Does anyone take school age children out of school for a DVC vacation during the year

[anniet]

Hi Everyone-

I'm planning a trip for my family in September of 2005, and it will require my cousins to take their 2 daughters (they will be in first and third grades) and my sister will have to take my niece (who will be in fourth grade) out of school for the last week in September.

I was wondering do any of you take your children out of school for a week to go on lower points seasons, or did you buy extra points to go during the school breaks?

I don't have kids, and I was just wondering what everyone does.

thanks!

Annie T.

 

[Richyams]

Two weeks every year since kindergarten.

 

[yasuern]

Yes we do - last december for 1 week and again this coming Dec for 1 week - and for every Dec until they are out of school! They are 7 and 6 y/o

 

[ncligs]

Always, our daughter is 16 and we have been doing it for years.
And my wife is a H.S. teacher and she takes 4 personal days during Presidents week, so we get 6 days at OKW every Feb.

 

[cgcw]

We have too. DS7 will be out the week before winter vacation begins so we can visit Disney. This will be the second school time trip for him. We will do it as long as his grades are where they should be and it wouldn't have a negative impact on his school work (as well as his younger brothers when he gets there). Disney in itself is a lesson is education -- so much to see and do that they can learn from.

 

[nezy]

I have no qualms about taking them out of school for a family vacation. We are going from 11/24 -12/8 this year. This is pushing it, but it is a big family trip.

I am not sure if the kids go to public school but we usually have a day or 2 off in September for Jewish Holidays or Columbu Day in Oct. If it makes your family members feel bettter to not take that many days of school. I Always tell the teacher ahead of time and ask for any work. It never amounts to much as much of the school day is filled w/ wasted time anyway.

 

[AZKathy]

Have done it many times with my kiddos. Last year was the last one for us since DS is now in 7th grade and he is just an average student and I think he will loose too much taking him out of school.

Last year, we took the kids out early by 5 days and did not blink once doing it since not much is done in the last few days of school. I contacted each of his teachers and he got done what was required before we left. One of his teachers had him do a report instead of taking the final exam (mostly because the teacher had not put the final exam together yet...... ). Our schools get out early in the summer, so we can bypass the bad crowds.

 

[Jhalkias]

Been doing it every year since about fifth grade - he is now a Sophomore. It is a little more difficult this year, as kids tend to get involved in more activities when they get to High School. Going this year Dec 8-15.

You will find some here who think this is the wrong thing to do. This topic has been discussed over and over here.

Bottom line, family time is important to me. I cannot always work my time off during school breaks, and during those breaks, the quality of the experience is degraded by fighting crowds.

We get homework and assignments assigned and/or done early, and all teachers have been cooperative.

 

[SamSam]

Our kids are grown and on their own now, but we used to take them out for a week each year. As long as they were doing well in school and they got their assignments for the time they would be gone, I felt that they time at WDW was well worth it. They would usually have all their school work done by the time they returned to school and in addition wonderful family and life experiences from a week at WDW.

 

[eva]

We have only taken our daughters out of school a few days in the last 8 years. We used to always vacation the first two weeks of June just to avoid taking them out of school and because I used to teach high school. Now the girls don't want to miss school because of the finals policy at the high school. The school will excuse you from finals if you are receiving a B or higher and you haven't missed more than 3 days of school in the semester. We are afraid that if we take them out even for 3 days that they will be ill some other time in the semester and then will be required to take finals. But we have taken them out twice for trips. Once at Thanksgiving for 2 days and another time at Memorial Day for 3 days. I figured that these two time periods are late in the sesmeter and it would be less likely that they will miss extra days before finals. When we do this I do sweat bullets though before the trip, hoping that they aren't ill prior to the trip.

I think that taking kids out of school is not horrible in most cases, especially when they are young. It's always a good idea to talk to the teacher well before the trip to discuss the missed days and get assignments ahead of time. As long as the parent realizes that it is their responsiblility to help with any new topics that will be covered. There's nothing worse as a teacher than a student bringing in a note two days before a two week trip. Teachers have broad ideas of the topics that will be covered each week, but they don't usually do precise lesson plans for a week until the week before. So be sure to give them plenty of notice and don't expect the teacher to spend hours outside of classtime trying to teach the student 2 weeks of material after they get back. I think that with a bit of organization and planning that a student can miss a few days without much trouble.

 

[Doctor P]

We try to minimize taking DSD out of school, but we do take her out for vacations a couple of days each year since our schedules do not exactly mesh with hers. The most she has ever missed is three days I think.

 

[chris1gill]

First, all school districts are different... some places you could get in an awful lot of trouble for taking your children out

Fortunately we don't live in one of those places!!

We've taken DS out for two weeks the last two years (kindergarten & first grade), this year we're taking him out five days around Thanksgiving for our vacation at BWV's. Come February, we're taking him out six days (surrounding school vacation) for a trip to Hawaii....

We'll keep taking him out as long as we/he doesn't get in trouble!

 

[jcodespoti]

I don't have kids, but I would take my kids out of school to go on vacation. Thats what my parents did with me and I edumaction terned out verry gooder.



Joe in CT

 

[nisiemouse]

Our school district had adapted a policy that is very strict about doing this. We are taking our dd out of school for 3 days for Thanksgiving however a week would be too difficult. The teachers are very nice about it but the office staff is very disapproving and make it very evident. We have the same teacher as last year and this was a very light week the previous year so we don't feel like she will miss much.

 

[rbuzzotta]

I have but I have also gotten alot of flack from some of DD#1's teachers!!

DD#1 is now in 6th grade. Her 3rd grade teacher was HORRIBLE about taking her out for 3 days to go to WDW. I believe she actually held it against her for the entire year (we went Columbus Day week)!! Her 4th grade teacher was wonderful as her previous teachers (K,1,2).

This past year I had to take her out for 3 days for National Cheerleading Competition. Her teacher (5th) made some comments about her cheerleading and that she should pay more attentioon to her studies then cheerleading (she's and A/B student). This year she will miss about 4 days (2 at a time) for cheerleading again...........we will wait and see how this one goes.

DD#2 and DD#3 are still young (1st and pre school).

Good luck!!

One thing I know for sure.........DO NOT ASK FOR HOMEWORK TO TAKE!!! Just say they will make up all work missed when they return. If the teacher is nice then maybe she will give her some work to do on vacation. Our School policies will not allow homework to be given in advance of days absent!!

 

[Fenceman]

Our elementary school's policy was, they believed the family time spent together was more important than 1 week of school as long as the child made up his work. The teachers were very accommodating and made sure you had the weeks work and lessons.

Well that all changed at the end of last year. They are now discouraging this and making it more difficult to get the childs work for the week.

Because of this we are trying to schedule trips during their breaks.

 

[zulaya]

Our school of course has the written policy that they don't want kids out of school for a vacation. They actually word it differently and use the terms "legitimate excuse". That irritates me. Yes, my child's education is important. So much so that I am in contact with his teacher on an almost daily basis. For some administrator to dictate to me what I can and cannot do with my own child is ludicrous. Now, I don't think that the teachers themselves have a problem, it's the administration. I have already heard from DD kindergarten teacher who thinks the trip is wonderful. DS's first grade teacher knows but I don't think she has thought more about it yet, but she doesn't seem the type to be anal about stuff like this. Sorry to sound off and really not meaning to start a debate here, but it just irritates me that a school thinks that they can dictate to me about my children.

 

[trainfun]

Philosophically, taking kids out of school for a vacation sends a clear message that pleasure is more important than meeting one's responsibilities, that following one's whims is more important than meeting one's commitments.

We all demand "accountability" from our schools, then proceed to undermine their efforts.

I teach high school, so of course I'm biased. I won't take my own kids out of school for vacations. At their age, school is their first job and their prime responsibility. They have one shot at getting a solid educational foundation and missing class won't do it!

My experience is that the work that I prepare for students in advance is rarely done. (I applaud parents and their kids who follow through. If everyone did, this would be much, much less of a problem.) Lab work is missed and in many cases can't be made up.

I find myself taking extra time to prepare these materials which is usually wasted when they are not done, then having to spend additional time tutoring these kids after school because they have fallen behind. This tutoring has to be on days other than my regularly scheduled extra help (every Thursday) because other students need help with current topics, not those from previous weeks.

As a result of these folks following their whims, I have found myself in the position of having to miss a son's wrestling match so I can stay after and get a "vacationing" kid up to speed before a major exam. So, I am penalized for someone else's convenience. Sure, I could have told the kid I couldn't meet that day, but he would have failed the exam.

There is no "wasted time" in my classes, and while Disney is educational (and wonderful!!) it will not successfully prepare kids for standardized tests or final exams. Anyone who advances this rationalization is kidding themselves.

With 4 days off for Thanksgiving, a week plus at Christmas, a week in February, a week plus in spring and the whole summer, I think there are plenty of opportunities for vanations that do not interfere with schooling.

I'm sure there are conscientious folks whose kids work at their assignments, return to school prepared and do fine, but the great majority I see are not so fortunate. And, I still have a problem with sending kids the message that vacation fun takes precedence over meeting commitments and responsibilities.

 

[anniet]

Thank you all for your replies!

However, Please note: I DO NOT want this to turn into a debate thread. I simply wish to know whether or not people do this. While I value everybody's opinions and am grateful for the replies, I'd rather not have the issue of this being right or wrong debated here, since I am already certain that there are very good points to both arguments.

I'd like to have the thread left open for anybody else who wishes to reply, but if I think it's becoming too much of a "debate" I will ask a moderator to close it.

Thank you!

 

[juliesue]

I only hestiated to take my DD out of school in second grade when she was not doing so well. However, as soon we had those issues addressed and she was progressing fine - we took the whole family to WDW to celebrate her hard work and success!

We had a wonderful teacher who thought this was a great idea!We took our trip at the end of May just before school got out and she didn't miss anything.

We are taking both kids out for a couple days in October and I hope the third grade teacher will be cool. Even if she isn't, I'm the mom here. I already know the kindergarten teacher is okay with it.