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

[kfeuer]

We're taking our son out of Kindergarten in October for our Disney Cruise, but probably won't do it again. His school really frowns on "unexcused absences". However, I think the cruise will have some educational value in and of itself and I'm sorry but it's KINDERGARTEN! We're only doing it this time because we can't afford DCL's rates when school's out and it's a once-in-a-lifetime trip.

 

[3DisneyKids]

I am a college professor--and have also taught grades 4-6 and HS in the past. I take my kids out at will (they are still young, K, 2nd, and pre), and I plan to continue to take them out. Right now, they are all above grade-level/age-level, so I don't worry a bit. And as long as that trend continues, I will take them out.

As an educator, I have seen kids and young adults miss a week + at every level...and really, almost all have handled it just fine academically. Once you take out lunch, recess, specials, transition times, guest speakers, assemblies, etc. the amount of time each day on academics (for elem and middle school) is about 2-3 hours at most. The parents have a lot to do with it as well...bringing the work you can, or having them do some sort of "project" or report for school about their trip, etc. I once had a student do "Mickey Mouse Algebra" while she was gone...it was hilarious! But more importantly--for the first time ever, she UNDERSTOOD it! You can make it work.

My best tip--instead of getting "caught up" when you get home...get AHEAD before you go. The kids will be motivated to do it so that they can go on the trip (and you can use all kinds of incentives...special souveniers or meals, etc. if they get their work done before they go...) That way, no stress on the kid (or you) and you can go on your trip without it hanging over your heads.

However, what an earlier poster said is true...one size does not fit all here.

 

[CathrynRose]

Ive got a 15 y/o and an 11 y/o - and we are going in 21 days.!!!

I'm sending "the letter", Tuesday. ***fingers crossed*** for no trouble.

 

[emma'smom]

I teach at a college that has Spring Break during the middle of March. A number of children who attend my daughter's private school have at least one parent who is on the faculty at the college. It is pretty common to take the children out for one of the two weeks of the college's spring break even though it is not the official school break. I would expect the teachers to understand the needs of their families and student population and plan their teaching/content schedules accordingly to accommodate the large number of college families.

I will continue to do this through 6th grade when she will have to go to public school.

 

[StephMK]

I put middle school because DD is going into 7th grade & really can't miss without a huge hassle. They have split schedules & she doesn't even want to miss school. She's in all honors so academics is an issue only in that they teach it faster but she's afraid she'd miss too much. Stressing her out is not worth it so we'll just make spring break our main vacation. Sadly, DH's new job makes it impossible to take any summer vacations.

 

[Swimnoid]

We took DD19 out of school every year from K-12 for Disney; sometimes even twice. The most she missed was probably 4 days. The district has strict rules about how many days you can miss per semester but it was never a problem. We would get our "Your student has missed 3 days of school" letter and that was all.

Sometimes teachers would send work ahead so she could do it before/during the trip. Sometimes she would have a special project. Most of the time they said dont worry about it, have a good time. It never hurt her grades and of course we'll never regret the time we all spent together on those trips

 

[kldmom2000]

We booked our upcoming trip last February and my DD will miss 4 days of 1st grade. I went to her orientation Tues. night and her teacher said point blank that she does not allow family vacations to be taken during the school year. She has your child for only 180 days and you have your kids for 176 days-plenty of time to find an opportunity to vacation with them outside of school time I've not yet told her that my DD will be out because I was afraid of what she'd say!!! My DH is self employed and the nature of his work prohibits him from taking time off during school vacations and the summer We WILL take this trip and I will deal with the wrath (it's the whole school-they have become crazy with wanting to be #1 in the city for attendance) I am NOT cancelling this trip (though I did mull it over for a couple of days, but we'd lose almost $1000 between the airfare, MNSSHP tix, and the deposit on the vacation pkg).... I am NOT going to try this again after this year (even though MY parents did it every year through HS for both my brother and myself) because I do not want to deal with the teachers giving my DD or me a hardtime about it.... Wish me luck when the note goes in next week!!!!!

 

[LBKMAMA]

My son missed 4 days both in Kindergarten and in 1st grade. Both teachers were great about it. I alway try to plan them from mid week to mid week so that I can see the work etc. It's never been problem and my son knows if he wants this to continue he needs to read and do a journal entry every day of the trip. In first we also had to bring math worksheets he didn't finish prior to trip.

I'm a bit nervous about this year. They will only be missing 3 days, but his 2nd grade teacher I don't believe will give the work ahead of time or if at all (not sure).

As for future trips I'm going to continue to play it by ear. Going to Fl in the summer just doesn't really interest me, but we are trying late Sept. this year. OUr school district gives the Jewish holidays and there was Free Dining....I figured we should try it- I thought maybe we could use these days to work out our trips (if I can handle the heat!) in the years to come.

 

[maxtomsmom]

We're taking our son out of Kindergarten in October for our Disney Cruise, but probably won't do it again. His school really frowns on "unexcused absences". However, I think the cruise will have some educational value in and of itself and I'm sorry but it's KINDERGARTEN! We're only doing it this time because we can't afford DCL's rates when school's out and it's a once-in-a-lifetime trip.

DH and I feel the same way. We're taking our son out of K in Dec. I probably will not be able to do this as I am a teacher and will have to go back for the 2007 - 2008 school year. That is when my childcare leave ends. I either go back or resign. So we figure let's get one more Disney trip in when it is cheaper before I am stuck going during the heat, the crowds and the expense.

 

[Luv2CDisney]

We are taking our DDs out for 5 days. My parents who are in their 80's will be with us. I'm not sure if they will be able to make another trip because of their age and health. I feel so sad in a way that this may be their last trip. The memories and the times we spend together far out weigh anything they will miss for those 5 days. In 2,5 or 10 years from now my DDs will remember Sept 21-28,2006 was the time with Nana & Pa at Disney. I am positive they won't remember what they were doing in school at the same time.

How dare a teacher or anyone dictate to you when you can and cannot take YOUR child. No one knows a family's situation but that family. If you can only take a family vacation during the school year due to your circumstances then take it. Your child will benefit and thrive with the time spent with you. Life goes by VERY quickly, things change in an instant nowadays.
Making memories that will last a lifetime for your family is far more important.

 

[daisyduck123]

We do it every year in May, except this past year we went twice & added a trip in January also. Between the 2 trips, they missed 11 school days. I'm a teacher too, so I also pulled myself out of school!! One of my students was in WDW at the same time, so I even looked for her!!

I love the lower crowds when most kids are in school. We actually had a trip planned for this August during FREE dining & canceled it...we'd rather go during the school year.

DD12 (8th grade) & DS8 (3rd grade) will miss a full week again this year but I think we'll only take 1 trip this school year...I know we almost pushed it a little too far last year.

 

[norcalmouse]

We try to avoid it but sometimes all the different school schedules don't
work out. It also give the kids a chance to realize that you need to
learn that you need to be flexible and address things in advance
or make it up when you get back. There are also educational aspects
that you can work into any trip, so that is part of the deal with
the kids.

 

[Boston5602]

Last Year we went in September and oldest was 10 and in 5th grade this year being 11 and in 6th grade we decided we couldn't do it . For the first time we went in the summer ( gosh its hot <G> ) and booked next year for summer too. We might do a long weekend but no more weeks off for the kids.

 

[FloridaTeacher]

We take both kids and me out of school every year. I teach middle school language arts/English. My oldest son is in the 11th grade, my youngest is in the 3rd grade.

School (and work) is important, but family is more important - soon, my boys will be grown and gone!!!

19 days and 23 hours til we're back at Fort Wilderness and WDW!!!

 

[MSSANDRA]

We had planned to stop when DS hit middle school but the assitant principal said, "WHY ? ". We are going this year as it is DS's last year of middle school and he will miss 4 days. This will be the last time as our high school has block classes and it is just too hard to make them all up.

NEVER had a problem with the school, teachers or DS getting work made up. He is a good students and years we know we are going to travel we allow no other missed day other than illness.

 

[badblackpug]

This is a very loaded topic here, some folks advocate "take them when you want" some folks say NEVER take them out. I think I try to be a balance of the 2. My kids will miss 1.5 days of school for our trip. (we are going "Jersey week") We will leave Friday Nov. 3rd, after school, and we will return Mon. Nov. 13th. The kids are off from school Nov. 7 for election day, Nov. 8 for inservice day, and Nov. 9 and 10 for NJEA conference. Mon. Nov. 6 is 1/2 day. I wanted to return Sun. the 12th but the airfare was soooo much cheaper for the 13th. so 1.5 days in total.
My personal opinion is that you should try to limit the # of absences your child has in school. Where I feel missing a day or 2 is okay, I definitely would NOT take them out for an entire week for a vacation. Just my opinion, based on my kids and my feelings about school, no flames, please, but I have always tried to instill in my kids that education is their #1 priority.
Also, I would NEVER take a struggling or unmotivated child out, even for 1 day.
Also, our schools have a very strict absenteeism policy. They allow no more than 10 unexcused absences per year (unexcused is anything without a Dr.s note, although they will make exception for a death in the family) After that you must repeat the grade or make up the time in summer school.

 

[MinnieGi]

DD just started kindergarten. We are planning on taking her out a few days. We usually take a winter trip in Jan or early Feb. and I was so pleased when I saw on her school calendar she has off on Friday, Feb. 2nd and Monday, Feb. 5th. So we booked the trip for that time frame and she will only miss two days of school.

However DH and I talked about this and decided this will be the last year we take her out. Starting next year we are going to go down Thanksgiving week. Her school holds conferences that Mon. & Tues and gives everyone off on Wed. and of course Thanksgiving day Friday. So I plan to just ask for an earlier teacher conference and then we will have a weeks vacation for Disney!! Just told my family tonight to get everyone thinking about holding some family Thanksgiving dinners for the next several years down in WDW!!

 

[FloridaTeacher]

This is a very loaded topic here, some folks advocate "take them when you want" some folks say NEVER take them out. I think I try to be a balance of the 2.

I don't think this is a loaded topic, or at least it shouldn't be. What's right for one family is not necessarily right for another. No one knows the circumstances guiding a family's decisions except that family. What is necessary (and this board is great about it) is an open mind, compassion and understanding, and at the very least - tolerance.

19 Days and 7 Hours 'til we're back at Fort Wilderness and WDW!

 

[Tantor]

DD is in grade 5 this year. We are going in Oct/Nov. She will miss 8 days of school. She is an A/B student. When we go we ALWAYS have homework for her from the teacher (he know's already) She must do the homework before we go to the parks.
We make every vacation, regardless of where we go a learning experience.
I never let school interfere with their education. (Mark Twain quote)

 

[Mom2Ty&Lins]

We have a DD13 in 7th and a DS9 in 4th. When both were in regular elementary school we took them both out for a week at a time several times for cruises (during different school years). Now that DD is in middle school and in advanced classes and DS is in a full-time gifted program, the work has increased substantially. We no longer take them out a week at a time. It would be too stressful on all of us for them to have to make up the work they missed while keeping up with the work they are currently assigned. We still take them out a day or two here or there though (Oct. 13th being the next ).
We have never encountered a teacher or school that opposed us taking them out for traveling purposes. We have however had several faculty members ask to be stuffed in one of our suitcases and taken along!