I Think I'm Doing The Right Thing In Cancelling Our November Trip

[Wish Upon A Star]

I am completely heartbroken . . . .seems like I'll never get to see Disney at Xmas time

We are supposed to go November 30 - December 7 but with DD being in 8th Grade and with all the homework she's had since the start of school, it wouldn't be fair to her to pull her out for a week and expect her to catch right up with the class.

I've never seen so much homework! She has homework in most of her subjects nightly, plus quizzes/tests every week . . .it's almost like they are preparing these kids for college . . .I don't ever remember getting that much work! I've seen her get very frustrated with the amount of work and I think to myself how wrong it would be to do this to her. She's an average student and if we went I'm afraid she'd slide right down the grade chart.

I never thought it would be like this . . .I thought it would be easy to take her out for a week and not have any problems . . .maybe I'm wrong . . .

DS on the other hand is only in 4th grade and he would have no problem with missed work . . .

What does everyone think?

 

[Feralpeg]

We had reservations for the second week of December. I ended up cancelling them. My DD is in the 9th grade and they have mid-terms in December.

I know what you mean about the homework. My DD has always had an incredible amount of work. This year, she is taking challenge classes and is absolutely swamped with "special projects".

There is definately a different emphasis on things since I was her age. When we enrolled her for the 9th grade, we had to specify what her career choice will be (like they really know at this age) and what colleges she wants to attend. We had to lay out her schedule through her senior year. They now have four types of diplomas. You pick which one you want to go after based on what type of college you want to get into.

It seems like we are pushing these kids really hard, but it is so competive out there!

Sorry you are going to miss your trip!

 

[TiggerPiglet]

I know it's hard to take them out of school when they get older. We've taken our DD out of school in Kindergarten and 1st grade. She is now in second and we're struggling about whether or not to take her out again. So with your DD being in the 8th grade, you made the right decision about not taking her out. There's so much pressure on kids today with school work, plus schools frown upon taking them out for vacation.
Sorry you'll be missing your trip.

 

[kinlaw6450]

My parents always took us out of school for Disney trips. We were required to take all of the trips worth of homework and classwork along. I can remember distinctly two trips. One sitting on the balcony of the Contemporary doing homework one morning and another sitting at a picnic table at Ft. Wilderness.

Would that be a possibility??

 

[disneyjunkie]

I also had to cancel our trip. We were going Nov.26- Dec.2. I was really looking forward to doing all of the Christmas stuff. No matter how I look at it, I can't justify taking my son out of school just to go to Disney.

He's in the 6th grade. The amount of work he has had is amazing. The first 3 periods on Wednesday is set aside for testing. If they are out on a Wednesday, they have to make the test up during lunch/recess when they return to school. They are not allowed to make the test up during regular class time because then they'll miss that lesson. Of course I had planned to be in Animal Kingdom the day before Thanksgiving.
Science Fair project is due the Monday after Thanksgiving.

I'm starting to cancel my PSs. I've changed the trip to Easter. We won't get to see the Christmas decorations, and any of 100 years of Magic things, but son won't fall behind in school.

I was really looking forward to the Share a Dream parade and the parade at AK.

Sometimes it's hard to do the right thing.

 

[WDW2002]

My DD's are in 6th & 4th this will be the last time I take them out of school for Disney. They are going to miss the 2 weeks before Christmas Break so they will have the two weeks to play catch up.

 

[Lucky4me]

6th grade was the last time I pulled them out. The work load is just staggering for these kids. I suppose if it were a straight A student who did not need to study for those A's, it wouldn't be a problem, but all my kids needed those study hours....

I think you did the right thing.

 

[Dan Murphy]

The kids come first, you guys are doing right.

 

[emmagata]

Sounds more like Boot Camp.


I've read articles in the newspaper about the kids having so much homework that the parents are starting to complain. Some parents said that their kids were getting between 2 and 4 hours of homework each night. That's WAY too much. Kids need a break from the daily grind just like adults do. Looks to me like they're trying to cram too much in. Come on, these are kids! It's not like their in Med School!!

BTW, we don't have any kids and this is just my opinion.

But if we did, I know that I'd be calling the school and complain.

 

[Pin Wizard]

DS is in 4th grade. It's normal for him to have 3 or 4 tests in a week. And on some days they have 2 tests.

 

[Kitty 34]

That's the main reason we'll never make it to a DIS CON. My boys are in 10th and 7th and they'd be making up homework for a MONTH after if we took them during school!!!

The last two years we have flown to Disney literally on the day school gets out......great way to start summer vacation!

 

[bfeller]

You are doing the right thing. Your children and their education come first. As they get older the demands on their study time are greater and it would be very hard on them(and you) to make up all the extra work and stay current in their classes.

 

[crazyme5kids]

I know I am the minority here, but I have , would and will continue to take my children out of school for trips. I am 42 years old, the youngest of 4 and all of us still talk about and laugh about our memories of vacations. I can't say the same of school. Yes school is important, but so is family. I think we are losing some of our quality time as a family these days, because we let everything else from school to sports activities etc... dictate our lives. I am guilty of it too. I can't tell you how many times I have said no we can't do that because they have baseball, Etc... We all miss out on special moments together. My daughter is not an A student, but she is very special to me, so I will let her have a trip. She learns that life is often a trade off. She must do and make up the work and test. Is it difficult? Yes, sometimes. Is it worth it? Definitly! 30 years from now my kids aren't going to be complaining about how horrible it was to make up the school work, they will be laughing and remembering a special time with family. To me this is putting my kids first.

 

[Serena]

My girls have had a ton of homework since 5th grade. They go to school all day and they do homework most of the night. And people ask why kids don't get enough exercise.

I'm sorry you are having to make this decision.

 

[Cindy B]

My son has one to two tests a week and he is in second grade.

Your original post said it was like they are prepping them for college, they are!

I am a younger mom, 31, and what my sons has learned in first and second grade, I didn't learn until 4th grade or so. So if you apply the "two years ahead" principle, your 9th grader is doing what could have been taught in 11th grade..

This is subjective but it may work in your situation.

You are doing the right thing by cancelling. The education is important, and the building blocks.

Yes, the work can be made up, and yes, my sons teacher even mentioned trips to Disney in back to school night. He stated that he can only give work up to a week in advance, but the things they will miss hands on, could prove challenging.

 

[believe]

This is our last year for going in December, unless we go over Christmas break. DD#1 starts Kindergarten next year and we have decided that taking her out of school will not be an option.

 

[crazyme5kids]

Just wanted to add one more thing after my long winded post LOL! When my parents celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary, my sister wanted to make abook up for them with memories from family and friends. Everyone wrote a letter to my parents sharing thoughts and memories with them. Out of all 4 of us (their children), not knowing what the other was going to write, we all wrote about our vacation memories. My mother laughed when she saw that, she said she didn't realize how important and how much those trips meant to us! They truely are some of my fondest memories. My grandmother who turns 96 in Nov. still talks about trips taken as a child. Just some food for thought folks!

 

[daughter_of_amid_chaos]

I have not been pulled out of school for a vacation since 7th grade when I started at my present school.
I'm a senior now and I wanted to do a Presidential Classroom program in DC...the one i really wanted to do was not during my spring break so I had to request the one during my break.
I could not miss a week of school.
I'm homesick today.....and this is like horrible because I will get behind.

 

[BibbidiBobbidiBOO]

We have reservations for mid Dec and for late May, after school is out. I think I am cancelling Dec for the same reason! We went last year and got to see the Christmas stuff anyway. DS is in 6th grade and has incredible amounts of homework, studying and tests. AND we were only going for a long weekend in Dec! I cannot imagine him missing a week ! DD in 2nd grade could easily miss and catch up. I am thankful we went last Dec. now.
Could you bear the crowds and go for a long Thanksgiving weekend, letting her miss maybe 2 days after that weekend? It's tough to be a parent sometime!

 

[wdwnutze]

We took DS out in the 8th grade to see the xmas decorations. He had to bring all his work with him and had to make up all his tests upon his return. Lucky for him, school work comes easy for him. He used the time on the plane and some evenings to do his work. I think you have to do what is right for your child. If my son had struggled at all in school, I wouldn't have taken him out. He is now a freshman in college and won't be able to go to WDW for a while so I am glad we have taken the trips we did. He is crazy about Disney. I am now considering whether or not to take DD out of school next year(she'll be in 6th grade) to spend Thanksgiving at Disney. I will base my decision on how well she is doing in school this year. In 5th grade she is getting about 2.5-3 hrs of work every night. I think it is way too much work for kids but I want her to realize that education comes first!