Letter to School About Absence...HELP!

[Kevenswife2]

My DD6 started kindergarten yesterday. We have a family vacation planned Thanksgiving through Dec. 4. She'll miss a total of 4 days of school.

Student handbook says they develop the year to provide appropriate vacation time for students. Well, they don't provide any during Value Season at Disney!

I need help with the letter I must write to her principal. It must prove the vacation couldn't be taken at any other time (humm...I'm cheap and want to save money...is that a good reason?). Also, she must present a full written report on the trip with the emphasis on the 'educational aspect'. Do they really do that for someone in kindergarten?

I'm beginning to think it might be easier to just say she was sick.

Any ideas for my letter would be appreciated!

 

[Mom2Ashli]

Here is a web site that has a draft of a School Excuse letter already done for you. Just fill in the blanks.

http://www.themouseforless.com/SchoolExcuse/SE1.shtml

Also this site has some activities that your child can do and turn in as homework type materials.

Hope this helps and good luck.

 

[momxx5]

While I know that school policies vary regarding excused absences, that seems a bit harsh for kindergarteners. I would think that is a county wide policy - maybe meant for older children.

I don't think pretending that she is sick would work. I know my chatterbox 5yr old would have a lot of fun things to tell her teachers and friends when she returned for WDW.

You may want to schedule an appt with her teacher to discuss her absencse in advance. Maybe stating that this is the only time you or your DH is able to travel and you are really looking forward to this family trip. Maybe stating that you are doing it this year as not to conflict with taking her out once she is in the higher grades. Also maybe a conference with the principal might help.

I know opinions on this matter vary, but I wouldn't worry too much about pulling her out of kindergarten for a few day. Just make sure it doesn't conflict with any statewide testing periods.

Good luck.

 

[don8life]

When my kids were little I said I would only let them miss school for Disney up until 2 nd grade. LOL! When my 3rd child almost died, prioriites changed and school was not on my top list of priorities. I explained to their teachers that I feel it is important to spend some quality time with family. The list of benefits from a family vacation far outway 4 missed days of school. How could anyone argue with that? Living with a chronically ill child I learned FAMILY is what is important. I wondered too If they should just say they were sick but I didn't want to teach them it was ok to lie.(Especailly since I know they would let it slip)
Now my son is going in to 6th grade and daughter 3rd and if their teachers don't like it, too bad.

Good Luck and don't feel bad!
Irene

Oh mom2ashli that letter is awesome!

 

[Kevenswife2]

Thanks for the advice. I was stressing over my letter, but the sample one will work great as a reference.

I too, feel family time is very important. School is also very important and I pride myself on the fact my other children have had perfect, or very near perfect, attendance during their school years. I'm getting older and perfect attendance just doesn't seem quite as important now as time spent having fun as a family.

DH always tells me, "People can take away all my worldly things, BUT they can't take away my memories". That's what we want to create at Disney, memories.

 

[janskin]

My daughter just started high school. If you have more than 3 absences she isn't excempt from her six week tests. I spoke with a school official this summer about her missing 4 days at Thanksgiving also. They also said to "prove" we couldn't take the same vacation in the summer.
I went to my doctor ( I have Multiple Sclerosis) and he wrote me a letter saying the summers in Florida are too hot.....I can not get overheated. Therefore I needed to vacation in the cooler months.

I guess we will see if that works. Of course, I live in South Texas and it is just as hot here........LOL

Jan

 

[8 Ears]

Wahoo! Just what I was looking for!

Now, I do I tell the super of my school why I need a week off the week before Christmas Vacation? Have never done it before and frankly am rather nervous aobut it......

 

[Kevenswife2]

Do you think if I told the principal we couldn't afford this vacation in the summer, he'd be okay with that? Or that we like the Christmas decorations and party, would that work? Or tell him about the wonderful e-mail I got from Disney offering an onsite resort for only $49 a night...would that help him understand?

Maybe...the snow on Main Street, taping of the Christmas Parade, cooler weather, my birthday, holiday shows, etc. all might help him understand THIS is the RIGHT time of year for us.




:thewave:

 

[lovesdumbo]

Here's and other great list of educational things to do at Disney.

Educational Experiences

 

[HappyLawyer]

OK I KNOW IT IS BAD BUT I SAY WE ARE GOING OUT OF TOWN FOR A FUNERAL THE FUNERAL IS IN FLORIDA THAT WAY IF MY DTR TALKS WHICH SHE WILL I CAN SAY WE JUST DID DISNEY SINCE WE WERE THERE
I KNOW I NEED A TIME OUT

 

[POOH&PIGLET]

Originally posted by Kevenswife2
I need help with the letter I must write to her principal. It must prove the vacation couldn't be taken at any other time.

What happens if you don't write the letter?
What happens if they don't "approve" of your reasons?

This seems ridiculous, especially for kindergarten.

 

[mommyofchloe]

I would talk to your daughters teacher first. Ask for all work that will be missed. In kindergarten they learn shapes, colors, letters, sounds, etc. So find out the letter of the week. While you are at DIS make a list of words that start with that letter. It shouldnt be that hard. Tell the teacher you would like all her work for those days and then have your daughter do the work and turn it in early. In some states kindergarten isnt even required by law so I dont see it being that big of an issue. I'm a future teacher.

MARIAH

 

[carol9999]

i'm taking my 5th grader, 4th grader, and kindergartener out of school for 8 days in mid october and i couldn't care less what the school thinks or says about it!! Of course, i will talk to all teachers way ahead of time to get work early and know exactly what they will be missing and assure them that i will go over the material and have all work made up..... have a good time on all your vacations...this is the ONLY vacation i have taken with the kids beyond little weekend excusions and will probably be the only one for many years to come.....

 

[SILSURF28]

Not sure about Ohio, but in IL Kindergarten is NOT a required grade to complete. So basically tell them when you are going and where and so her the educational aspects of it.
My grandfather used to take me out of school a few times a year, unplanned for the day, and we'd go see the museums or a baseball game, have a good lunch, go to the art institute, etc...,
Always learned something that they I didn't learn in school. take her to gatorland and she can learn 'bout gators
Garrett

 

[homeschooler]

First, in some states, Ohio is one, Kindergarten is not required. But if you don't want to get pushy, stop in at the Hall of Presidents or American Adventure in Epcot and buy a copy of the Constitution. It has the signatures, etc. I am sure you have seen them. Looks like parchment. Let her take that for show and tell or let her dictate to you her two sentence report and SNAP, your done.

 

[eaglesfan]

My DS will be going into 1st grade. I found out that he got a very structured, "old school" teacher. He will miss 3 days of school in November and I am already dreading informing his teacher about this. I do like that form letter and it has some really good points. I might have to go that way. I hope to get on the teacher's good side before I tell her about the trip!!!

I certainly don't think the absenteeism policy should be so strict for kindergarteners.

 

[homeschooler]

Oops, I just saw that someone said that Kindergarten may not be required.

I just had another idea. Since it is the beginning of the year and they are probably just working on shapes, number or letter identification, you could get a couple of post cards or photos of the child with store fronts (rectangles, squares/or the letter 'E' in the title if that is the letter of the week), etc.

If you are on good terms with the teacher by then, ask her for suggestions. Ask her what will be coming up and if there is anything that she might like you to look for. For instance, if they are going to be planting things, maybe a plant from Disney would tickle the kids. (If they still have the plumeria, my kids just loved that I was planting sticks)

OK I am leaving now

 

[kerry34]

When my DD11 was in Kindergarten, we went to Disney in October. It was the only time I could take the time off of work. Not everyone can take vacations during the specified time allowed by a school system. My daughter's teacher was very gracious about this, and also agreed that sometimes going away with your family is just as educational as school, especially when they are small like that. The teacher made a journal for my daughter to draw pictures in and then bring into school for show and tell.

The school's policy for a Kindergartener seems a little out there to me. All I would say that it was the only practical time that you could go. I don't feel as though you should have to explain yourself any further than that. It certainly wouldn't be as if you were lying because it is more financially practical for you to go then.

Don't worry about the school. Go to Disney and make some wonderful memories with your little girl. They will last a lifetime.


Enjoy!!

 

[mjbaby]

Wait just a second...is this a public school? If so, then they have absolutely no business asking for this, as long as the student is within the mandatory attendance rules (and allowing for the - apparently incorrect - assumption that kindergarten is mandatory in the first place!). This seems to me to be more of the No Child Left Behind Monitor-and-Test-Test-Test-'Em-Till-They-Drop madness. What the H-E-double-hockey-sticks do you have to prove? You're his parent and can/should decide what's in your child's best educational interest.

Anyway, there are always things you can do to make a trip like this educational. Scratch that - travel is *always* educational! The thread has lots of great ideas. For my son last year (and we'll probably do it again on our next trip in Sept.) I bought a small binder and every day we did a page with the date, the weather, what we did that day, his favorite activity of the day, who we saw, and so on. On the facing page we put pictures for that day - including numbering the pictures to correspond with the narrative. He then decorated each page with stickers and color coordinated pencils.

Granted, he was only newly three but let's see..we covered the date, weather, story telling, numbering, art, money (he "paid" for the picture development), science (watching the pictures be developed), and so on. Probably more than he would have received in a school environment.

Then again, I'm leaning toward structured homeschooling, so my biases are clear.

 

[ladydancer]

I am taking my dgd12 7th grade and dgs9 4th grade out of school for 3 days in Oct. We'll be @ WDW total of 4 days, Wed-Sat.

I don't really care what the school thinks. I'm taking them to WDW!