've never once regretted doing it. I'll be pulling my son out for two weeks when he's in eighth grade so we can do a Panama Canal cruise. (Ok, I admit I'm a little nervous about that one. It'll be fine though. Valuable life experience and all that.) I would not hesitate at all to take a kindergartener out for a few days.

 

[kaseyC]

I have always taken my kids out of school for vacations. They usually miss between five and eight days of school a year because of our travels. I've always thought it was worth it and I've never once regretted doing it. I'll be pulling my son out for two weeks when he's in eighth grade so we can do a Panama Canal cruise. (Ok, I admit I'm a little nervous about that one. It'll be fine though. Valuable life experience and all that.) I would not hesitate at all to take a kindergartener out for a few days.

I was a bit nervous last year when I took my DDs out for the last two weeks of school last year for the EBTA. Our schools were fine with it. My girls didn't miss much at all. It was mostly review and the end of the year field trips and field days. My girls had more valuable learning experiences during our travels and a lot more fun too.

 

[TwinPrincessMermaids]

My first child will begin kindergarten this year. Yay!

Anyway I'd really like to book a cruise for Oct. 2014. Will missing 3 days of school make a huge impact? It's been a long time since I was in school, lol.

You are worried about missing 3 days of Kindergarden?

No offense to the educational system, but that's like coloring and recess...

Go on your trip as a family!

 

[su_A_ve]

3 days out of kindergarten??? HAHAHA! No offense but go have fun!

We've pulled ours out for 5 days up until our older one went to 8th grade. Since then, we try to pull them out no more than 3 days.

 

[alaskanabbott]

Always take our 6 kids out during school. We live in Alaska and usually by the end of Jan or Feb we can't take another week of 30 below and no sun- so we leave The only time the kids had trouble was when we missed the first week after Christmas break. Apparently no harm was done- my oldest was on the Presidents List at college, 2nd oldest graduated with a 3.8 GPA last year And the other 4 are all on honor roll

 

[Farps]

In my opinion I think it is fine at that age. But it definitely becomes more and more difficult as they become older, in our school district high school kids have to make up gym class if they miss a day by staying after school. Not a bad thing but it shows how strict that they have become.

 

[BarefeetMom]

Lol, He'll be in kindergarten this year but first grade at the time of the cruise. I know It's a silly question but, hey, he's my first kid, lol

 

[dcassetta]

Not a silly question at all. As some posters have mentioned, missing school can create issues depending on your state/district. I would contact the school and check to make sure you are in compliance.

 

[dminnie]

Kindergarten and younger grades shouldn't be a problem. We did it a few times over the years. Now that they are in HS, it just doesn't work. Way too much work to make up and missed activities.

Working in a school now, I see that it REALLY depends on the student. Some kids miss time and it is really hard for them when they get back...the other kids really are learning while they are gone and the kid on vacation is missing everything! The students that are at or above grade level usually can handle it though.

Talking with the teacher in advance to see how they want to handle it is very helpful, but don't expect them to have all their lesson plans finished in advance just for you. We had some give us a packet of work, others ask our children to keep a journal while they were gone and others not ask for any work! Someone suggested having your child do a "show and tell" when they get back. That would TOTALLY be up to the teacher. There are a lot of time constraints to get all the curriculum in(even in K and 1st grades despite that many people think kids are just playing at school). Many teachers also might not want to put the spotlight on a student that was lucky enough to go on vacation while they have many others that are struggling to get by day to day.

Also, be sure to check with your school office. Many schools require you to fill out an anticipated absence form...that way it might not be counted as an "unexcused" absence.

 

[jrabbit]

There is no Think ... Only Do!

And if your child is a reasonable student, taking them out of school for a week at a time will not cause them any problems - at least through Middle School. Other issues once the kids hit high school. We wish we had taken our kids out of school more frequently than we did - would have saved money and time going outside of the school calendar.

The school(s) will strongly disagree. But here is the "test". Get the "next weeks" homework / classroom assignments just before you leave on your trip. Have your child do all of the work before he/she returns to class. Measure the amount of time it takes for the class to catch up with the work your child already has done. If our experience is any indication, your child will be OVER a week ahead - maybe even two (yep, the "math" does NOT add up). That should convince you that it's ok to take your kids out of school - pretty much at will.

 

[Four Swampers]

Three should be fine. I missed four days of elementary school; consequently, I can't read, write, nor perform basic math. I shun bright spaces, scrounge in the dirt for scraps, and generally drool a lot. Don't miss four

 

[lilpooh108]

Our school district has a very strict 15 day absence policy that applies even to Kindergarten.

There is no "family vacation" take-home homework thing. You must go, and anything other than illness is not excused.

After 15 days of either excused or unexcused absences, your child is expelled and must either be accepted into a different school within the district, or private school, or if you go to HS then continuation HS.

I grew up here and it was so hard not get kicked out every year since 2 tardies also = 1 unexcused absence and my HS lacked enough parking spaces so we were always late....

If you have even 1 incident of unexcused absence (truancy) even if the parent said it was OK for the child to be absent, they can take away privileges like graduation and other school activities. It's pretty crazy.

Anyway, yea I can't take my kindergartener out next year for the EBTA and I'm so bummed.

 

[Meghatron]

We pulled our daughter out of her kindergarten-level school for two weeks to go on the Panama Canal cruise. My niece is in a traditional kindergarten and she went, too. Three days is nothing!

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