Kids missing school for Disney trip

[Minnie_me]

Reilly --
That's my DD's name - LOL! Is that YOUR name?

 

[dementia412]

We are lucky, this year they are combining some teacher days and Thanksgiving, so the kids will only miss three days, and I'm sure half the school will be out that Monday.. I mean 4 days off in one week is just asking for nobody to shoe on the fifth day
I have it harder.. I'm in school too, and I'll be missing 5 days. I know the teacher in one class, and he'll be fine with it because he knows the kind of student I am, but I've never met the other three teachers. Most of the time it's fine to miss two or three days of a class with no excuse, and that will be all I'll be missing from each class.... still it leaves me with NO spare "Man I feel like crud today" days.

 

[Reilly]

No Reilly is not my name. My last name however is O'Reilly. My first name is Rhyan, pronounced like the boys name. My mom loved the Soap Ryan's Hope. The leading actress was a Dr and her name was Ryan. My grandmother told my mother to put an "h" in it to make it at least look feminine. Lucky me huh?!
I like my name now, I hated it in school. Especially when placed in the all boys gym class my freshman year. Sounds like a girls dream but trust me it is not when youre the only one there out of 25 boys. I switched classes that week!

 

[Minnie_me]

We named our DD "Reilly" because there are O'Reillys in my Irish family history. It was a very unusual name 10 years ago, and now it's more common, only with lots of unusual spellings: Rylee, Riley, Ryleigh!

Thanks for the info!

 

[mom2my3kids]

When I was pregnant with my middle son, if it was a girl her name would of been Riley Paige... I just love that name...

 

[Minnie_me]

Well......what did you name him?!?!?

If our Reilly had been a boy, the name was going to be Kyle. Our second child was another girl, and the name was Avery -- and it was going to be Avery for a boy as well. We'd also considered Delaney, but when we saw her, we knew she was an Avery!

 

[Minnie]

I'll be taking my then 8th grader out of school for a week in December. I've taken him out before and we've never had a problem.

School is highly important but so are other things and personally I don't care if they don't like it.

1st grade I wouldn't even give it the slightest consideration. Go and have fun!

 

[MNWDWMANIAC]

Here is the actual section related to missing school for vacation in our district. We are fortunate to have a school system that supports the value of time spent together as a family.

 

[coolmickey]

Thank you everyone; I think I feeling better about taking DD out of school, now when to tell the school?

 

[MNWDWMANIAC]

Maybe mention it to the teacher at the open house. Touch base and make it clear to the teacher that are going on vacation with your child and then ask is you can do something to support him/her while your child misses school.

We are planning to write the principle and our boys teachers as well about 2 weeks into the school year. We're going in Oct. I believe they like a couple weeks notice just to make sure everything is covered.

Out school doesn't assign homework for vacation. They don't want to ruin the vacation with work and they also believe you can't do work on something you didn't learn.

Take time to find out how they plan to work this issue. I doubt you will have much to work about at this age.

Have a great time!

 

[Aliceacc]

Just my (bound to be unpopular) 2 cents:

I'm a high school math teacher.

A student who misses a week of my class is going to be LOST for quite some time upon returning.

I can't give him work to do ahead of time. Even if it weren't against school policy for unexcused absences, he wouldn't be able to do it-- math books are notoriously hard to read from. And upon his return I can't stop the class and bring him up to speed; he's going to have to get the notes and see me for several sessions of extra help. The same will be true for each of his other 6 classes.

Sorry, folks. We're dealing with the crowds and the higher prices and taking our kids to Disney over the summer. Yes, I value family time. But I think it's possible to value family time and still send my kids a message about the value I place on their education.

 

[daisyduck123]

Maybe mention it to the teacher at the open house.

As a teacher, I would prefer the parent telling me at some other time...either by a note, phone call, or in person....just not at Open House/Back to School Night.

On that night, we have so many other things to worry about.
While the teacher will probably remember that someone told her they had an upcoming trip, there is a good chance she won't recall which parent told her.
Believe me, so many parents try to have personal conversations with us on that night,when Open House is not suppose to be for individual conferences.

Another negative about telling the teacher then is that early in the year, we often can't put parents' faces with names, and the teacher won't know who she is talking too.

Just write a note about 2-3 weeks ahead of time.

 

[MNWDWMANIAC]

Just my (bound to be unpopular) 2 cents:

I'm a high school math teacher.

A student who misses a week of my class is going to be LOST for quite some time upon returning.

I can't give him work to do ahead of time. Even if it weren't against school policy for unexcused absences, he wouldn't be able to do it-- math books are notoriously hard to read from. And upon his return I can't stop the class and bring him up to speed; he's going to have to get the notes and see me for several sessions of extra help. The same will be true for each of his other 6 classes.

Sorry, folks. We're dealing with the crowds and the higher prices and taking our kids to Disney over the summer. Yes, I value family time. But I think it's possible to value family time and still send my kids a message about the value I place on their education.

Thats what makes teachers such amazing and special people! Their ability to work around the lives of all the children who depend on them in their classes

I value the opinion of teachers like yourself just as I value the opinions of my children's teachers. I'll have to stick with the fact that our school district embraces and supports family vacations and the teachers so far have echoed that belief. I also believe that the lessons of life don't always take place in the classroom. The dates that some people take vacation on aren't always based on "prices" or "crowd sizes".

Both of my older boys are gifted and understand the value of school. They understand the value for education. My wife and support and encourage them to do the best they can in everything they do including school. But this is not a matter of one thing is more important then another. more so a lesson that life comes day to day and you have to take it the best way you can.

Not flaming... as I love teachers.

 

[MNWDWMANIAC]

As a teacher, I would prefer the parent telling me at some other time...either by a note, phone call, or in person....just not at Open House/Back to School Night.

On that night, we have so many other things to worry about.
While the teacher will probably remember that someone told her they had an upcoming trip, there is a good chance she won't recall which parent told her.
Believe me, so many parents try to have personal conversations with us on that night,when Open House is not suppose to be for individual conferences.

Another negative about telling the teacher then is that early in the year, we often can't put parents' faces with names, and the teacher won't know who she is talking too.

Just write a note about 2-3 weeks ahead of time.

yes I agree-

you quoted the first line but left out rest of the statement

"Maybe mention it to the teacher at the open house. Touch base and make it clear to the teacher that are going on vacation with your child and then ask is you can do something to support him/her while your child misses school.

We are planning to write the principle and our boys teachers as well about 2 weeks into the school year. We're going in Oct. I believe they like a couple weeks notice just to make sure everything is covered."

2-3 weeks is what I was told to do by our teachers as well. I just wanted to make sure you understood that I didn't mean to mention it for 2 seconds on open house night and drop it.

 

[Minnie]

Just my (bound to be unpopular) 2 cents:

I'm a high school math teacher.

A student who misses a week of my class is going to be LOST for quite some time upon returning.

I can't give him work to do ahead of time. Even if it weren't against school policy for unexcused absences, he wouldn't be able to do it-- math books are notoriously hard to read from. And upon his return I can't stop the class and bring him up to speed; he's going to have to get the notes and see me for several sessions of extra help. The same will be true for each of his other 6 classes.

Sorry, folks. We're dealing with the crowds and the higher prices and taking our kids to Disney over the summer. Yes, I value family time. But I think it's possible to value family time and still send my kids a message about the value I place on their education.

Yes, you could give the work ahead of time you are chosing not too. It is quite possible that the child could easily be given assistance from a parent or older sibling to complete the work. It is a major assumption that the teacher is the only one that could assist the child.

Thankfully, I've never had an issue with my child's teachers. They've always been accomodating but giving the classwork to him on his last day before vacation and he has always completed it with no problem.

It is attitudes like this that drive me up a wall. You hit a soft spot with this comment. I highly value education as I've spent years working towards a masters and assisting other adult learners do the same. However, missing one week of school is not the end of the world.

 

[dvcbnd]

I try not to pull my kids out of school for a vacation because I know that our private school frowns upon it. (they are going into 8th, 3rd and 1st grades in Sept.) With a good part of our immediate family now living out of state and my DH working a rotating shift sometimes we have no choice. We can't always work around our children's vacations from school. It's not always about the crowds, cost or heat.
This year we are pulling them out for 1 full day and 2 1/2 days the week of Thanksgiving so that we can spend the holiday with my in-laws down in WDW!Since they have moved down south about 3yrs ago, we haven't spent one holiday together due to work, and school schedules.
As much as your child's education is important, so is FAMILY time! Life is just too short -So whether our school likes it or not, this year we're going to pull them out.

 

[Aliceacc]

Yes, you could give the work ahead of time you are chosing not too. It is quite possible that the child could easily be given assistance from a parent or older sibling to complete the work. It is a major assumption that the teacher is the only one that could assist the child.

Thankfully, I've never had an issue with my child's teachers. They've always been accomodating but giving the classwork to him on his last day before vacation and he has always completed it with no problem.

It is attitudes like this that drive me up a wall. You hit a soft spot with this comment. I highly value education as I've spent years working towards a masters and assisting other adult learners do the same. However, missing one week of school is not the end of the world.

Actually, no, I can't give the work ahead of time. I teach in a private school and it's against school policy. We are not permitted to give the work ahead of time for unexcused absences. Family vacations are defined as unexcused.

I never claimed that it was the end of the world. What I did say was a student who misses a week of school is going to be quite lost upon his return to school. Some courses, some weeks, it's really a problem. So student who misses the week when Trigonomety is introduced is in academic trouble: everything for about 3 months builds upon understanding that work. Likewise, in Precalculus, you could miss the intro to graphing polynomial functions, or the entire topic of linear programming.

Do some kids miss that work and recover? Of course. Some kids get mono or are hospitalized for one reason or another and have no choice. But it's never easy on the student. It's never something they would chose to do, as it requires lots of time after school. It doesn't matter to me personally; I'm there for extra help every day for anyone who needs it. But it does tend to matter to those kids who are conscientious and hate being behind in their work.

I'm sorry my opinions drive you up a wall.

 

[Minnie]

Actually, no, I can't give the work ahead of time. I teach in a private school and it's against school policy. We are not permitted to give the work ahead of time for unexcused absences. Family vacations are defined as unexcused.

That is really a poor position for the school to take IMO. I wonder if it is actually enforced or up to the teacher's discretion?

 

[Aliceacc]

Each summer our administration goes through our student handbook, line by line. Any rules that are deemed outdated are taken out or revised. The remainder of our policies are enforced by each member of the faculty. Rules that are left up to the discretion of the individual are, in my opinon, pointless.

I knew my opinion wouldn't be popular in a forum such as this one. And I would never dream of bringing it up had not someone asked. But I did think it was important to bring up the opposing point of view.

And it's a rule I personally happen to agree with.

Now that I've stated my opinion, I'm unsubscribing to this thread. Please don't take it personally if I don't reply to your response.

 

[srgibbs]

My DS will be going into the 1st grade at a private Christian School. He went to K-5 there last year and we took him out to go to Disney mid Sept. We had talked to the principal about the rules when we had a entrance interview. She stated they encourage family time and it would be just fine to pull him out. She also stated in Elementry school it would be easy to do that but as they get older it would be a lot harder to catch up but if we were ok with that there would be no issues. We will be taking him out of 1st grade for a week to go again this year. We will send a note to school to the teacher a few weeks beforehand to get his work. We will complete the work prior to our trip and get it back to her if she sends it home in enough time. Last year teacher sent it home in time and told us not to worry about sending it back just make sure he did it. My son is an average student and will probably never be a straight A student but we want the family memories and not the crowds. This will probably be the last year we pull him out as we don't want him to get behind but I certainly don't see the harm in it as long as you don't abuse it. Education is important but so is your family and you only get one chance to enjoy them. Kids will remember the memories you make as a family a lot more than they will remember a Math class or any other class so enjoy every minute you can with them! Not saying neglect school but keep everything in perspective.