How do I tell teachers?

[Michelle Proper]

We are going to WDW the last week of November & first week of December... My lovely daughters will miss 6 days of school. I am dreading telling the teachers! I know they frown upon the children missing school for "vacations".

Any suggestions on how I should break the news to the teachers & schools?

Thanks for any tips!

Michelle

p.s. How do I put the "ticker" on the bottom of my post, to show the number of days, hours, etc... until our next visit to WDW? That is SOOOOOOO cute!

 

[A Mickeyfan]

What grades are they in?? When my kids were in elementary, I always told the teachers the truth. They were fine with it, some even suggested little reports for them to do. In middle school, they really didn't care much, never suggest any extra work for them to do....and in high school....I found out the hard way, telling them the truth gave my children an "UNEXCUSED" absence! They don't consider having to go out of town a reason for missing school. Now unforturantly, I can only have them miss 3 days at a time & I have to say they are sick. Anything over 3 days will require a dr's note or it will be "Unexcused". So even if they are really sick for more than 3 days, if I don't spend the money on the dr's, the days out will count against them. (and sometimes the dr's feel if they aren't running a temp...they don't need to be seen!?!?!)

 

[MELISA]

We will be there at the same time! My kids will miss 4 days of school and I plan to discuss it with their teachers at our Fall
Parent/Teacher conferences. I will get the work they will miss and do it before our trip!

 

[Otto's Doll]

oops, check next message!

 

[Otto's Doll]

I would make a point of telling them as early as possible, and asking for some ideas from them on how the children can use this trip for some educational credit, such as reports they could write, and perhaps even plotting the journey on a map. If you go to the teachers and they see that you are trying to work with them, they may be very willing to help you out.
I also gave the teachers a time period in which all missed work would be made up. (I said one week from our return).

Have a blessed time!
Otto's Doll

 

[ohMom]

Michelle - welcome to DIS!! to get your countdown clock click here

As for missing school - i also am pulling my DDs (grades 1 and 6) out of school for 7 days in the beginning of December. We did this four years ago on our only other trip to WDW.

Each school district is probably different, check your handbook for your specific policy. Our district requires written notification two weeks prior to the absence. I will probably tell the teachers soon though, and then submit my official written notification three weeks ahead. There is no guarantee that the teachers will allow them to make up their work, but most teachers really do want their students to succeed and are willing to work with the parents to get all work done. My first grader actually has the same teacher my oldest had for second grade on our 1999 trip! I'm a bit reluctant to tell her, but I know her well enough to know that she'll be thrilled that my DD has this opportunity and there won't be any problems.

My oldest DD is at an intermediate school and has three teachers so --- I'll just have to wait and see From my teacher friends too I have learned that teachers really want to keep a good relationship with parents so I would think most will try hard to work out something. Now if she has to take a zero or two in the gradebook b/c our vacation, we will do everything we can to get extra credit, etc to raise her grade back up. I know that is the risk we are taking.

Good luck!!! Maybe we'll see you at WDW!!

 

[Michelle Proper]

Thank you all for the previous tips.

Maybe I am being a little neurotic, but we have just attended a Middle School Orientation for my DD 6th grade - and the teachers kept stressing how "important" it is for the children to attend EVERY day of school, etc...

I know the teachers were referring to the problem students that are continually truant, but I have to tell you, I am sweating bullets!

My youngest DD is going into 2nd grade, and I am confident that I will be able to speak frankly with her teachers.

Thanks for the tips, and check out the "counter", OhMom!!!

 

[lsh]

Teachers love WDW, too. I am a teacher and I have never had a problem with my students being pulled from school for a family vacation -especially if they get to experience the magic of Disney. Just be up front about it and give the teacher(s) plenty of notice. I usually try not to send a lot of work with students - it is a vacation! If I know in advance, I can do any necessary assessments/testing or important assignments that the child may miss prior to departure and they can just go and have fun! The only thing I would check on is whether there will be any formal standardized testing done with your child(ren) during the time you will be at WDW. Sometimes there are limited windows for testing and if the teacher knows in advance, any tests could be given prior to your child leaving. Fortunately, most of this type of testing is done in the Spring so you probably won't need to worry about it. I wouldn't ask for additional work, projects or reports unless you really want to do them and know you'll have time. At my grade level (2nd grade) much of our work is hands-on and new concepts require the student to be in class so all I could really send home is practice type 'busy work' which really isn't very productive. Worksheets etc. are not only not very fun for the student, but it does make more work for the teacher as well. I would much rather know in advance, be able to preteach any important concepts to the child before they leave and then follow-up with them after they've had a wonderful vacation. If your child is having some difficulty in school, perhaps taking the current reading book they are working on and reading on the plane would be most beneficial. Don't stress over telling your child's teacher. I know if I had the opportunity, I would much rather pull my child from school and go to WDW during the off-season. Unfortunately, we do not have that option. I'm sure your child's teacher will understand. Go and have a blast!

 

[tinaluis]

Michelle,
I know how you feel. My daughter's first grade teacher stressed how important attendance was, gave them charts and graphs, etc., so I though she would give us a hard time about taking her out for 2 weeks. Lying is not an option because I knew my daughter would be excited and want to share her news and I didn't want to teach her that it was OK to lie. I told the teacher at the parent/teacher conference in the early Fall (our trip was in January) and she couldn't have been happier for us, which was a great relief. However, I'm sure there will come a time when they aren't so happy, but we're still going to schedule our vacations and go anyway. Most advice I've read on this board says to be matter of fact (not apologetic) and to stress that you understand that school is important, but that family vacation time is important too. Good luck and let us know how it goes.

 

[shady]

Why tell them anything? For elementary it might be hard because the kids will want to brag, but for High School just write a note saying the absence is/was permitted by the parent. THey cant do anything unless you give them a reason to do so. Quite frankly, it's none of the schools business when and where and for how long I choose to take my child out of school.

I do like the elementary idea of reports though. Makes learning fun for the kid.

 

[helenm29]

Actually, we have a form you fill out in the front office so that the kids don't miss out on their home work and the school system knows where they are so they can still get paid for the kids. My kids tend to start telling their teachers at least a month ahead of time just because they are so excited! what grade is your daughter in? my 10 year olds are in 4th and 5th which can be fairly busy but not insurmountable. My 16 year old is a Junior and THAT can get kind of sticky! we'll just make sure that he has all his work done as far ahead of time as possible. Good luck!

 

[momoftigger]

I am so frustrated! We will be taking our boys out of school 4 days over Labor Day week. The new policy in our city states that if they have two absences by the end of September we will be sent a letter and identified as a possible problem. If they have four absences by the end of October we will be sent another letter and have to attend a 3 hour truency class! I have done everything I know to do. I have let their teachers know as soon as school started and talked to the Principle. We have made arrangements to make up any work necessary and do a project for each. One just started Kindergarten and the other is in 2nd grade. The school suggested that I call the court liason and see if we fall into this "punishment". I just got a call back from the court liason and they said yes, we would have to attend the truency class....and it will be during the day, which we will have to take off work!! My second grader has had perfect attendance (except for bronchitis last year) up until now. I am at the point where I feel like calling the kids in sick for two days and the other two will be unexcused. I understand that there are some parents that do not keep an eye on their children and do not follow their education. But I am not one of them. I am trying to do all I can to be upfront and make up any work necessary. I just had to vent.

Marie

 

[helenm29]

momoftigger: I can hardly believe that your schools would be so STRICT! I know it's hard to keep track of kids while so many parents are at work all day and the schools are getting tougher but in special cases like this they should have a way to work with the system! I would go with calling them in sick and taking a hit for that! I would think that they have some kind of documentation on the information you've given them and the kids should not be punished when the system KNOWS what you are doing - you are a good parent who cares about the consequences! I tend to gripe about OUR system but it's NO where as tough as yours. GOOD LUCK and don't let it ruin your FUN!

 

[nancyL]

Im taking my kids (ages 9-4th grade, 7-1st grade and 3-preschool) out of school for 2 weeks the second and third weeks of school this year. Last year I did it for the middle two weeks of october. Life is way too short not to spend as much time with your family and to stress this much about a few days of missed school. I write a note to the school (in this instance I will hand deliver it to each teacher b/c of the time frame- they will only be back a week when we leave) stating (not requesting etc) that my children will be out of town from x date and they will return to school on y date. End of story. If the teacher chooses to send home work, we do it before we leave the house if time permits, or on the plane. If they dont, we write a daily journal while on vacation and just do as much homework as necessary when we return till the kids have caught up.
Hello?
What country do we live in? Anyone heard of FREEDOM??? Since when do we not have the right to spend some quality time with our families at a time and place of our choice?
(stands back w fire extinguisher).

NancyL

 

[cfewell]

What happened to the good ol days. My parents pulled me out of school all the time for vacations etc.

I dont remember ever having a problem and I spoke to my mother this evening and she said she never had a problem. She just sent a note to school and it said I would be gone from this day to that day and that was the end of it.

What is going on with the schools, do they not remember 100 years ago when kids were pulled for weeks at a time just so they could farm their parents land, or even pulled out of school altogether so they could work on the farm full time.

I am sorry, this is really stupid. With the way "family" life is now a days, with everyone being so busy, I believe it is VERY important to take that special time for the family.

Sometimes parents can only take their vacations during school season. Fortunatly for me the only non busy time at my work is in October. My son will start Kindergarten next year so I do not have to start worrying about it for another year, but you want to bet that I will be taking him out of school every year in October for our vacation.

Mommy and Daddy cant get away any other time so we will take our vacations and make sure our son makes up any time/work that he needs to keep caught up with the rest of the class.

I cannot believe our school system has gone this out of control. I realize that there are problem situations out there where children miss a lot of school, but with a signed note from a parent saying that child will be out of town there should be NO reason for that to count against your child in any way. ESPECIALLY if that child is an above average student and able to make up any work without falling behind.

I am having a real problem with this as you can see and I have not even gotten into the situation yet.

I am sorry for the school district "officals" that feel they need to put these restrictions on kids just because they themselves cannot take vacation whenever they want - however some of us cannot take vacation when we want either and it just so happens that our time is a different time than theirs.

Again I understand some restrictions for problem situations, where a child just misses willy-nilly, but I am not talking of these situations.

SORRY ABOUT THE B...... Session I just had - LOL.

 

[BostonTigger]

Originally posted by Michelle Proper
Maybe I am being a little neurotic, but we have just attended a Middle School Orientation for my DD 6th grade - and the teachers kept stressing how "important" it is for the children to attend EVERY day of school, etc...

I know the teachers were referring to the problem students that are continually truant, but I have to tell you, I am sweating bullets!

You're right, the teachers were stressing this to the problem students. Most teachers are willing to help those that show up to classes 90-95% of the time as apposed to those who don't. So with that in mind, I would say that most teachers are willing to help those students who do well and don't miss a lot of school.

 

[Otto's Doll]

Just a note.. I sent notes over the summer to both kids teachers, informing them we are leaving tomorrow. Both came home today with assigned work ~ a story and 2 practice pages for my DD8, and some Social studies questions and reading, and math reading and questions for my DS10. Both teachers asked the kids to keep a journal of their activities to bring in the first day. ~ I thought this was more than fair, and was glad I had let the school know early. The kids started school yesterday, but the teachers had no problem letting them goon vacation. I even had a note from the 8 YO's teacher, saying she was jealous, and wanted to go too!

I think communication is key in this type of situation!

Jeanne

 

[NotUrsula]

"What country do we live in? Anyone heard of FREEDOM??? Since when do we not have the right to spend some quality time with our families at a time and place of our choice?"

Personally, I don't bother telling the school where we will be when we are out of town, I agree that it is NOTB. However, my child attends a private school.

I *firmly* believe that the primary reason that public schools are adopting really draconian policies these days is money. Cold hard cash. The states all pay public schools X amount per day for each student that is present that day. If children are out, the district loses money. Where I live, getting public school kids to attend the first day of school is traditionally a problem. Last year, 25% of 40,000 students missed the first day of school, and the district lost over $600,000 in state funding for just that ONE day. Right now, the district is many millions of dollars in debt, largely because attendance problems created a huge shortfall in the amount of state funding that the schools were expecting.

So, as an additional strategy, you might offer to make up for any state funding that the school will not receive if your child is out. (I am NOT suggesting doing this as a bribe to get the principal to overlook the absence; I am suggesting it as a way to allow school officials to protect their fiscal interests while still allowing the absence.)

As to truancy boards, calling is not the thing to do. Send an advance letter, via certified mail, with copies of all of your correspondence with the school and teacher regarding the absence. Obviously, the tone of the letter should be polite, but groveling is not necessary. Believe me, a truancy judge is NOT going to want to waste his/her time with a concerned and involved parent who presented a make-up work plan *in advance* for a few days of out-of-town travel. They have MUCH better uses for their time. However, once the wheels of the truancy courts process get moving, they are hard to stop. Sending an advance letter should be much appreciated, as it makes it possible to head all of that paperwork off before it starts. The return letter will probably contain a suggestion to try to schedule on a school vacation next time, but will almost certainly excuse you from truancy charges for the days in question.

 

[jdads2]

My kids are in grammar school and I tell the teachers and the principal that we are going to WDW. I also let them know that there will be no homework during our vacation. I let them know well in advance so that my kids can get ahead of others before we leave. I have gotten into a few discussions with a couple of teachers and explain it this way. Our family doesn’t have the luxury of getting summer vacation time. I work nights and weekends and my wife works days and have weekends off. As a family we have a maximum of 27 hrs of family time (hrs we are all awake) together each week. We feel that it is very important that we spend quality family time together. It just happens that we are able to spend our vacations in someplace as nice as WDW. We haven’t had any problems.

I have the kids perform different age appropriate tasks. My oldest keeps all receipts and keeps tabs on outgoing cash. He is also responsible for writing reviews of attractions and restaurants. My 9 yr old is also responsible for the receipts and must write short stories about what we did for the day. My 6 yr old will have to draw and write sentences of our adventures.

All this could change if the kids grades suffer or if the school workload gets to be too much.

 

[helenm29]

how strict is your school system? I've been hearing from a lot of prople about truancy problems just for 2 or 3 day trip! we always start telling the schools about our trip just as soon as school starts - we're going 1st week in December also. Most of the time the teachers give report assignments that the kids can log in a notebook and some times some math and spelling. We TRY and get those done before we go and save the notebook for the trip.
Also, my Junior has a lap-top in which he can do his homework and e-mail it in! it's great! GOOD LUCK! HM