Have you taken your kids out of school for 2 weeks?

[PixieDustTink]

I'm happy to see this thread, we fretted over this year after year and most times ended up scheduling our holidays for July when it was hotter than hot.

DS in now in high school and I wish I had not been so concerned about his missing a week or so of school here or there. The family time is in such short supply these days as it is!! Just go and have a great time. I wish we had taken DS out of school more often for holidays! You won't regret the time spent with your kids!

 

[F4disneyfan]

Yes we have our kids out of school every Dec for 2 weeks to go to WDW and have no quams about it. The school has no problems with it either.

 

[murcor]

Just this past January we took our kids out for 2 weeks. I booked the vacation a year in advance prior to the schoolboard releasing the holiday break dates. I thought they would only miss 1 week....ended up school went back in January 2nd

To make a long story short I was very nervous about taking the extended vacation time away from school. When we told the teacher she said " I support any type of travel 100%"

I spoke with the teacher about 2 weeks after our return and she said that she was actually abit nervous how my ds would handle it but she was very impressed that it did him alot of good and he progressed much more than if he would have been at school....and my dd has always been top of the class.

With that being said...we are going to Disney for 2 weeks again this January

 

[maryliz]

We've done this many times and have never had a problem. The only thing we have run into is that the teachers don't usually have the work for them ahead of time to take with them. Some have told us that it's just been their experience over the years that the work doesn't get done anyway; others just don't have their lessons planned that far in advance. I have absolutely no problem with this whatsoever ... if my kids need to spend some extra time for a few nights after we return getting caught up, so be it. Now I did kind of cringe at the number of sheets my DS's SK teacher thought that he should get caught up on after our fall vacation.

I'll second the poster that commented on how positive this thread is ... I get the impression from some of the other threads I've read that the US school system is very strict on "truancy" ... but I feel that my child isn't "truant" if the parent has authorized the absence - JMHO. Honestly, I've seen posts where parents of Kindergarten kids were given a very hard time

Have a great time.

Mary-Liz

 

[riu girl]

Thanks to this thread, I made the decision.

For our next Florida holiday, both the kids will be missing 2 consecutive weeks. I spoke to the school office and asked how the school "felt" about kids missing 2 consecutive weeks. I was told that I should address the teachers individually. Since I don't know who the kids teachers will be for the next school year, I spoke to their current teachers (Grade 3 and SK).

All I heard from their current teachers were positive remarks (DS and DD are so bright, I'm sure they will have no difficulties catching up when they return, You are so conscientious, I'm sure you will make sure they catch up etc. etc.)

So an additional week is booked and paid for (non-refundable), no turning back now!!!!!

I am very excited to say the least!!!!
Thanks again for all the input.

 

[luvdiz2]

We used to take the kids out 2 weeks in early September and two weeks in early January. Teachers didn't seem to be bothered getting work for them, they were expected to make it up. The school itself was frowning on the time off, and the school wasn't terribly helpful. We decided to homeschool this year, the teacher always puts the extra work in then Now we go for three weeks and three weeks and take their work with them (or not )

 

[mickeywho?]

I wondered about this as well. My kids are about the same age as yours - two boys - one in grade 3 and one in JK. Neither have any academic issues.
Both of my parents are teachers so I managed to get a pretty honest response about taking kids out during the school year - we never had the choice when we were growing up as teachers can't take the time off.
Both parents gave me the same response (one is elementary and one is high school). Teachers and schools have no right to tell parents they can't take their kids on holiday - life experience and family time are as valuable as school work to the growth and development of kids. But at the same time parents cannot expect teachers to spend extra time putting together work for those kids to take with them while on holidays - lessons are prepared for the class and often is not ready (ie handouts etc.) until a day or two before. You can however ask your child's teacher to put work aside for him as the class works through it, you can also have your child write a journal or photo project etc. about his holiday in lieu of schoolwork. Or you can let you child have a HOLIDAY. Teachers will give extra work if necessary, but if you are not worried about your child falling behind while away then chances are the teacher isn't either. Of course if you are constantly going on holiday then red flags will go up - but it looks as though most parents on this board are pretty responsible and are thinking about their child's wellbeing ahead of their holiday time.
Have fun planning your holiday - relax and enjoy - they're only this young once!

 

[Wazzo]

From a teacher's perspective - if it's possible, try to make the missed weeks of school the weeks LEADING up to the holiday, and not after. Usually, it is SO hard to get the kids to focus before a holiday, that not much is accomplished anyway! If you leave before the holiday, they may not miss much at all, but it's "buckle down time" once they are back.

Good luck, have fun, and ENJOY!!! Trust me, the most memorable moments in my students' scrapbooks were not about school... they were about their families and travel!!

 

[F4disneyfan]

Wow we Canadians are such a loving bunch I did a quick search on here about school and kids missing it and holy cow is all I can say the US populous of these boards are down right nasty about it LOL.

 

[Calgary DISHeads]

This will be our third time taking them out of school. First was n/a and kindergarden, second was kindergarden and grade 3, this time will be grade 7 and grade 4, beginning of October. Obviously they were younger earlier, and the teachers didn't give them any work, other than to complete a journal recommendation. Life is too short to stand in line. The kids will actually end up missing 12 days of school.

 

[riu girl]

I love this thread. Great advice.

Thanks again to everyone who responded.

 

[dwheatl]

I'm an American teacher who can tell you two reasons we get bugged about parents pulling kids out of school. One is that our students are tested up the wazoo, and if a child is out the week we learn three-dimensional shapes or how to read a graph and then misses the question on the state test, we get "dinged" for it. Even though we know your child can pick up that information at another time, the gov't says they have to know it by March of the third grade. The other reason, and it's tied to both testing and attendance, is $$$. If a child is out of school for an unexcused absence, the school is docked a certain amount of money per day. If schools have lower test scores, they can also be docked for that.
All of this being said, I never tell parents to skip a trip so their children won't miss school. I think travel broadens the mind, and walking around WDW is great physical education. I'm just jealous because I can't take time out during the school year to go off-season and miss the crowds. On the other hand, I've got all of July to travel, and this year it's to WDW!

 

[Calgary DISHeads]

I think that's an excellent point - in Alberta we also have provincials which are really grading the teachers and schools and not the students. Absolutely if a child is out of school when important lessons are taught, and the parents don't follow up - the consequences fall not only on us as parents and the students but also on the school system. Great point, I''ll certainly be more concientious with this with our kid's teachers this fall. Thanks for the light bulb!!

 

[declansdad]

In my opinion, I wouldn't do it but that is just me. I think that there are many things that need to be examined before a decision can be made.

First can the child afford to miss the time? Many people who have respondd on this thread have stated that their ds or dd is a A/B student and is ahead of the class. If this is the case, they can probably afford to miss some time and get caught up when they return. I don't think this would be the case if the student was struggling in school.

Second, the grade level is important. I think it would be far easier to do in the earlier grades.

Third, are you as a parent committed to work with the teacher to help your child get caught up? It is not fair to the teacher to expect them to be able to get your child caught up on their own if you made the decision to take you child out of class. Also, don't show up on Friday and ask the teacher for some work because you ar leaving on Saturday. As stated by another poster, you need to give the teacher some warning.

Fourth, what is the reason for taking the vacation in non-traditional time? If the reason is to simply avoid the crowds and heat, not good enough in my opinion. If it is the only time you can take a family vacation, entirely acceptable.

That being said, each situation is different and each family should make the decision that works best for them.