Anyone else feeling guilty about the kids missing School?!

[Just Chip No Dale]

We were on our first cruise over the Winter Holidays so there was no school to miss. The offer of a 7 Day Cruise for about half of our 4 Day Cruise was too good to pass up. But now that it's only a few weeks away, I'm feeling guilty! My kids are in the 4th grade and Kindergarten. Missing Kindergarten isn't such a huge deal, but 4th grade kinda is.

I did speak to the 4th grade teacher today, and she said that if I feel that my son could keep up with his school work while we're on the ship and would be able to catch up with his class when we got back, then she really didn't think is was such a bad thing. I really don't worry that he could keep up ( and he knows, no O.Lab until he's done his work, plus she suggested he keep a journal of the trip).

I haven't spoken to the Kindergarten teacher yet.

I guess I'm just feeling like an unresponsible parent! In the great scheme of things, missing a week of school when you're 9 and 6 years old is no big deal! But I was just wondering if anyone else was feeling this way and how you GOT OVER IT!!

Thanks!
Chip

 

[MO Disney cruiser]

This is our 2nd year in a row where we have taken our DD 11 out of school. If they're a good student, I wouldn't worry about it. Your kids are visiting foreign countries and such. Learning is more than school books.

 

[Kaa]

We have taken our son out two years running to cruise and will do it again next month. He is in the 3rd grade this year. We have taken as much school work with us on the ship as the teachers were able to give in advance and my son was always caught up within one week of returning to school. It has not hurt him one bit and his first cruise helped him in his school work when he returned. I haven't ever felt like I wasn't being responsible. It sounds to me like you have the school work issue under control and that is the most responsible attitude I can think of!

Have fun!

 

[tstobb]

I traveled a great deal when I was younger as my parents' business took them all over and they felt that some opportunities were not to be missed and we feel the same way about taking our children. We have spoken with all 3 of our childrens teachers as well as the school principal and agree that, even though it is a vacation, children sometimes learn more "real world" experiences when they're allowed to understand what the real world really is.

Our children are in 3rd, 1st, and pre K and we've even used the pre-trip to learn math )put the 946 feet of the ship into perspective - how many times around the block), social studies (St Martin is split between 2 countries, customs procedures on US re-entry), english (proper use of language so that EVERYBODY can understand what you are talking about), etc.

Most of all, they learn more when the subject interests them and Disney is the best at keeping them interested!


I'll never forget when I was a freshman in high school andwe were in Japan . It was an experience to see the reactions of the people of a vastly different culture as it realted to our political process when a new president was elected.

 

[Michelle]

Just be sure to check with your district on absences. The only time I took my daughter out of a week of school was in second grade (luckily her teacher loved cruising) and she arranged with the district for her to have "independent study" that week and she got full credit for the week. She DID have to do special work on the cruise (a journal, special science stuff, etc.) and she had to do all her homework, but at least she didn't fall behind.

Luckily we're in a year-round school and can cruise during the off-season and not have to take my daughter out of school.

Enjoy your cruise!

 

[lisa36]

I feel no guilt what so ever
Our children 12 and 7 will be missing 7 full days of school

I firmly beleive they will be learning as we have fun...

and I honestly cannot imagine there schoolwork being adversely
affected by this trip..

We also intend to keep up with homework, but our
priority this trip is family fun!

We havent even told the children we are going ( Nov 7-14..and
then 3 days in Clearwater)

We plan to tell them after we pick them up from school and are headed for the airport!

 

[Just Chip No Dale]

Wow! I really appreciate everyone's positive feedback! And so quickly, too!

I do agree that life experiences are a great teaching tool.


I'm over the guilt now and looking forward to the FUN!

Thanks!
Chip

 

[Nutsoverdisney]

I have taken my DD now 15 out of school about 6 times since kindergarten for vacations. I never feel guilty about it. I always speak to her teacher about a month before she needs to leave and ask them to let her know what work she will need to make up while we are away. She makes up some of the work in the weeks before we leave, on our way to our vacation destination and finishes the rest after we return. I never have her do any work while we are on vacation. She always catches up and her grades are not effected from taking a week or two off.

 

[dylan'smom]

It was quite a problem for us when DS got to 5th grade last year. It was not just a matter of keeping a journal (which he did - & the visit to the butterfly farm in St. Maarten was a wonderful part of it), BUT he was expected to complete EVERYTHING the other students had done for the 6 days he missed - not just homework assignments and modified versions of missed work.

It was very hard for all of us. He would have had to spend more than a full 6 hours on it every day to keep up with everything they did at school, plus what they would have received in homework. I thought that was very unreasonable of his 5th grade teacher, and did regret taking him out last year. BUT, I know that was not everyone's experience.

I wish you a much better time! When DS was younger this was not our experience, but I am quite "gun-shy" now!! If I could add anything to help allay any worries, I would say get it all straight up front with their teacher. I thought I had done this, but got quite a surprise when he brought home a truck load of assignments!!!!

Forgot to add... we asked for work ahead of time for 2 months, but did not receive any until the day before we left. Might have been a bit better that way. Good luck with your vacation - I hope you don't encounter the problems we did!!!!

 

[scootersmom]

Chip,
I am also wondering how to handle this situation. We'd like to book a cruise for Oct. 2003. Our DS will be in 5th grade then. We're planning the cruise around a weekend that he's off school from Friday through Monday, but he'd miss 4 days of school.

A few years ago, we had a family reunion in FL and when I asked his teacher what the policy was for missing two days for that... unexcused absences. No make-up work allowed. Her advice was to just call him off sick or make something up that would be excused. That would include him being ill, a death in the immediate family, or a trip for a religious reason. She said she had received an excuse from a parent once that they went to Vegas for a wicca convention... that was excused for religious reasons. I ended up calling him off sick from the hotel.

My personal feeling is that he'd be visiting other countries, etc. and it seems that some of the shore excursions could lend a very educational slant to the experience, while also being great fun. When he was younger, he never knew I'd called him off sick, but now I'd hate to have him know that I lied!

I'm really hesitant about even asking if we could make arrangements for him to make up missed work because of a cruise with the strict policy this school board has.

It sounds like your children will have no problems making up their work. Enjoy your cruise and don't feel guilty!!

 

[shmoogrrrl]

Just a suggestion...

When we sailed in Feb of 2001, My hubby and I sailed with my Mom, Dad and neice, who was 6 at the time and in Kindergarden.

I brought along an instant Camera and a small scrapbook, as well as some Disney Stickers, construction paper, colored pencils, sissors and glue. We used the Camera to take pictures of my niece in different situations, then she wrote a small paragraph about what she learned. For instance, we did the Butterfly Farm at St. Martin. We got an instant picture of Miri with a Butterfly on her, and her little blurb talked about the facts she learned about Butterflies. I then glued the pictures and what she wrote into the book and we decorated the pages.

Not only did she have a great memory book detailing her cruise experience, but she had something to bring in to her teacher that showed what she learned and tht could be shared with her classmates.

Just an idea!

Kathy

 

[MiaSRN62]

We've taken the kids out of school 5 times since 1994 to vacation. We are fortunate that our district actually allows 5 "excused" days for things such as vacations. Anything over the 5 days must be approved but we've never had a problem so far. It can be a slight inconvience to do homework while trying to have fun on vacation but my kids have never had trouble keeping up. I happen to have a job that makes it extremely difficult to get any time off from during the summer and holiday times. In fact, my vacation request for this summer was turned down twice--I asked for time in June and July. We will be taking the kids out of school for the 6th time this November to do the 4 day Wonder cruise on 11/3. I have three children : b/15, g/12 and g/10. I plan to ask for their work about a month in advance. We drive down and the kids get an amazing amount done during the 16 hour journey down.
Traveling in off-season (especially to WDW) is so much nicer anyway.....at least we think so. The more tolerable temps and crowds have spoiled us. We just came back about 3 weeks ago and could barely stand to be in the parks with the intense heat and crowds. Besides, we feel traveling is a learning experience in itself and it gets us all some much deserved family time. No guilt here !
Have a fun, guilt-free vacation........

 

[westjones]

We have always homeschooled, and this year one of my daughters decided she wanted to go to school. I have no idea what to expect. She starts Wednesday, and Friday I am taking her out to go to Chicago. Next month we have a 7 day cruise.

I asked if we should wait to enroll her after our vacation, but the school said to go ahead and do it now. If they give us a hard time, we can always withdraw her for a week and re-enroll her. Or if they give us a REALLY hard time, we will just go back to homeschooling. She is a twin, and her sister doesn't want to go to school, so I am homeschooling her anyway.

One of our big reasons for homeschooling is because DH and I love travel and figured we would have more flexibility and freedom (plus, I didn't mind staying home with the kids).

So this is our big experiment year. If the school cooporates with us and doesn't give us problems, then my other daughter will go next year also. If they make a big stink about it, we will go back to homeschooling them both.

We love the Disney Cruise and have decided to make it a birthday tradition for our daughters. Which means ever year in September, we will be cruising.

So we will see how it goes. I am sort of anxious to see how they handle it. DH has already said that if they start giving me a hard time to just tell them that we will withdraw her. But she is so excited about getting to try school though, so I am hoping it all works out.

Debra

 

[prymsu]

Since my son (9) is not old enough to stay home by himself over the spring and summer breaks from school, he goes to the school day camp. Since he is virtually at school most of the year, regardless of if school is in session, I don't feel one bit guilty about taking him out for vacations.

Last night was open house, and when we met teacher, i right off the bat told her that we had a family trip planned in January and let her know the dates that Dakota would miss school, and she was OK with that.

 

[Lumiere999]

I have always taken my DS12 and DD10 out since they were in pre-school the week of Columbus Day. I have to say that this is probably the last year that I will be doing it since DS is going to high school next year. They have never had a problem catching up and the teachers have always been great about giving them the work in advance.

In October of 1996, 1998, and 2000 my DD's dance school danced at MGM and each time there were about 35 students (only 190 in our whole school) between dancers and siblings in our school that were out that week. The principal was NOT happy!!!

 

[akterrye]

I feel more guilty about ME being out of school than my son!

 

[Just Chip No Dale]

Thanks, everyone!

Our drive down to Florida is about 8-9 hours and I'm sure my kids could get the bulk of their work done in that time.

Kathy:
I had been thinking of the boys making a scapbook of the trip. I thought I get them each a disposable camera, stickers, etc. and make that their trip journals to share with their classmates when we get home.

Debra:
When in September are you sailing? We are going the 21-28th.

Chip

 

[aprilgail2]

I had no probem ever taking the kids out of school...one year one of my godsons teachers gave him so much homework (it was about in 3rd grade) that we all ended up taking all his "busy work" (word searches..and stuff like that ) and we all did it before we even got on the plane...then rest we help him with to knock it all off the first day then we were home free....it was all stuff he knew anyway,only review type thngs so we ddn't feel bad at all about it. We are taking my god daughter out of school in 2004 for our next cruise and she will be in 10th grade.....the thing that realy makes me sure in my decision to pull my own kid out of school when the time comes is that you never know what can happen in the future, enjoy the time with them while you can.....even my godsons Dr's said that we should have no regret, we did so much when he was alive that he lived more than a normal 14 year old, he had a good life and that makes me happy...I spent more money on vacations and things than I should have, but now I do not regret it one bit. This boy was up in a helicopter, 3 Blimps, parasailing,jet boats, drove speed boats, and to numerous vacation spots every year...no regrets for a few missed days of school...

 

[goofysgirl]

Sometimes, then I realize that the time my children spnd with me is just as and often more important than what they can learn in school. We have taken our kids out of school every year for the last four years and have found they work very diligently to make up or do their work before we go--they wouldn't want to be left behind in school next time. Let them make a scrapbook, keep a journal, or take pictures and make a photo display. The time they spend with you will certainly benefit them at sometime in their life, even if it is when they are telling their kids about how much Grandpa and Grandma loved them enough to take them on vacation whe everyone else they knew was in school! Have a wonderful vacation, our girls will be on the Magic in October learning something about the Caribbean!

 

[bulldawglady]

One of the first things I mentioned to my twin girls teachers at Open House was about the Disney trip and they both had no problem. They will do a journal and it will be fun, kind of like scrapbooking. Any assignments will be done in the car during our 8 hour drive there and/or back home--no books on the cruise...
I did think long and hard about having them miss 7 full days of school in the 3rd grade but in the final analysis I realized that my girls will certainly remember and get more out of their time on the cruise (and Discovery Cove) then sitting in the classroom!(Not to mention the awesome family time)
Looking forward to September 7th - roll clock roll!