DVC'ers - do you take your kids out of school?

[DizGirl20]

OK, so I have trip planned for mid-May to celebrate my graduation from Nursing School. It has been a long road and my family has sacrificed and put up with a lot for me to get my RN degree. A trip to Disney seems the perfect celebration.

However, as the time is drawing near, I am having second thoughts about taking my kids out of school. They are both excellent students - 4th and 6th grades.

Here's my question - have you ever pulled your kids out of school for a week? I would love to hear from those who have kids similar to mine in age. I am looking forward to our first trip as DVC Members and have almost everything planned but I am so overwhelmed with guilt. Ugh - I don't know what to do.

Thanks!

 

[james'mommy]

I don't have a huge amount of points and really can't stand crowds or the heat so we take DS out of school twice a year. He's only in second grade so we haven't had a huge problem yet. We always make sure the teacher knows our plans at the beginning of the year. We also remind her a few weeks ahead of time. I always ask them to send home the work he will be missing. We do that work during the vacation and have him write a journal entry everyday about what he did that day. Good luck.

 

[eliza61]

No we never did. We just felt it sent the wrong message. Anyway it sort of paid off, DS#1 recieved a $5,000 scholarship to college for perfect attendance 8 years in a row.
He jokes that he paid for 50 points by staying in school.

 

[DVC-Don]

We did until the oldest got to middle school. Too many teachers so deal with then. He just started college this past fall and his sister graduates high school this year (she just got notified she got a $12,000 scholarship), so now we can go anytime of year again.

*To add: Back when we did take them out, the school district had (and still does) a policy of not giving out homework in advance. They had two weeks to make it up after the trip. Any tests missed could not be made up.

 

[arthur06]

You will find many different opinions and views on this subject... To each there own, only you truly know your kids and your situation...

Personally, we take ours out. I just find that life is too short to worry about a couple of days of school here and there... I ask ds8 everyday what he learned at school, and pretty much always says "nothing"... But he always remembers family trips to Disney... When he gets older we will revisit our vacations, but for now, thats how we do it.

 

[Sammie]

My thoughts on taking kids out of school is: this really is decision you have to discuss with your school, the teacher and your children.

Many schools are ok with the situation and many are not. If yours is not, then opinions from us are really not going to change your personal situation.

I think most schools figure they give enough time off to schedule any trips.

 

[Liljam]

We do and my parents always removed us from school to go on vacations to WDW and other places. The teachers/system in our area says that WDW and many other places are a "learning experience" and there is never an issue. I had to write a few essays in middle school about my trips, but that was it.

 

[Anal Annie]

We took DS out for a week when he was in 2nd grade for a non-Disney trip. DH was best man in a "destination wedding" so we had no choice on the date. The older they get the harder it is and I also do not feel it sends a good message. 6th grade is Middle School for us so there's a lot going on. That said, we pull DS out for a 1 day extended weekend trip about once a year. He is in 7th grade now so I don't want him to miss more than 1 day and I feel like missing 1 day per school year is not a horrible record. There is just too much to make up to go beyond that though.

I understand you're looking forward to your trip but if you haven't booked it yet maybe you could go over Memorial Day weekend to minimize days out of school? Go on Thurs night and come home on Tues? That way they'd only miss 2 days but you'd have 4 whole days there. Just a thought.

 

[mamaprincess]

It's a personal choice. You have to look at your own situation and decide. We have taken our children out a little bit before christmas vacation. They miss about 3 days at the most during a time when they are not doing any important work, they are mostly getting into vacation mode which means games and fun the week leading up to Winter break. They are in middle school and are very good students and extremely responsible about their school work plus our school district is fine with family vacations.

I think it depends on what's happening at school. I personally wouldn't take them out when they are likely to have tests and major assignments. You also have to look at how your district views vacation absences. Also, look at your school calendar and see if there are any teacher institute days that would help you. We usually have 2 together and once we had those leading into Casamir Polaski day so that would have given us 3 days free in a low point season plus the weekend and we would have needed only 2 days to make a full week, so check your school calendar.

 

[ppoe65]

As several posters have mentioned, this is a personal issue. That said, we pull our children out every year in Dec or Nov. I work in a seasonal area and can not take off from work May through Oct. We always notify the schools (Freshman, 6th, 4th & pre-K) 2 weeks prior to our trip and tell them to get work ready. Some teachers give no work others have loaded the kids up. We make sure all the work is done when we return or get them caught up within the first week we return.

 

[SFD998]

We always took our trips at the times when everyone was in school to reduce the crowd levels. When we had kids we continued with this trend. We never worried about it in pre-k or k, but it was a consideration when DS 7 went into 1st grade. That being said we still chose to take him out and did so again this past October. Our DS 4 is only in pre-k and we don't really worry about him missing the time as much. We have picked October, because that is when we have parent/teacher nights. We always schedule our interview the first night and leave for Florida first thing the next morning, which is always Wednesday. This accomplishes two things. First they are only missing part of the week and not a solid week and second the remainder of the school week is half day classes. We return home Monday night and they are back to school on Tuesday. What we have debated over is changing the date from October to December. We would like to take them during Christmas, but the missing school thing has kept us from doing this so far. Like other posters have said we too obtain the school work for the time missed and complete it during the trip. Our other trips are scheduled around school vacation times.

 

[quentina]

Yes, every year, for 10 days (over 2 different weeks). We are allowed 10 vacation days per year and we use them.

I don't regret it....I love having the family time and I will continue to do it.

 

[Dogwithahat]

Our school district has changed over the 14 years we have had a child in it. They have for the last several years made it very difficult to take them out during the year, especially for middle and high school students. They dont give out homework in advance and any and all exams missed are an automatic zero because they consider it an unexcused absence. It doesnt get easier when they get older because right now I have to work with a college and high school break schedule that dont always coincide. This may be your last chance to do this. Congrats on nursing school btw.

 

[omalley1118]

To do this or not is a very personal decision about which people have very strong opinions. Our kids are in K and 2nd. We have pulled them out one week per year over the past few years. Mind you they are oyung, and I might think differently when they are in HS. They attend a private school, and the policy is to make up work when you get back. I bought workbooks that were grade appropriate at the dollar store and they did "lessons" each morning before venturing out to the parks.

OMalley1118

 

[Smitty844]

I did it once and will never do it again. Well I should say that we are heading home on Memorial Day weekend and they will miss school on June 1st. I did it once for a week and it was a mistake in our situation. My 11 year old is a very good student but I just don't want to hear the complaints from the teachers and administrators. I don't have any heartburn over one day but a week can be rough.

Smitty

 

[cvjw]

I have taken my kids out for at least one Disney trip since they have been in school. Some years, when the oldest was still in elementary school, we took him out for 2 trips. I have no problem with my kids missing school for family time. Years from now, they will still have memories of our trips together as a family, but what they didn't learn that week they missed in 2nd grade will be irrelevant. I am sad to say that once my oldest reached 7th grade, he could no longer miss a week at a time. He has all honors classes, and the work load when he returned was almost more than he could bear. He is OK with missing 2 or 3 days at a time. We did get the best news ever this year - our school board voted for year round school, so we will now have fall and winter breaks. That means more Disney trips.

 

[Malaguti Ball Clan]

9 days this September, two seniors and a freshman

we allow them to miss multiple days throughout the year anyway so why not do it at the happiest place on earth

 

[JVL1018]

We do. I'd prefer not to, but it's not possible-my husband has a job where taking off in the summer or on school breaks is not always possible.

This year we went the week before Labor Day, thinking we'd start school after Labor Day as usual..nope we started the Wed. before so they missed the first 3 days of school.
We are also pulling them out for a week in June-the last full week of school. I am sure they will miss nothing at all, except for cleaning up their classrooms.

I am pulling them out the week after Thanksgiving too. That's a little trickier as they'll really be working then, but they are both A, A+ students, so I have no doubt that they will have no issues when they get back.
The school has no problem with it at all, thankfully, and my kids are rarely sick, most years their vacations are the only days they miss school.

Middle and high school I am thinking we're going to have issues, I don't think they'll be able to miss school and be able to catch up easily, so we may have to think of other ideas..and hopefully DH works for a different firm then and can take vacation easier througout the year.

 

[MelissathePooh]

School has wrecked our vacation patterns! Our son started kindergarten this year. We have actually taken him out twice so far - once for a trip to DC (DH was there for a conference) and a week early at Christmas for Disney. We'll probably take him out for another couple of days around my husband's spring break (he's a college professor) as it doesn't coincide with our school district's break.

Everyone is different, they learn in different ways and have different routines. Our school tried to make a fuss at first, but we looked up the various laws/codes in our district and know what our rights are as parents and what their responsibilities are as a public school. Private schools, of course can do what they want.

It really depends on the child's temperment. As a child I usually missed the maximum possible of days every year simply because there were days I needed break. I was an excellent student, but didn't do well with long patterns/routines. Even today I can't do a 5 day a week thing. After many miserable years in an office I went to NURSING SCHOOL (YAY!!for the OP) and am able to work PRN now - perfect.

If it was in anyway a negative for Holden we wouldn't do it, but if its just because a school doesn't like it - not my problem. As for the "bad example" argument, I really don't get that. JMHO.

 

[CanuckPrincess]

We definitely take DD out. She's in Grade 1. When in K, took her for 12 days. Brought all the homework with us (and believe me, there was tons!). On day 4, she said she never wanted another vacation like this one. Turns out she hated doing all the homework while away. So now we make it up when we return.

Of course it's a personal choice - but we think there is great value in travelling and experience different things. And being together as a family.