How school impacts travel plans, with Older Kids?

[RayRing]

We have been DVC members for over 15 years.

Next school year our kids will be in 5th. and 6th. grades.

When the kids were younger, we decided to take them out of school for up to 1 week, to take a WDW or DCL vacation.

We liked to take our trips when it was cool, or cold in the North East.

We have travelled in late January / early February and Late November / early December.

In addition to escaping the cold, we also got lower crowds, used less points and got to experience the Christmas happenings.

Starting next year, we (being my DW) decided that we should not take the kids out of school for a week, like we have done in the past, and that we should travel when it won't impact their school schedule.

We were actually going to do this during their February vacation this year, but when the Airlines opened up their bookings for these dates, I nearly had a heart attack. The cost of the flights were Over Double what we normally pay. After a couple of days, and only seeing the flight costs increasing, I cancelled our February plans.

So I figure there are many families who have reach this point, and have had to deal with this very situation.

Please let me know how you have dealt with this situation. I am looking for any and all advice on the subject. Thanks.

 

[Starr W.]

My boys will be in 9th/4th grade in the fall. We never pulled them out for a full week(bought when the eldest was in 4th grade). Our district frowns upon pulling kids for a full week, but allows it. No problem leaving a day or 2 before a scheduled break.

Our usual rotation of DVC trips is: Thanksgiving(Fri-Fri) pulling the kids out for 2 days, MLK weekend(Thurs-Mon) end of semester, 4 day weekend, no missed school. Spring Break at VB.

We've also done an early May trip when the kids got a 3 day weekend, did pull the kids out for 1 day.

My major concern is usually the spring break trip. Now that Michigan has gone to a statewide spring break, if it it's the same week as mine in Ohio. I usually fly out of DTW, but this year I drove over to Canton-Akron and saved $200 pp.

 

[dawne98]

I would never do a week...what I did was Thrusday Friday then Monday Tuesday......but I have not done that in years the lsat time was 2006! Now we are going in sept and they have a 1/2 day on the Thursday and so they are going to miss one day of school and we'll go home on Sunday....also in May of next year they have a 1/2 day on the Thursday our DCL goes out and we'll be home on that Sunday so just one day again BUt now one is JR high NO way would I do a week out of school!

 

[bicker]

We've been lucky in that the youngsters in our family have so far benefited from Jersey Week. I dread our first trip during a school holiday, which probably will be in 2013. I think we'll aim for February rather than Christmas or Easter. While the weather is iffier, especially with regard to get out of and back to the Northeast, the crowds are marginally lower.

I cannot imagine taking the little ones to WDW over the Summer.

 

[Starr W.]

I cannot imagine taking the little ones to WDW over the Summer.

I cannot imagine taking myself to WDW over the summer. I wilt easily in heat/humidity

 

[twinklebug]

The older the children get the more important it is to keep in touch with the school and teachers regarding work due and items they may be missing if taken out of school.

It's pretty safe to say most teachers up through high school understand that the big holidays and vacation periods are difficult to schedule projects and tests around and will avoid them. Then again, I have had at least one teacher who decided to assign an important project on that last day before the Christmas break to be turned in the first week back. (the principal stepped in and we did get extensions on this)

Communication is key, and never trust the kids to do it on their own!

 

[Starr W.]

Communication is key, and never trust the kids to do it on their own!

Isn't that the truth!

Our district has "The Form" that your kid has to have all his teachers sign off on and turn it into the office for the principal to sign off on.

This is supposed to notifiy the teachers that they need to gather the assingments for the student, which he will pick up before he leaves.

My eldest is finishing 8th grade, and I've been surprised over the years of the number of teachers who have a quiz or test right before breaks. As my son has told me he's not the only one in his class lining up to get his "Form" signed.

In 7th grade science class, over half the class took a quiz Monday after T-giving(was scheduled for Tuesday, last day before break).

 

[Dean]

We have been DVC members for over 15 years.

Next school year our kids will be in 5th. and 6th. grades.

When the kids were younger, we decided to take them out of school for up to 1 week, to take a WDW or DCL vacation.

We liked to take our trips when it was cool, or cold in the North East.

We have travelled in late January / early February and Late November / early December.

In addition to escaping the cold, we also got lower crowds, used less points and got to experience the Christmas happenings.

Starting next year, we (being my DW) decided that we should not take the kids out of school for a week, like we have done in the past, and that we should travel when it won't impact their school schedule.

We were actually going to do this during their February vacation this year, but when the Airlines opened up their bookings for these dates, I nearly had a heart attack. The cost of the flights were Over Double what we normally pay. After a couple of days, and only seeing the flight costs increasing, I cancelled our February plans.

So I figure there are many families who have reach this point, and have had to deal with this very situation.

Please let me know how you have dealt with this situation. I am looking for any and all advice on the subject. Thanks.

This was about the school age when we stopped taking the kids out of school. For Elementary it wasn't an issue with planning but the one trip we did this with middle school was a longer trip and my daughter had enough trouble catching up that we said never again. Now the the grand child, it'll start again. Fortunately it's not quite as restrictive as when you have them 24/7.

 

[dcfromva]

Next school year our kids will be in 5th. and 6th. grades...
...Starting next year, we (being my DW) decided that we should not take the kids out of school for a week, like we have done in the past, and that we should travel when it won't impact their school schedule.....
So I figure there are many families who have reach this point, and have had to deal with this very situation.

Please let me know how you have dealt with this situation. I am looking for any and all advice on the subject. Thanks.

We did as you are doing when DS was that age. We would take shorter trips around extended weekends where they was a school holiday. I would study the school schedule as soon as it was published comparing DHs and my work schedule to it to look for opportunities. I would book the room first because those dates are fixed and can't be moved. Then, I would watch the airfares until I found something reasonable. The prices fluctuate--I would buy when the price reached my predetermined point (not necessarily looking for lowest--just looking for something I felt we could afford ). On SWA, if you find a lower fare you can rebook the ticket--but they have recently gone to where you can only use the savings for the individual you originally booked the ticket--so it isn't as flexible as it once was.

 

[Brian Noble]

We restrict ourselves to school vacations---with at most an extra day or two tacked on. It is true that doing so is more expensive to get there, it is more crowded, and it will probably cost more points. We view that as just more items on the ledger of expenses we incur by having children.

 

[DVCconvert]

Please let me know how you have dealt with this situation

1) buy a boatload more points
2) hold your nose
3) endure high heat, crowds
4) pay more for everything
5) look forward to using all those extra points in the future

 

[Kelblum]

We live in a resort community and most people have to work in the Summer so our school district doesn't really frown upon taking students out during the school year.

We are going in November during Jersey Week, we always go this week every year, and have taken our children out of school for 4 days.

Next trip DS will be in 8th grade and DD will be in 5th. This will be our last year of doing this. I feel that once DS is in HS he will miss too much work. We make sure that both children get any work they miss and make sure they complete it.

 

[dawne98]

I cannot imagine taking myself to WDW over the summer. I wilt easily in heat/humidity

we went for the 1st time in Aug last summer and it was GREAT! It was HOT but we just went back to the room and got in the pool had a nap and then back to the park for the night!

 

[nolanboys]

Our oldest are in 5th grade now and I don't want to pull them for an entire week and because we go every other year, I don't want to go for an extended week (partly also because we fly down). We chose Spring Break this year, which was the last week in March/first week in April. I was ready for horrific crowds, but it wasn't bad. The weather was pleasent and we enjoyed a lot of pool time. We plan on going again during that time frame. I also think your airfare might have come down. Ours was high for spring break, but I checked every Tuesday/Wednesday and finally one week they were significantly lower (we did have to change our travel dates Monday to Monday, but well worth the $1000 savings). I would suggest trying Spring Break - just hope yours' doesn't fall during the highest points time!

 

[rocketriter]

We found that no matter how carefully we planned, taking the kids out of school set them back academically and it was hard for them to catch up. So we do Disney during vacation breaks or summer. Yes, it's hot in the summer, but not nearly as hot as the Middle East, which we visited on a wonderful trip a couple of summers ago. Now our oldest is off to college and pulling him out of classes will be out of the question anyway. But he still wants us to take him to WDW from time to time!

 

[tjkraz]

We bought points at VGC for the purpose of booking June trips right when the kids get out of school. Our kids are done around the first week of June but many SoCal schools are still in session for another 2-3 weeks.

This year kids' last day of school is this Friday (6/3) and we fly out of DTW on Saturday evening. Since it isn't peak travel season yet, we also got awesome airfare prices. We're flying round trip from DTW to LAX for $155 per person.

Great parks, moderate temps and very reasonable crowds...not to mention the best resort DVC has to offer (VGC.) Just can't beat the combo.

Next year we have a WDW trip planned around President's Day. Our district has the Friday before PD off making for a 4 day weekend. We structured the trip around that so that minimal school will be missed. And right now airfares are not too bad.

 

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

Our DS will be a sophomore next year and we don't take him out of school at all anymore.

First of all, our district forbids it and they are UGLY about enforcing it.
Second, DS gets VERY distracted if he knows a trip is coming. Then when we get back he is off his groove and has a hard time getting back on track.
Third, airfare is so insane now that I prefer NOT to go on short trips because it is a bad use of our money. If we are paying over $1000 for airfare I don't want to turn around and come home in 3 days.
Fourth, DH's work schedule no longer allows him to dovetail Fri/Sat off with Sun/Mon off. Unless he is on vacation he is only off Fri/Sat.

We have been traveling in June or August for several years and it's fine. It would be nice to be able to go in March for Spring Break, but DH has to bid for vacation and he can't manage to ever snag that week. In 3 years DS will be in college and DH and I can travel whenever we feel like it. For now, summer only.

 

[montrealdisneylovers]

I say you know your children and what they are capable of. Some children can miss school with no problems, some have to be present to hear explanations over and over again.

We have always taken our children out of school for one week longer after the Christmas break. This past January they were in grades 9 and 11. This was done with the clear understanding that they must do well up to the Christmas Holidays and must catch up on everything missed.

They ask their teachers for any work they will miss. They bring the books with them and with facebook and email they get further information from fellow students during the week. They keep up with what they can while on vacation, then have a hectic week upon their return and within 5 days are caught up if not ahead of the other children in their class.

Both are honor students and capable of learning stuff on their own. Chemistry and Physics presented more of a challenge for our older daughter this year but she is tops in her class.

Some other parents have questioned our choice over the years but have since admitted that if they had to do it again, they would take their kids our as well.

After all what do you remember about your grade 11 class the week in January right after the break? Not much, I'm sure, but you would remember the fun time you had with your family at Disney or on the beach or on some other vacation.

 

[vicki_c]

We just did our first Easter vacation trip this year. We have always pulled our kids out of school, normally in January where they missed about 3 days. My kids are in 6th and 4th grade this year (that is ending now).

We still would as we are not opposed to that approach at all, but my DS is not doing that well in school this year (first year of middle school), so it didn't seem prudent to have him miss any time. We pulled our kids out for a few days in November for a space shuttle(didn't happen)/Disney trip, but I think that will be the last time for a while.

Our Easter trip was fine - I knew it would be since we have been to the parks over Christmas before. The #1 downside for us is that we don't have enough points to get a 1 BR at Easter time, only a studio. If we wanted a 1 BR, we would have to use 2 years (maybe it was more) worth of our points, because we only have a 160 point contract. To me, that's the worst part. And we're getting a studio for next Easter too.

 

[quirty30]

I manage a couple of different ways:

1) We do visit in the hot summer but we split up the days and hang out at the resorts and the pools mid-day.

2) We usually plan a spring break trip; our school district is always off the last full week of March, so we only deal with Easter being the same week once in a while. The crowds have been manageable so far.

3) When we plan trips during the school year, we go for long weekends and I only take them out of school for 1 or 2 days only.

4) I've learned to be very flexible with travel and will drive as far as Milwaukee, giving us a choice of 3 different airports to fly out of. We've managed to get some well priced airfare this way.