Kids missing school for a cruise!!

[DLW8]

We have taken the kids out of school almost every year for WDW or DCL trips.

1st grade: 4 days missed - WDW
3rd grade: 2 full days and 3 early release days missed - WDW/DCL
4th grade: 5 days missed - DCL
5th grade: 3 days missed - WDW
6th grade: 5 days missed - DCL
8th grade: 3 days missed - DCL (coming up in the fall)

The trip in the fall will be the last one where we pull the kids out of school. They are really good students, but I won't pull them out in high school as there is just too much work to make up. For our upcoming cruise, they have 2 days off which is why they are only missing 3 days for a 7 night cruise.

We have found that some teachers will give them work ahead of time, and others won't. They do as much as they can before we return to school so they aren't so far behind.

 

[Drusilla99]

My 14 year old has missed : 1 week in 2nd grade for western car, 1 week in 6th grade for Mexican riviera, & 1 day of 9th grade for eastern car

My 12 y.o. Has missed : 1 week in preschool for w.c., 1 week in 2nd for m.r., & 1 week in 6th for e.c.

Both had no other absences during these school years & they attend private schools, & all schoolwork was given to them & completed before they returned from trip.

 

[Anal Annie]

The only time our DS missed school for a week of vacation was when he was in 2nd grade. My DH was the best man in a "destination wedding" so he missed a week in May of that year. We didn't have any choice on the date for that wedding but we wouldn't purposely plan for a vacation where he would have to miss more than 1 day on either end. We did 1 other trip to WDW once over Memorial Day weekend as a surprise birthday present for him and we flew home on the Tues. after because the airfare was literally half as much as flying home on Monday. I felt guilty as heck about it and wrote a long letter to the principal to explain. He was turning 12 then so it was middle school. As a rule tho our DS does not WANT to miss school for any reason. He feels like he gets too far behind. He was a junior this year and had to have 2 surgeries and missed a week each time. He wanted to go back just as soon as he was off the pain meds and hated how far behind he got while he was out. It does get harder as they get older.

 

[socalmomx3]

My dd has missed a week in Kinder and 1st grade for our cruise to Mexico and 2 weeks in 2nd grade for our Panama Canal cruise. 3rd grade we didn't go anywhere, but next year she will miss a week for our Baja cruise.

She always gets her work done and her grades have never slipped. As a matter of fact she made honor roll every year.

 

[Kebby]

Our kids have missed one week a year for the last few years either for a cruise or wdw. Next year they will miss one week in September for the cruise, and a week in April for wdw. My kids are grade 4,1 and kindergarten next year( and a 2 yr old

 

[Purplejewel]

I have pulled my four daughters out of school for 5 days every year for the past 7 years to either go to Disneyworld or on a Disney Cruise. I don't like doing it but the cruises we can afford (in the Fall) are always when school is in session and we don't want to spend a week at Disneyworld during summer break when the temperatures can reach over 100 - it would make the trip miserable - and it is so much more crowded during summer break. We always give their teachers advance notice and friendly reminders when the date gets close that they will be out of school but very few of them actually give them work ahead of time even though we ask for it. It does take them a long time to catch up on the work and we have asked them each time if they are willing to do all the "catch up" work and they always say "Yes". They all do excellent in school and are mostly A (a few Bs) students so taking them out of school once a year has not affected their grades. It is a personal decision you will have to make as to whether you take your kids out of school butI treasure all the happy family times and memories that we have from our yearly Disney Vacations. Good luck and I am sure you will make the right choice for your family.

 

[minniemouse1]

We too have taken our kids out for cruises. This year my 2 middle school DD's missed 6 days of school, my 4th grader missed 7 days (she rode with my mother so she left a day earlier) and my K son missed 6 days. got homework from the elementary teachers easier and in a timely manner, my 4th graders had it all finished before we even left! The middle school teachers it was like pulling teeth to get homework for the girls. I let all of the teachers know in September that the kids would be out in April. I reminded them at parent teacher conferences, sent another email after Christmas break and another 2 weeks before we left.
We are blessed that our children are very good students so it wasn't a problem for them to miss school. I also work for the same school district the children attend and we have the luxury to take time off (up to five days paid).
I didn't plan this last cruise intentionally on a non break time. Our school calendar is released less than a full year in advance so it is very difficult to plan vacations. I took an educated guess when the vacation was going to be and I was off by 1 week. Oops. We will not make it a yearly affair to pull them out of school now that they are older. Too difficult to make up the classes.

 

[SeattleSuz]

I was JUST thinking about this last night!! DD is in Kindy now and our cruise is in the fall. She's going to miss 7 days of school for the cruise (and post-cruise land portion). I'm a little worried what the teacher is going to say, but oh well, we will deal with it. I already have a Cruise Memories book started for her to fill out in our cabin every night, so she can work on her writing and sentence skills doing that when we are on vacay!! ha ha

 

[goofynut41]

me too

 

[sweetlovin']

My kids have missed many, many days of school over the years. I home school now, but before I did, they were always pulled out of school for many reasons. They always managed straight As (one time my youngest daughter got a B, but that was when she missed 2 months of school being sick. She cried and cried, but I explained keeping her alive is more important that any grade, period.)

I pulled them out for Disney World, family gatherings out of town, deaths, sporting events, cruises, Europe vacations..ect. Again, they all got high scores on the state testing as well as straight As in all classes. So, pulling them out was never an issue for them mastering the material.

My kids were K - 7th before we started home schooling.

 

[jrm11697]

I honestly think you will be fine if they about below 5th or 6th grade. After that, the work starts to pile up in middle and high school...

 

[LiseG]

DD Sabrina missed a week of Kindergarden, a 7 days of 3rd Grade (second week of school) and 7 days of 6th Grade. This year she'll miss the first 3 days of 8th grade

Being gone has never been an issue

 

[lizzyb]

We did it last year for 7 days and will do it again next year.

 

[sunryzez]

I have taken my kids out every year. One year it was a full week, following year was 3 days, and this year was 2 days. As they are getting older I try to work around the weeks they have a few days off so they don't miss as much but either way I don't think it is a big deal. Starting this year though I am going back to school as a teacher so I can no longer cruise non peak season...my poor bank account!

 

[Golden Rose]

DS9 just finished 3rd grade, and he's consistently missed 1- 3 weeks a year for vacations through the year. This has generally included at least one cruise, and has included some pretty exotic destinations where I'm sure he learned more than he would have in traditional school. (Including 3 weeks in Europe, 2 of which were missed from school.)

We are switching from private to public school this year for him, so we'll have a LOT less flexibility. I'm not worried about his getting behind, I'm worried about Texas' strict laws on missing public school days.

 

[ADznyDrmr]

For the past 4 years, we've chosen to schedule our family vacations based on our needs, and the schools can go along with it or not. My kids don't miss during the rest of the school year unless they're sick (rare...knock on wood). DD is 8 (2nd grade), and DS is 14 (8th grade). I always tell the teachers and office staff the dates they will be gone at the beginning of the school year, and then I remind them again once a week for about a month leading up to the vacation so they can get some work ready for them. We've not had a single problem, and our district has a very strict attendance policy. I know it's extra work for the teachers, so I always bring back goodies for them. DS will be in high school this year during our fall cruise, so if it ends up being too much stress for him to make up all his work, we will have to start working around his school schedule instead of our jobs.

 

[KBinCO]

Mine are little. My oldest will miss 4 days of first grade- we're going over Labor Day so that's one less day she'll miss. We leave the next week for a wedding across the country so she'll miss 3 more days the next week. Her school is none too pleased.

 

[FergusBC]

We haven't pulled them for more than 7 days of school. We'd happily take longer but our budget never allows for longer holidays than that

We try to schedule around long weekends or pro-d days as well, to minimize the impact. Next year we have one of the Baja cruises booked and it falls on the Cdn Thanksgiving so kids will only miss 4 actual school days They'll be 10 and 14 at sail date.

My oldest has missed roughly six weeks of school this year due to illness. A week or two for vacation seems small potatoes to us right now.

 

[cgolf]

.

 

[krisbars]

I did a three day-cruise with a seven-night DW trip last month. I pulled my daughter out of 6th grade middle school, and I'm not going to lie. It was a challenge getting her all caught up afterwards. I do not like vacationing during peak season when there is no school, so I openly communicated with her teachers about homework before and afterwards. My daughter did amazingly well before the trip knowing she had to do well at school, or she wasn't going. After the trip, she lost much motivation. Needless to say, everything is turned in, but it had been a total pain. I may need to rethink the timing of our next trip.