Has anyone ever taken their kids out of school for vacation?

[Dayzy]

I took my son out of his private school for 9 days last year, kindergarten. He completed all makeup work and did his online reading/tests while we were on vacation. I will be taking him out for 7 days in 1st grade.

That is absolutely crazy!! I hope his mother didn't cancel! A school has no right to do that, all the teacher had to do was give them assignments to bring, or to make up when came home.

No, the mother was just fine with canceling the trip after taking into account how much more her son would have struggled catching up when he returned to class.

 

[Dayzy]

That is so incredibly beyond inappropriate!
That poor boy. He's already struggling in school - which means he's probably not very happy there - and now he's going to feel guilty and responsible for canceling a family trip??!!?? No. Hell no. I sure hope that mom told the teacher where she can shove her canceled trip. My guess is the boy would be a much happier and healthier child with a few days of vacation than a few extra days struggling through school.

Actually, the child is pretty happy in school, he's just not a great student. And after discussing it with the teacher, the trip was canceled. The parents agreed that it would have been worse to have their son catch up when they returned. There was no guilt, nobody told the boy that it was his fault the trip got canceled- that would just be bad parenting saying "We can't go to WDW because of you." What kind of parent would say that to a kid? The trip got rescheduled for a different time and everyone was happy.
And really, what kind of parent would tell a teacher to shove it when the teacher is genuinely concerned for a child's education?

 

[DopeyDame]

Actually, the child is pretty happy in school, he's just not a great student. And after discussing it with the teacher, the trip was canceled. The parents agreed that it would have been worse to have their son catch up when they returned. There was no guilt, nobody told the boy that it was his fault the trip got canceled- that would just be bad parenting saying "We can't go to WDW because of you." What kind of parent would say that to a kid? The trip got rescheduled for a different time and everyone was happy.
And really, what kind of parent would tell a teacher to shove it when the teacher is genuinely concerned for a child's education?

Fair enough. I suppose I made some assumptions that weren't true. There is a huge difference between a teacher asking a parent to cancel a trip (highly inappropriate!) and a teacher expressing concern about how a kid may react to missing a lot of school (potentially appropriate depending on exactly how it's approached). I also assumed that the parents would have thought about what he'd miss and if it would be a problem before planning the trip, so that they'd already decided that the trip was better for him than attending school.

But in any case, I'm glad it all worked out.

 

[Kimberly9701]

Did you actually do all that word? I can't say that we would have. If it was work that he needed to learn, than sure, but if it was just more worksheets that are already mastered than I wouldn't be too worried about it. So he gets a zero on a worksheet in Kindergarten. BFD.

I can't get over these Kindy and 1st grade teachers asking parents to cancel vacations. Sure, I could understand it if it were a Jr. High or High school kid who was struggling but seriously, kindergarten? Also, I'm floored by all that makeup work. When my kids were in early elementary school, they were asked to make a journal of their vacation including pictures, drawings and a few paragraphs. That was actually fun to do!

Yes, we did all of the makeup work. Like, I said- I'm hoping that in Nov/Dec '16 we will just be able to take work with us. My son has about an hour of homework per night. Consisting of reading-phonics-sentence construction-math-iPad/computer-geography.
There are 2 very different schools of thought on early education these days. Some are for the heavy structure curriculum..some are against. I think either one is a personal choice. My son went to a very structured pre school/pre k and homework started in pre k so he was already used to it...although then it was only one or 2 sheets of paper and some Spanish words along with one small book to read per week. I know that I didn't have this much work in Kindergarten..but I'm not too upset with the amount he has now..was just upset at the 9 days on top of all other work and 3-4 days of football per week..it was tough on both of us.

No, the mother was just fine with canceling the trip after taking into account how much more her son would have struggled catching up when he returned to class.

I'm assuming this was a public school bc I can not imagine a private school suggesting that. Either way, I think it's absolutely horrible on the teacher's part. I wouldn't have done it..and I would have spoken to the principal regarding the teacher's request. Regardless of what type of 1st grade student he was- they could have taken work with them.
Memories and travel are so important in life..equal to education..neither one should be taken lightly. We don't know what will happen tomorrow, and no one could convince me that a 1st grader missing a week of school would be impossible to catch up on.
This breaks my heart.

 

[Tinkerdreams]

We're going in the fall with my 15 year old, so taking out for a week. I'm glad that it's not such an expense in this country. Last year we were at EPCOT and talking to a couple (retired) from England and they stated that their kids had to pay $140 a day per kid to take them out of school for a vacation.

 

[Kimberly9701]

We're going in the fall with my 15 year old, so taking out for a week. I'm glad that it's not such an expense in this country. Last year we were at EPCOT and talking to a couple (retired) from England and they stated that their kids had to pay $140 a day per kid to take them out of school for a vacation.

What?! I'm totally confused...they had to pay for taking a child out of school?!

 

[Angel Ariel]

Regardless of what type of 1st grade student he was- they could have taken work with them.

There are many schools that do not allow children to take work with them on vacation, so that isn't necessarily always an option.

Please note, I'm not saying I personally agree or disagree with those kinds of policies, just stating that they exist.

 

[Tinkerdreams]

What?! I'm totally confused...they had to pay for taking a child out of school?!

Yup, We were totally taken aback. They indicated that it was actually cheaper for them to pay this then take them when school was out because the cost of going during summer, etc. was more expensive.

 

[fairy oma]

We took our grandkids out for a WDW vacation the first week in December this year for a huge family trip and my DD says never again! It was way too difficult to make time for homework during the trip and it took forever for the girls to catch up. They are in parochial school and homework starts in Kindergarten and escalates each year substantially.

 

[Kimberly9701]

Yup, We were totally taken aback. They indicated that it was actually cheaper for them to pay this then take them when school was out because the cost of going during summer, etc. was more expensive.

Wow. Crazy.

There are many schools that do not allow children to take work with them on vacation, so that isn't necessarily always an option.

Please note, I'm not saying I personally agree or disagree with those kinds of policies, just stating that they exist.

I understand that, which is why I added "..impossible to catch up...".-because either way he COULD catch up.
I just think it's horribly sad..have never heard of anything like that before.

 

[gorkt]

Ugh, I really hope we get over the homework insanity in this country at some point. There is absolutely zero benefit to having an hour of homework in kindergarten or first grade. It's not a personal choice, it's science. Hell, all homework in elementary school is completely unnecessary and is mostly busy work. I essentially see it as just "practice" for when you have to do homework in Jr. High and High school which DOES provide benefit.

 

[Ava]

Yup, We were totally taken aback. They indicated that it was actually cheaper for them to pay this then take them when school was out because the cost of going during summer, etc. was more expensive.

It makes sense, actually, if school funding is based partly on student attendance as it is with public schools here. Schools want students in attendance because the school loses money if they aren't.

We took our DD out for 3 days at the end of September when she was in K (school was closed the other 2 days that week for Rosh Hashana) and it was no problem at all, but I don't think I'd do it again. 1st grade is significantly more work (not too much work, it's just "real school" whereas K was still a lot of play time) and I feel like missing more than 1 or 2 days in a row during a normal school week would be too much. She does miss 1 day before Thanksgiving & Christmas breaks because we travel for the holidays and school is usually in session right up until the day before. But so many kids miss on those days that they don't do anything significant.

Some day we will brave the holiday crowds to go during February break or Spring break, and do short trips to hit up the Halloween & Christmas parties around Jewish holidays/Veterans Day.

 

[Kimberly9701]

Ugh, I really hope we get over the homework insanity in this country at some point. There is absolutely zero benefit to having an hour of homework in kindergarten or first grade. It's not a personal choice, it's science. Hell, all homework in elementary school is completely unnecessary and is mostly busy work. I essentially see it as just "practice" for when you have to do homework in Jr. High and High school which DOES provide benefit.

But I do see the benefit. I already work with my son on certain subjects..but with homework-we do it..and then I can tailor things around what he is learning. We have museum passes and were there yesterday.. While looking at a world map I asked him to point to me what continent a certain country is on.. He had a worksheet last week that was similar. And as far as his online reading/sentence construction tests every night..his language arts skills have improved sooooo much as the year has gone on. Yes, we could have probably done this without the online work or even the worksheets..but I do feel like it helps.

 

[Ava]

Ugh, I really hope we get over the homework insanity in this country at some point. There is absolutely zero benefit to having an hour of homework in kindergarten or first grade. It's not a personal choice, it's science. Hell, all homework in elementary school is completely unnecessary and is mostly busy work. I essentially see it as just "practice" for when you have to do homework in Jr. High and High school which DOES provide benefit.

Obviously it depends on your school/teacher, but I don't think the homework my DD gets in 1st grade is a waste of time. She typically has reading, spelling and/or vocabulary words to review, and a math and/or grammar worksheet. 3-4 items that take her max 20-30 minutes to complete. She also only get homework Mon-Thurs, never over the weekends. Some of it she would be fine without (for example, she's good at math and would probably master all the concepts just through work done in class) but some of it she does need, like the reading practice and spelling review. I get more annoyed with the at-home projects that end up being more work for me than for her than with her regular nightly homework.

 

[Kimberly9701]

Obviously it depends on your school/teacher, but I don't think the homework my DD gets in 1st grade is a waste of time. She typically has reading, spelling and/or vocabulary words to review, and a math and/or grammar worksheet. 3-4 items that take her max 20-30 minutes to complete. She also only get homework Mon-Thurs, never over the weekends. Some of it she would be fine without (for example, she's good at math and would probably master all the concepts just through work done in class) but some of it she does need, like the reading practice and spelling review. I get more annoyed with the at-home projects that end up being more work for me than for her than with her regular nightly homework.

Completely agree with this. Math is the one subject that I feel needs the least amount of homework at this age. Not because they aren't or shouldn't be learning it..but because it is so easy to practice/implement into almost anything, without a worksheet.

 

[gorkt]

You don't feel like it is a waste of time, but it generally is, especially if it is taking an hour a night. The recommendation is 10 minutes per grade but honestly even that is unnecessary. Statistically, kids that have homework perform as well as kids who don't have homework at that age. It really does make no difference except to make parents feel good. Which is all fine, as long as the kids are thriving. What I have a problem with is teachers that over step and try to guilt parents into cancelling a vacation for a first grader. Trust me, a first grader is not going to jeopardize his future career by taking a week long vacation in first grade. Heck, even in high school it is unlikely to make a difference.

 

[KH9107]

My parents always took us out of school growing up- and I was at the top of my class all the way through. My oldest is only in Kindergarten and I'm pulling her for our WDW trip at the end of May. She is working above grade level and has only missed a few other days so I don't see any issues.

 

[DopeyDame]

But I do see the benefit. I already work with my son on certain subjects..but with homework-we do it..and then I can tailor things around what he is learning. We have museum passes and were there yesterday.. While looking at a world map I asked him to point to me what continent a certain country is on.. He had a worksheet last week that was similar. And as far as his online reading/sentence construction tests every night..his language arts skills have improved sooooo much as the year has gone on. Yes, we could have probably done this without the online work or even the worksheets..but I do feel like it helps.

Museum passes and looking at world maps is AWESOME and not at all what the people talk about when talking about too much homework.

But that's not really what I wanted to post about... What is the online sentence construction website? DS is really, really struggling with sentence structure right now and he is usually far more willing to do work on his tablet than on a piece of paper. Thanks!

 

[Kimberly9701]

Museum passes and looking at world maps is AWESOME and not at all what the people talk about when talking about too much homework.

But that's not really what I wanted to post about... What is the online sentence construction website? DS is really, really struggling with sentence structure right now and he is usually far more willing to do work on his tablet than on a piece of paper. Thanks!

Nope, but when has homework of worksheets where he has to name continents/states/countries/etc it reinforces what we are doing outside of said worksheet and vice versa.

It's called Pearson. Pearsonsuccessnet.com It's thru school. His teacher assigns a batch of assignments, under the 'To-do' tab each week, for the students to do at home every night..she can track their time/work. It's reading/typing/sentence construction/journal. After the child finishes the "test" they mark it done. We just repeat all of them a few times and then mark done the night before they are due. But she does check to make sure they are doing it each night.

I think it is VERY helpful!!! If your school doesn't participate maybe you can sign up and make the assignments yourself? There are cute songs about verbs/particles/etc that I feel help him remember and understand as well. At the end of the song then they play it again..no sound..and you can pause to ask what part of the sentence/what type of word/why is it there/punctuation/etc/etc. And then there will be a question that they answer in their "journal". I can't rave about it enough!!!

 

[kengquist]

I'm taking my second grader out of school the first week in May. There's nothing a second grader is doing that can't be made up.