1.) Will it matter in 7 years?
2.) What is the worst case scenario?
When DD was in 1st grade, we had a trip to St Martin planned with her grandparents for 2 weeks in the fall. It is the time they always go and they've been wanting for years to share with us "their paradise." Until that year, the principal had allowed travel with family as excused absences. However, as she was retiring in January, she decided to make a rule that no more trips would be excused. This was well after all the plans were made and paid for. We went anyways. Later that same school year (in January), DH's sister moved her wedding date up from November to March (preggo). She got married on a 3-day cruise and both DDs were flower girls. So DD missed another 4 days unexcused for that trip.
7 Year test: No brainer. The memories of the ENTIRE YEAR in 1st grade don't compare to the memories/experiences of those 14 school DAYS!
Worst Case Scenario test: 14 days UNexcused absences in 1st grade. Would they keep her from graduating? From getting accepted to college? From getting scholarships? No. There are now 14 Absences on her official transript for that year. OK...... ?? We also got a letter from the school social workers regarding truancy and the legalities. I explained our situation and the reasons we decided to do what we did. They backed down. (Do you really think they have time to "punish" parents who actually take time to be with their kids, to show them the world, to expose them to other cultures, to strengthen their ties to their heritage by spending time with relatives who live far away?!?! Let them try!!) Bottom Line: Those absences did not keep my DD from passing into 2nd grade. It is a number on a piece of paper in her cummulative folder. That's all it is!
As far as middle and high school, I plan to ask what the Worst Case Scenario is when we get there. Ask the teachers/administrators: Since DD will be out of school from (date) to (date) to travel with family, will her absences be excused? If not, what EXACTLY do unexcused absences affect? Eligibility for extracurricular activities? The option to make up the work? What if the work cannot be made up? What if we choose to NOT have her overburdened with extra homework before/after the travel and she simply does not do the assignments for that time period? Can she still take the tests? How will this affect her grade for the marking period? How will this affect her grade for the year? How will this affect her passing the class? Does her grade in this class calculate into her GPA used for college admittance? (If yes, then that becomes a more important matter as it also plays into the 7 Year test.)
I guess my feeling is that the really important stuff is gone over so much (expose them to it one year, reintroduce it the next year, work on it the next year, review the following year, continue to reinforce it the following.... ), while she may miss a lesson on some one thing or another, the experiences that we share during our travel will make her future learning more meaningful: Experiencing being on a Caribbean island as a hurricane passes, managing her own travel money, reading maps and roadsigns, meeting people from other cultures, waiting in line, knowing that her family loves her and CHERISHES the time spent together...
While I know that vacations CAN be taken while the kids are out of school and makes this all a moot point, for some of us, the expense or the timing of travel only during school holidays makes travel impossible. So when the choice is miss school or not travel together, we do the 7 Year and Worst Case Scenario tests to make our decisions.
Good Luck in whatever decisions each of you make for yourself and your family.
PS. I am a former High School Math Teacher and I can tell you that I probably would not have felt this way back then. Teachers can get pretty full of themselves sometimes (experience talking here) and any teacher that thinks THEIR class is that important is simply pompous and self-appreciating. Giving in to their "I am God" attitude only strengthens it. I won't let any teacher or school system take away my power to parent. PERIOD!
