How school impacts travel plans, with Older Kids?

[dairyqueenmom]

We did exactly the same thing from the time our oldest started school until she hit middle school. We would take our children out for a week, with no problems. Once our DD moved on to a College Prep Middle/High Charter School, we realized taking her out for a week was like taking her out for 3 weeks worth of material covered.

We have moved our trips to to August. Its hot, and crowded but we manage just fine. We have changed our style of touring to accomodate the heat. We take pool breaks at the nearest resort every day, we hit water parks and Disney Quest.

We know we are coming back next year so there isn't so much urgency to hit everythink.

I have actually began to enjoy our August trip, its a great way to end our summer break as a family.

 

[dairyqueenmom]

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.

Your spring break falls early in the month of April just like ours, this year was great because Easter was at the end of April. When Easter is at the end of the 1st week of April, the crowds will be huge. We will try Spring break Week when Easter falls at the end of April again.

 

[RLRDA]

We will be taking our yearly trips in August for the foreseeable future because of school. I would never go during Feb or April vacations (airfare alone is crazy!). By mid-August the high crowds of June and July are starting to thin out. It's still hot and humid but we've adjusted nicely and take it slow. It's a nice way to end the summer before the school year starts up again!

 

[Starr W.]

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.

That's what we do, except we usually skip WDW for spring break and head to Vero Beach.

As for airfare, we have 4 airports to choose from, flew out of an alternate choice for spring break and saved ourselves $200 pp. I can drive an extra 1hr each way for a $800 savings.

I know people who also will look at flying into Tampa, prices are usually less and from what I'm told rental car prices are less at TPA than MCO.

Also will look at one way tickets on different airlines. In November I'm flying Airline A down and Airline B back.

 

[juncker]

My kids are currently 11, 13, 17, and 19. We've taken them out of school before and had mixed results.

I think that the most important thing are the kids, and how they are able to deal with it. Certainly teachers won't be supportive of it, but if the kids are able to learn the material that they need, and take the effort to do it, it certainly is possible. I wouldn't expect the teachers to have a prepared pack of the work the upcoming week available, but if the kids approach the teacher as soon as they get back and ask what was covered, they can make the effort to get caught back up. Expect it to be work, and it certainly isn't for all children.

We've done this successfully with my 17 year old back in 10th grade (actually was a trip to Europe), but failed miserably with my oldest. There were a number of reasons that she ended up transfering to another school the following year, but missing a week of school probably was the biggest contributor.

If you decide to do it, don't approach it lightly. Keep your expecations of the teachers minimal and put the responsibility on your kids. It can work, but not if you aren't realistic about it. Anything that you can do to minimize the time is good (like doing on long weekends, etc...).

Life's too short not to spend time with your families, but at the same time, a small decision like this can have long lasting repercussions. Read the advice of others, talk to your kids, think about how the teachers will react, consider how well the kids are doing, but only you can make the right answer for your family. Good Luck!

 

[staceymay00]

I've pulled my kids out of school for 2-3 days a couple of times, but for the most part we have always worked around the school calendar and will definitely continue to do so with my oldest starting middle school in the fall. We usually get the entire week off for Thanksgiving, a 2+ week break for winter holidays and spring break in April. We are also out of school by Memorial Day weekend so we have a few weeks to travel before the summer crowds hit full force. Yes, we do pay more and deal with larger crowds, but we have so much going on during the school year (sports and other activities on top of school work) that I much prefer traveling during school breaks. We have been to WDW during very buys times and done fine with the large crowds by having a good touring plan. I am beginning to realize that our biggest challenge in the future will be planning around the school schedule and sports. My oldest is playing on a travel lacrosse team this summer, my daughter wants to do the same next summer - makes it difficult to plan ahead. If they continue playing in high school they will have games during spring break so it is hard to get away for the entire week. Luckily we enjoy Disney at Thanksgiving and Christmas so we will likely continue to use our DVC points then.

 

[Shawn]

I am a parent and a teacher who has no problem with families taking their kids out of school for up to a week during the school year for family activities.

Many teachers disagree with this, but I understand the importance of family bonding that happens during vacations. I will put together their homework assignments and expect them to have them done when they return.

I also suggest the parent's to set aside 2 hours a day especially for this purpose, and ask the parents to be the tutor during that time. This works well up through grade school, but can be a bit difficult in later grades. If the parent's are not able to help instruct their child in some area, then they are to still try and understand the topic using the text books for those two hours, and I will work to catch them up when they return.

That said, taking off more than a week is more problematic. If it is an international trip, then again, I understand, but it is more difficult.

School's speak so much of the school-child-parent-community collaboration that is needed to educate and raise a child. This means that teachers and schools need to listen to the needs of the families and work with them, not just expect the families to "fall in line" with school dogma.

-Shawn

 

[monorailmom]

Our kids are now 16 (twins), 13 and 10. We live in the NE as well. This will be our third year having to travel in August. And you know what? We still have a great time! Yes, it's hot and humid, but we're DVC members, and we pace ourselves! We try to go as late in August as we can, since the crowds we have noticed do get significantly less the later in Aug. that you go.

Here's our time tested plan: be at the park for rope drop. We ride all of our favorites/busy rides. Then we have lunch and leave. We go back to the villa, enjoy the pool, etc. Then we head out for dinner and another park at night when it's cooler.

Honestly, once the kids start stressing out over missing things, it becomes less fun. In August, the kids are relaxed, so we're relaxed. We are actually going to Disney in Nov. this year, in addition to our Aug. trip, because we have family going. The way it works out, we'll be there for 4 nights/5 days and the kids will only miss 2 1/2 days of school because of a holiday that week. That seems to be okay with them.

Good luck with the planning!!

 

[quentina]

Our district allows 10 vacation days per year. I have used all 10 since school started. I communicate in advance, homework is sent and they do it while in hotel. Never had any issues with them falling behind (7th, 2nd and K). Until one of them tells me it is difficult, I will continue to use all 10 allowed days.

 

[ForAandA]

We have mixed results. My seventh grader has no problem catching up. My fourth grader on the other hand tends to fall behind rather quickly.

We have decided to take our next vacation right after Thanksgiving. Speaking with the teachers, lots of kids will be out and the school workload will be a bit less that week

 

[sandieb]

We love to travel in May and have been successful in the past. However, the Maryland county school system counts vacation travel as an unexcused absence. This past Oct. my KINDERGARDEN age grandson missed a week while we traveled to WDW and Clearwater Beach. This ended up being a crisis when he also missed a week of school this speing because of a serious illness. My daughter was called to the principals office for a conference!

Needless to say, we are only going to WDW during school breaks.

 

[quirty30]

I believe in our state, Illinois, there is also an issue with funding. Any day your kids aren't in school, the district loses funding for the child. A few years ago the superintendent sent out a letter pretty much begging people NOT to take their kids out of school except for illness. As my district has taken very good care of my autistic son, I tried to heed his message.

 

[JWG]

I don't know what MN rules or expectations are. Out daughter enters K this next fall eek. We're taking her out for 5-6 days in October and then for a week in December of 2012. That may be the end of it, we'll see how she does at that point.

 

[corpcomp]

Ever since our DS 15 entered high school, we have had to modify vacation plans. Prior to that we would take off at Spring break or Halloween and not care if he missed a day or two. But now in high school, its almost impossible to take off due to a minimum of 4hours homework every night and projects, Band, JV Soccer, Track. We have canceled two vacations this year due to weather and extended school year going to June 25th. The school would not cut days out of Feb or Spring Break due to the 6 snow days we had and extended the year from June 17th to the 25th - graduation, which he has to attend due to band commitments.

We are now going in August as the only week left this year he can make it.
DW thinks when he enters college we can travel a lot. She has not realized the $200,000+ we will likely have to pay for 4 years in a private school. Traveling? - not a chance.

 

[Starr W.]

I don't know what MN rules or expectations are. Out daughter enters K this next fall eek. We're taking her out for 5-6 days in October and then for a week in December of 2012. That may be the end of it, we'll see how she does at that point.

You might ask about the time you are going to be off. In Ohio, we have a couple of weeks that they turn into the state for attendance to determine funding. If possible our district asks if you could work around this with your plans.

I think they are in October, November and February. The one large urban district made a big deal out of the February one once as they had a couple of snow days, and it would hurt their average for funding. I believe the state moved the week if I remember correctly(more than just our area got dumped on).

Our district gives us the dates for state testing and other standardize testing that are given during the year at the beginning of the year. They ask that you try to have your kids in school for those and schedule doctors/dentist/other appointments including trips around those.

Luckily our district also comes out with the next year's calendar as earlly as November and no later than early March of the previous year. Helps with those pesky 11 month booking windows.

 

[adminjedi]

With kids in High School and College, missing school is not an option for our kids. How have we dealt with it?
Well, we have one long vacation in the summer for the entire family.
The rest of the time, we travel without them!

 

[SLM]

We traveled in August-usually mid or late in the month. Our daughter didn't want to miss school during the year for alot of reasons and we respected that. We just got up early, went to the pool or napped in the afternoon and headed out again in the evenings. We did this through college because she worked as a camp counselor and wasn't free until mid August and then it was off to school. Even with DVC we find ourselves traveling in August because she and her husband are teachers and we love to take them with us! We do have enough points to get some offtime trips, however!

 

[Sheribo]

I also suggest the parent's to set aside 2 hours a day especially for this purpose, and ask the parents to be the tutor during that time. This works well up through grade school, but can be a bit difficult in later grades. If the parent's are not able to help instruct their child in some area, then they are to still try and understand the topic using the text books for those two hours, and I will work to catch them up when they return.

-Shawn

When your children are young, parents are able to teach them how to do the work that is provided. As they get older, missing the instructional class time makes it more difficult to catch up. I don't believe it is the teachers responsibility to catch them up outside of normal class time.

My school board doesn't have any restrictions on vacation time and each child is different. You are the best person to decide what your child can handle and whether you can help them with high school math!

 

[RayRing]

Thank you all very much for the information, and especially for sharing your personal thoughts and plans regarding this subject.

As it turns out, I get to wait about a year, before stressing over this issue.

In December 2011, we will be heading down after Christmas for 2 days in the parks, and then a Disney Cruise. The kids will only miss one day of school, and we should have an excellent vacation. That will do it for our 2011 WDW vacation.

So I will just have to worry about planning our 2012/2013 vacation, and figuring out how to fit a Disney vacation in with the kids school schedule.

In giving this issue a lot of thought, and in reading all these great posts, I am pretty sure that we will not be taking the kids out of school for a whole week going forward.

Given that we have to fly to WDW, the cost of airline tickets the last couple of years, and the fact that the travel down and travel back days only count for half days, I don't think we would travel down for a four day weekend. Maybe for a 4 day weekend, plus taking off one or two days might work (especially if we could get a late flight, which we could take after the kids get out of school).

The only other options I see are: Presidents Day vacation week; April vacation week; between Christmas and New Years (Yikes); and of course the Summer Time).

It is a little disheartening that when the kids would enjoy WDW the most, and when having DVC would be the most beneficial, it becomes the hardest to schedule.

I am also wondering if owning DVC is worth while now that we have greater restrictions on when we can travel. We have really liked DVC, and have had many wonderful memories. However, if it will always be a struggle to use our points, with ever increasing demands on all of our time, it might be worth looking at alternatives.

Thanks again and thank you for all the information.

 

[dairyqueenmom]

I am also wondering if owning DVC is worth while now that we have greater restrictions on when we can travel. We have really liked DVC, and have had many wonderful memories. However, if it will always be a struggle to use our points, with ever increasing demands on all of our time, it might be worth looking at alternatives.

Thanks again and thank you for all the information.

We own 200pts at AKV, and it has been so worth it. Even with the restrictions on when we can travel we are still borrowing all the time!! We have just narrowed down the time the kids can go and when my DH and I go alone. It is usually August as a family and October for the F&W, or Febuary to get a break from the Michigan winter for my DH & I.

We fit in the short trips for DH & I, only have to buy two plane tickets, and the longer trips for family. You will have not problem using your points once you start planning.

Good Luck! I love my DVC!!