Does anyone take their kids out school for DVC?

[Parrothead1964]

Originally posted by mikeymars
In our system, our daughter is already starting foreign languages and trigonometry in the 5th grade.

All of my kids had Trig early too, but still made straight A's even though they had to endure the horror of taking a week out to see Mickey. Some kids just handle it better than others, and some schools are better at handling the absence by rearranging the workload.

My kids were warned ahead of time that they would have to make their work up, so it wouldn't be a chance to get lazy. Don't we all have to do the same thing at work? If I take a week of vacation, my work sits right on my desk until I get back.

 

[Cebhfhionn]

Absolutely, they will have time to make up whatever school work they miss and you won't have to make up time missed having fun with your kids!

 

[mikeymars]

Originally posted by Parrothead1964
All of my kids had Trig early too, but still made straight A's

Yes, of course, certainly, as I observed earlier in my "generic statements ALWAYS made by the "yank 'em out" crowd" post:

"- Muffy and Billy are ALWAYS "A" students. (yes, certainly....every single child at the MK in mid November has perfect grades)."

 

[Parrothead1964]

I would have to agree that if your student is having difficulties, then taking him or her out for a vacation is not recommended.

Whether or not the child is actually having difficulties is a decision that each parent has to make, and we can only hope they would have the best interests of their children in mind when they make it.

 

[sgtdisney]

Originally posted by mikeymars
" Muffy and Billy are ALWAYS "A" students. (yes, certainly....every single child at the MK in mid November has perfect grades)."

Who said every single child there is a straight A student? I can only be responsible and make decisions for my own child as only you can do for yours. If you don't feel your child can handle the disruption, by all means don't pull them out. If I, after speaking with my child's teacher, don't feel it is a disruption or an issue then in my case, it isn't.

 

[mikeymars]

Originally posted by sgtdisney
Who said every single child there is a straight A student?

Reasonable question. The generalization was made because one of the biggest -- and most transparent -- excuses always given by the "fun before school" mob is how perfect their children are in school. Here are some examples from just this thread :

“Both DS and DD have had nothing but A's since they started school”

“in fact said he was so bright that if we pulled him out for 10 days he would have no problem catching up.”

“I always was an A or B+ student”

“All three of my kids have always been straight A students”

“All of my kids had Trig early too, but still made straight A's even though they had to endure the horror of taking a week out to see Mickey.”

Rather than this tired, generic propaganda, what I would LOVE to see..but NEVER have (and probably NEVER will) ...is a CONFIRMED list of the SPECIFIC colleges and universities these parents and their older kids hold degrees from. Don't generalize about how academically polished and accomplished you and your spawn are - SHOW US THE MONEY.

 

[Parrothead1964]

Boy ... JESW sure nailed it. We're certain to see opinions on both sides.

So let's get away from a controversial subject long enough for me to ask a question that no one could get upset about. Do you think I can still use my five-year old mug while I hop from the All Star Movies pool to the All Star Sports pool? And since I'll be staying offsite some of my days, where is the best place to hitch a ride on the resort buses?

 

[sgtdisney]

Originally posted by mikeymars
“in fact said he was so bright that if we pulled him out for 10 days he would have no problem catching up.”


Rather than this tired, generic propaganda, what I would LOVE to see..but NEVER have (and probably NEVER will) ...is a CONFIRMED list of the SPECIFIC colleges and universities these parents and their older kids hold degrees from. Don't generalize about how academically polished and accomplished you and your spawn are - SHOW US THE MONEY.

That was my quote, and I stand behind it. That, by the way was what my son's teacher told me, not the other way around. I am sorry, but I suspect that my son's teacher and I are a little better qualified to make a decision as to his academic situation than you are. I am sure my son's teacher holds an advanced degree from a SPECIFIC university, I will ask her the next time I see her. I also hold a Bachelor's degree, but where my degree is from is irrelevant here. It is notable though that I was able to aquire a degree from an accredited University, but *gasp*, I was pulled out of school periodically to go on vacations.

 

[Parrothead1964]

Well, I for one do not take lightly to be accused of LYING by someone who does not know me.

If you know how to click a link, please do so:

http://asunews.astate.edu/PLDL04S-Dal-Lon.htm

Please let me give you a primer on reading this data. This is a list of students currently on the PRESIDENTS LISTS and the DEANS LISTS of Arkansas State University.

If you can figure out how to scroll down, you will see the name of MY DAUGHTER ... her name is

(removed)

And by the way, the "President's List" is even higher than the Dean's List. So YES, she is a Straight - A student. It appears the horror of taking her out of school once in awhile didn't bother her, huh?

You know, I almost deleted this entry because I didn't want people to think I'm bragging about my kids. I would normally never go to this trouble, but this accusation was too much to pass up.

By the way, I checked the website where my minor children attend school, and I cannot find a reference to their honor rolls. So you'll just have to trust me on that one -- that is, if you dare to.

I assume no apology is forthcoming, but I didn't expect one anyway.

 

[mikeymars]

Originally posted by sgtdisney
I am sure my son's teacher holds an advanced degree from a SPECIFIC university, I will ask her the next time I see her. I also hold a Bachelor's degree, but where my degree is from is irrelevant here. It is notable though that I was able to aquire a degree from an accredited University, but *gasp*, I was pulled out of school periodically to go on vacations.

One would certainly hope the teacher holds some sort of degree (!), but that isn't the issue here. Nor is the mere existence of a degree from an "accredited" institution.

What is of interest is whether the "fun first, school later" crowd has any meaningful representation among the alumni of selective institutions (which unfortunately doesn't include "Arkansas State University" -- don't blame me, blame U.S. News and World Report http://collegeapps.about.com/od/rankings/ ). Perhaps it's just the type A northeastern environment I circulate in, but when parents here get together and share notes on childrearing, the focus is on how to get five year old Johnny on a track to enter Amherst and Harvard Law, not on dreaming up schemes to pull him out of school for a week to go to WDW.

 

[Toby'sFriend]

Perhaps it's just the type A northeastern environment I circulate in, but when parents here get together and share notes on childrearing, the focus is on how to get five year old Johnny on a track to enter Amherst and Harvard Law, not on dreaming up schemes to pull him out of school for a week to go to WDW.

Perhaps it is Mikeymars. Perhaps it is.

 

[CyranoJones]

Perhaps it is Mikeymars. Perhaps it is.

Oops, I'm from the Northeast. I guess I raised my daughter poorly.

 

[momof3disneygirls]

I took my children out of school every year to go to Florida. I think that is as important as school. Traveling seeing other places and things and visiting family.

 

[Parrothead1964]

Over the years that I've been posting on the internet, I've seen some incredibly insensitive responses made to posts, but this just about has to be of the lowest I've ever seen. How you could simply dismiss the accomplishments of someone who has worked hard for years to earn a scholarship, then earn a spot on the President's List is beyond my comprehension.

While you're sitting there frantically hitting your refresh button awaiting my reply, please understand that I feel for you. You must be lacking something inside yourself and you feel it's necessary to belittle others to make yourself look better. That's pretty common, you know. Perhaps you need professional help.

(By the way, we have a few R&D Managers here too ... best file clerks we've ever had).

 

[sgtdisney]

Originally posted by mikeymars
Perhaps it's just the type A northeastern environment I circulate in, but when parents here get together and share notes on childrearing, the focus is on how to get five year old Johnny on a track to enter Amherst and Harvard Law, not on dreaming up schemes to pull him out of school for a week to go to WDW.

What if your dear Johnny wants to become a tradesman or do something other than go to Harvard Law, what then?

It may take a village to raise your children. I prefer to do it on my own.

 

[threegoofys]

Here is my thing about kids out of school for Disney. Life is too short, you never know what lies ahead. If we were to lose a love one, I would be comforted with the thought that we had spent a great week together as a family at Disney. Instead of regreting that we hadn't gone on vacation because it was during a school week. We pull my dd out of school every Jan., the week of Marthin Luther's holiday, so she only misses 4 days. I inform her teachers at the beginning of Jan so there is plenty of time for them to get her stuff together and we work on her make up stuff on that long 10 hour drive down to Disney. My dds teacher last year only counted her absent for 1 day instead of 4 because she said that Disney was educational. You have to do what you feel is right and don't worry about what others will think if you do or do not choose to pull your child out of school.

 

[Parrothead1964]

C'mon mikey ... can't we just agree to disagree and leave it at that? No need to get so worked up over this stuff.

I don't remember reading that anyone said you were dead wrong, just that they apparently disagreed with you. Take it easy, dude.

 

[tmq2766]

Originally posted by mikeymars
Nice to know some people still live in the "Pleasantville" 1950s world, where elementary school consists of ducky-horsey Dick and Jane type material. In our system, our daughter is already starting foreign languages and trigonometry in the 5th grade. Missing a week of the class work involved in that isn't an inconvenience, it's a major disruption, which no responsible parent would condemn his or her child to.

Or stated differently, some of us don't need "attendance rule arm armtwisting" to know that pulling children out of school for vacations is generally a bad idea - the realities of the post millennium world and personal common sense is enough.

 

[tmq2766]

Originally posted by tmq2766

OOOPS sorry for the double post......
We have gone to Disney for the Past 4 years and we are going again this December.... My DD9 is in gifted math....yeah she is doing algebra and gifted reading and guess what I have NO problem at all pulling her out of school for a week.... I will not let the school system decide what is best for my child..... Don't get me wrong if she were struggleing I would not even consider taking her out, but that is an incentive she has had every year..... If your doing well we can go to Disney in December.... That's why I'm the parent and they are the teachers

 

[Chicago526]

Every family has to make their own decision. IF your kid is doing well, and IF the week you want to take doesn't have some important school event/project/test that your kid will miss and can't make up, and IF the school/district won't hassle you for it...then it's fine.

This is what my parents did. My brothers and I were pulled from 2nd (me), 6th, and 8th grades for 1 full week in October of '83 to go to Disney World. I asked my mom about it a few weeks ago, asking her if the teacher or school gave her any grief about it. All of our teachers thought it was fine, and made up packets of work for all of us to do (and we did them, every night after the parks and before we could go to the arcade room at the CR). We all came back, handed in the work, and didn't miss a beat. I even did show and tell about my trip.

All three of us are well educated adults today, and I can't be certain, but the missed week didn't hurt us when applying for college (but none of us tried for Harvard, either!).

And you know what? That vacation gave me some of the best memories of my life! My dad worked weird hours and we couldn't always see him, much. Our family vacations were the most time we ever spent with him until he retired a few years ago. It was time much better spent on Space Mtn. than learning fractions that week.

I DON'T approve of taking a kid out for more than one vacation a year. I remember classmates of mine that would always start the school year a week late, be taken out early for winter and spring breaks, and not show up the last week of school, almost always because of family trips (I lived in an upper middle class neighborhood, lots of rich kids went to my schools who could-and did-travel a lot). This is way too much interruption to a kid's schooling, and DOES teach the kids that trips are more important.

I also feel that pulling a kid out of high school is too difficult, between multiple subjects and teachers, plus activities.

But once a year, or once every couple years, is fine (again if the criteria from my 1st paragraph is met!) for grade schoolers. It's just not THAT big a deal, folks!