At what age do you stop taking kids out of school?

[Tarheel girl 1975]

We will be pulling DD out of school for a week in September. She'll be in 5th grade. She and my son (7th grade) are on different schedules and we won't pull him out of school. Once she's in middle school we won't pull her out of school anymore.

 

[MickeyMinnieMom]

They are in 4th and 5th grade this year, and catching up is not even remotely an issue. We stopped pulling them out for longer trips when our school district removed "Principal's discretion" when it came to which absences were excused, and instituted an automatic referral to CPS after 10 days missed. We still pull them out for short rD trips where they miss one or two days of school.

Just FYI, these threads often get contentious, no matter how innocently a question is posed.

 

[Jaime4004]

No problem taking mine out for a week in elementary school. Did it yearly in Oct, which is my favorite time to go. Depends on the kid, IMO. I won't take DD out (middle school) more than a day or two at a time because she has a harder time in school (B student, so not a huge struggle). DS (also middle school) and other DS (still elementary) would have no problem missing a week. Next year they will miss 2 days in the fall and probably 2 days in the spring. I'm okay with that...

 

[DVC-Don]

We stopped when our oldest got into middle school. Too many teachers to deal with and district policy was to not give out work in advance and any exams missed could not be made up. We did it every January for a week in elementary school.

 

[ravenclawforever]

I'm surprised the thread has not gotten contentious yet. In our district all absences are unexcused unless there is a doctor's note. In fact you have to have a doctor's note to get back into school if you miss more than 2 days in a row. Miss more than 4 days in a semester and you can't be exempt from finals (high school). Growing up here, I was always perplexed hearing that families took vacations during the school year. It also always surprises me when my students (college) inform me that they plan to miss a week of class for honeymoons or other vacations. That just is not a mentality I am used to. Not judging any of you, just commenting to illustrate differing cultures across the country.

 

[jv3cv1]

We pull ours out but our school system lets you make up work before or after and you can turn it in on the computer when you are gone. Pulled ours out for 9 days last year and with the Christmas Holidays It was no problem. I would think it depends on the school classes they are taking and what time of year you are pulling them out. Would never pull out at the end of a quarter. We plan on pulling out our 12th grader and 9th grader next year for a trip. My kids are use to being pulled out we have always traveled a alot, live no where near family they may just be used to it missing school and getting work done.

 

[aprincessatlast]

I stopped when my son was in high school. There was SO much work, it would be hard for him to miss a week and catch up. When they were younger though, I never gave it a second thought.

I was always one of those who was taking my kids out. Our school district is fantastic and is very multi cultural so would have kids leaving the country all the time. Even in the handbook stating that they supported kids travel with family, if however it was longer than 3 weeks to please dis enroll and then re enroll upon return. Which I loved as I always believed that any form of travel is part of a child's education. However it is a top preforming district and because of that this past year (6th grade) I received some resistance from my own kid. It was just too hard to miss. We are going to Disney this summer for the first time, which is something I said I would never do due to heat and crowds. I do have a trip planned next school year for something else but do fear the days of pulling out are done with. We will see.

I'm surprised the thread has not gotten contentious yet. In our district all absences are unexcused unless there is a doctor's note. In fact you have to have a doctor's note to get back into school if you miss more than 2 days in a row. Miss more than 4 days in a semester and you can't be exempt from finals (high school). Growing up here, I was always perplexed hearing that families took vacations during the school year. It also always surprises me when my students (college) inform me that they plan to miss a week of class for honeymoons or other vacations. That just is not a mentality I am used to. Not judging any of you, just commenting to illustrate differing cultures across the country.

There is no reason it should get contentious, as you said cultures vary from area to area. I would however, struggle to live where you do, due to the type of thinking that anything other than an illness is unexcused. However I would need to recognize the culture and come to terms with it or find a way to work around it. Like home school or virtual school if it seriously limited my child's education (as mentioned previously I firmly believe travel is part of that education, granted Disney 3x a year would be stretching it. lol).

 

[KateMW]

We will stop this year with my daughter in 7th, which starts Jr High here. But she has a toddler brother, so it might mean she misses a trip. But she's been a couple of times herself so she'll be fine with that. It's too big of a pain with missed work etc. My daughter is also in all advanced classes, so I'm not sure of the work load. We're doing a short cruse then a couple of days at WDW after for Spring Break, so she might miss a half day before or after SB actually.

 

[Madzac]

Our last pull out trip my oldest was 5th grade. Even as an honors student missing 4 days was a lot of catch up work. In middle school it would be very tough. I can't imagine making up all that algebra homework!

I don't love that we have to go in the peak times now but if it's too stressful for the kids to make up then it's not worth it to us.

 

[georgina]

Depends on the length of the trip. When our oldest was a senior in HS, and younger 2 in 9th and 7th, we extended our measly 2 day spring break to a week for a cruise. I think there were a lot of absences then, as we used to get a full week in spring. The school district has tightened up on absences now, so it may not even be possible.

When youngest was a senior, she missed 2 or 3 days due to a lacrosse tournament/college visit/day at Disneyland. Heck, we were flying all the way to CA, might as well take another day and visit DL! She was also an honors student, in many AP classes, etc. My kids rarely missed any days for sickness though. (And she ended up attending that college we visited there.)

 

[21stamps]

I think it all depends on the school your child attends.

I've seen a few other threads like this, and was totally shocked when I read that some schools have restrictions.

I took my son out for 2 weeks last year, he will be out for 2 weeks again this year, and we have an October cruise booked for 2017 as well- but he will miss 6 school days with that one.

In 2015 the teacher did not give us any homework to bring with us- even though I asked. We did his online reading assignments, but that was it. Returned to a TON of makeup work. But, we left a week after school started, so maybe that's why we couldn't have in advance. It was a nightmare, especially with his other daily homework and 4 days per week football.

I'm hoping that this coming winter we can bring some work with us.

 

[mousefan73]

where we live ( overseas) it is not allowed to pull kids out of shool. that being said, my son is now in 5th grade and even if I could I wouldnt. I pray enough that he doesnt get sick a week and miss instuction. Especially in Math. the way they do math I could not help explain it to him.. totally different than how we did it...

And no way in heck would his teacher take the extra time ( for freely missing class) explaining a whole week of instruction to him. their pace is super fast and one week is A lot.. I know a lot of kids who are sick for a week and it takes weeks to make up. But his school is for top students and a fast track.


So I figure if I worry about said child getting sick and missing school, then I wouldn't freely take them out for a vacation. that is how I would measure it.

 

[A Mickeyfan]

10th grade

 

[pigletto]

From years on the boards I can tell you that the policies for each board vary widely. Where we are, it was not a big deal to take time off, we weren't penalized or prevented from it in any way. Personally we feel teachers have more than enough to do than to ask them to do extra work to get things ready for my child to take, or give them extra help when we return. It's on us if we make the choice to take them out and we spend the time helping them catch up. We usually took 5 days a year. It's pretty common.

In the primary grades it didn't seem to matter much and they caught up easily. By grade 6 that changes. Ds12 is in Grade 6 this year and between basketball (two teams with travel and practices), being in French immersion, and other responsibilities he was overwhelmed when we got back from our early May trip and it took a few weeks of concerted effort to catch him up completely.

Stupidly I prebooked our fall trip for end of October before we left on our May trip. If I could change it I would, but it would be a huge penalty. So he will miss five days and that is the last time we will take him out for more than a day. We will travel March Break or Summer from now on.

 

[SaintsManiac]

We will stop when my daughter gets to middle school. We only go every other year, though. The other vacations we take will be during her regular school breaks.

 

[JeninTexas]

I agree with what most of the other posters have said about it being no big deal at all in elementary school. Even though I really love to go in September or November, I decided against it once my oldest hit 6th grade. For us, in 6th, grades really start to matter. Kids have to maintain a 94 average to get into NJHS, and they apply in 6th. I wasn't willing to miss a week out of school while trying to maintain a 94 average. Also, they start doing service hours in 6th grade, and missing the school baseball or basketball game becomes a pretty big deal at that age when you are on the team.

However, I think it really just depends on the school and on your child. I have friends who have no intention of trying to get their kids into NJHS, and are content with Bs and Cs. For them, it would be fine to be out of school for a few days. Most all the work is posted online and accessible online, so that makes it much easier for the child to do work while traveling. It really just depends in your situation.

 

[KittyKitty]

Having taught math in high school, I've learned that teachers have the lesson plans figured out, but depending on the speed the students are grasping the information, timing can change as well as the assignments. At least these days many teachers have assignments and textbooks on-line. So if the student is absent, they can still see what they need to work on.

 

[21stamps]

I agree with what most of the other posters have said about it being no big deal at all in elementary school. Even though I really love to go in September or November, I decided against it once my oldest hit 6th grade. For us, in 6th, grades really start to matter. Kids have to maintain a 94 average to get into NJHS, and they apply in 6th. I wasn't willing to miss a week out of school while trying to maintain a 94 average. Also, they start doing service hours in 6th grade, and missing the school baseball or basketball game becomes a pretty big deal at that age when you are on the team.

However, I think it really just depends on the school and on your child. I have friends who have no intention of trying to get their kids into NJHS, and are content with Bs and Cs. For them, it would be fine to be out of school for a few days. Most all the work is posted online and accessible online, so that makes it much easier for the child to do work while traveling. It really just depends in your situation.

I have to comment on your last paragraph- I don't think a child who travels means that they will be a B or C student. I attended a private school growing up, and my son attends one now. I would say a good number of students then and now miss at least a few days for travel, we have very short breaks. "Spring Break" is ONE Friday off. That's it - 3 day weekend. That is a very popular time for vacations, and my son had maybe 4 students in his class out during that time. Same thing around Thanksgivng break- 4 day weekend, and a lot of people take 1 week or so vacations.
The teachers and schools make sure that we have the tools necessary to catch up without any grades falling.

 

[JeninTexas]

I was not saying that children that travel are B and C students at all. It depends on the child. I have one child that is brilliant and could easily miss a week and not suffer at all. I have another that works hard and needs to be there every day to make As. What I was saying, it that I have friends that are happy whether their child get As or Cs, and they don't hesitate to travel during the year. There is nothing wrong with that, and I envy their flexibility. However, it is just not our style. What I was saying, is that is depends on your personal situation, your child, and your school.

 

[21stamps]

I was not saying that children that travel are B and C students at all. It depends on the child. I have one child that is brilliant and could easily miss a week and not suffer at all. I have another that works hard and needs to be there every day to make As. What I was saying, it that I have friends that are happy whether their child get As or Cs, and they don't hesitate to travel during the year. There is nothing wrong with that, and I envy their flexibility. However, it is just not our style. What I was saying, is that is depends on your personal situation, your child, and your school.

Thanks for the clarification.
I have a friend who homeschools, I couldn't do it, but sometimes wish I could just so we could travel more. It's hugely important to me, but I would never accept my son falling behind due to it. I think you can be an A student and travel, within reason.

I would love to take a Panama Canal or EBTA cruise- both are too long to do during the school year.