Is missing preschool really missing school?

[zurgswife]

Preschool...don't really consider that school. I took my kids out for family vacations until the oldest hit high school....Family is much more important then school to me.

 

[kerriemiller]

OP, I'd never worry about spending quality time with my child as a detriment to their development.
.

Well said Im using this line on him if the agruement heats up

Depends on the school. My kid's preschool was $15K a year; you better believe we sent him every day!

For a two year old going 3 days a week? Enjoy your vacation!

Holy Smack!!! My girls are at a private catholic school they dont go every day or all day and they have summers off. He must be at top notch school.

 

[cabanafrau]

Personally I never have been a believer in taking kids out of school for a vacation after second grade. If I had a kid who was struggling, I wouldn't from K through second either. If your kids have some type of anxiety or separation issues that a disruption from their routine would cause a flare up, then I'd give it some serious thought. Beyond that, I'd take the vacation and not give it another thought. I'm pretty sure it won't red flag their Harvard app.

 

[Northstar]

It's worth asking the preschool teachers what they think. I'm guessing there's a 99% chance that they'll say it's fine.

And then you'll have the teachers' support to bring up if your DH still feels funny about it.

 

[rwdavis2]

Go for it. Pre-school is just an enhanced version of babysitting. Not going to miss anything that will damage the kids or their future in anyway.

Nailed it.

 

[Minnesota!]

No, missing preschool is not going to adversely effect your children. Preschool is the perfect time to miss school and enjoy low crowds and nice weather.

Ditto.

My only "issue" was that I was paying for my kids to be there...so there's that I am losing out on.

But what do I know...we take our kids out now...for 2 weeks a year...for vacations.

 

[disneychic2]

DH and I just took our almost 5 year old DGD to WDW in April. She missed 2 days of pre school. They have a deal where a plush Clifford dog goes home with a child for a week. Well, the teacher gave Clifford to our DGD so he could experience Disney with her. We took pictures of Clifford at Disney and DGD came back and shared with her class about her (and Clifford's) experiences.

I do think pre-school is important and not just babysitting. Maybe they used to be, but for the most part, there's lots of learning going on. But as far as missing a few days being detrimental, I don't think that's the case at all. There are so many ways WDW is educational and the parents get to be a part of that. OP, I sure hope you and your girls can talk DH into a couple of extra days! Good luck!

 

[scjo68]

Go for it. Pre-school is just an enhanced version of babysitting. Not going to miss anything that will damage the kids or their future in anyway.

I disagree with this completely.
I am a preschool teacher, and my students work on many, many skills in my class.

It is my opinion, though, that it is fine to miss a few days of preschool to go on a family trip. My students do it all of the time.

I have never sent "work" for the child to do while on vacation. When asked, I tell parents to have them practice things that they are already working on (listening, independence, etc.) while on vacation, and to learn from the experience of the vacation. If they want to, they are invited to draw and dictate a story about their experience to share with the class. That is much more age- appropriate than having them complete an assignment related to our class activities that take place when they are not there.

 

[Coconut36]

I don't view it as "missing school" in the sense that it is critical if they miss. I am VERY lax about preschool attendance. They don't know it though so as far as they are concerned it is school and important we attend but privately between DH and I it's more "eh..whatever" and I am more likely to keep them home for a minor illness, event, appointment..etc than I would be an older child in regular school. Preschool attendance is not mandated or monitored from a truancy perspective (although a private school could have attendance guidlines..ours never have) either.

I don't send my kids to preschool for academics..they have those going in. I send them to learn the structure of a classroom, listening to a teacher, socialization. Those things are not things that IMO required 5 days a week of perfect attendance. They aren't going to miss out on a vital skill or miss out on a new concept that will put them behind if they miss a week or a few days. I wouldn't even think twice about pulling a preschooler for a week for a vacation.

 

[SaraJayne]

Since I had no problem taking my kids out of Elementary school to go to WDW you can guess who I side with

Pre-school isn't school.

 

[Coconut36]

This is not always the case, at all. At serious preschools, there's structured play that contains learning, activities, direct learning, etc., etc.

I don't think missing a couple of days of preschool for a trip is a big deal, but preschool isn't just kids randomly playing with blocks and colouring, in a lot of cases. No one would pay $30,000 for that.

Good golly there is no way I would pay that for preschool. Even our private Montessori (considered pricey) was only $3,600 for a school year (part time..full time was still well under 10K and that would include summer camp in that figure).

 

[marmalade]

Go for it. Pre-school is just an enhanced version of babysitting. Not going to miss anything that will damage the kids or their future in anyway.

Where I see no issues with taking kids out of preschool for a vacation, I do not agree with it being an enhanced version of babysitting. Kids learn a lot in preschool/pre-k and I wouldn't be so quick to label their time there as insignificant.

 

[waffles77]

The kids are not missing out on any real curriculum when missing preschool. Go for it, take them out and enjoy Disney.

IMHO the kids are going to learn more at a week in Disney than they will at preschool! Travel is so important to kids so they can learn. If you are driving down think of all the states they can learn about.

If your DH is really against it, maybe you can plan 'lessons' during the drive down. Teach the kids about each state you go through. Spend plenty of time at Epcot and Animal Kingdom. Lots to learn and allow them to grow!

 

[torinsmom]

Take the kids out and go!

By the way, preschool is not enhanced babysitting. I teach 4-6 year olds, and my 4 year olds learn SO much during their preK year. I have 10 rising kindergarteners in my class and out of those, five are reading independently and three more are sounding out 3-4 letter words. Sure, they "played" a lot, but they were learning every day. That being said, they wouldn't miss that much in 5 school days.

 

[bethbuchall]

Go for it. Pre-school is just an enhanced version of babysitting. Not going to miss anything that will damage the kids or their future in anyway.

As a preschool teacher, I disagree completely that "pre-school is just an enhanced version of babysitting." I do, however, agree completely that there is not going to be a problem with them missing preschool.

For preschool age children, experiential learning is at least as important as any classroom time. Also, preschool education tends to focus so much more on the individual child's level of ability than many public elementary programs. The teacher can, therefore, spend time on anything your child misses while away without taking away from the rest of the class.

I'm sure that you can come up with many fun activities that will facilitate learning without making the trip seem like a giant lesson plan. Preschoolers love to learn and discover new things.

I say go for as long as you'd like and make some wonderful family memories!

 

[mjkacmom]

No, it's not school. My biggest regret was not taking my kids out of elementary school at least once a year for vacation! What the heck was I thinking? They were all straight A students, and would've been fine (we did it a few times, just not every year). Now, no can do. Oh, and heads up if you think your child might do high school sports! Ds14 is not going camping with us in August, because he has to train for soccer all month (July isn't mandatory, but August is). I guess our vacations will be July from now on. I want a do-over!

 

[RunningGirl]

I've read nothing but the OP.

I am an assistant preschool director. Take your kids out of preschool and go to Disney. Don't even give it a second thought. It's preschool! Seriously, we have parents who want "make-up work" when their kids miss. It's preschool. Obviously I believe preschool is important or I wouldn't do what I do, but you have to put it in perspective. Take your kids to Disney for a nice, long trip!

Have a great time.

 

[TinkerBelled]

Good golly there is no way I would pay that for preschool. Even our private Montessori (considered pricey) was only $3,600 for a school year (part time..full time was still well under 10K and that would include summer camp in that figure).

It's not really about the instruction at the preschool, honestly. It's just that certain preschools in NYC are feeder schools for the elite private schools in NYC, which are (for some) feeders into better colleges--and even for those who aren't going to go to Ivies, it's part of the whole UES (and UWS, to a lesser extent) culture. Getting into these preschools is cutthroat: standardized tests and interviews are standard; recommendations from CEOs and preschool counselors are at the extreme but regular end of things. Competition is fierce and can be nasty. It's not the norm for all of NYC, of course, but it's a huge deal for a small slice.

 

[Buckalew11]

No, I would not even think twice about it.

That said, we took DD out 1 week every year until 9th grade! No troubles, she was a good student.

Your DH will enjoy Disney more if he chooses the best times to go.

 

[jakenjess]

I wouldn't have even thought twice about taking the kids out of preschool -- heck, we took them out for a week just about every year until they hit high school! I really miss those days of going off season, low crowds, low airfare, nice weather . Now that we're stuck with school vacations, we've driven the last two trips because airfare was so expensive, and the parks are so much more crowded

Go and enjoy!!