Longest you've taken your child out of middle school/jr. high?

[Disney01]

First off, this is not a debate. I know some people don't believe in this and wouldn't do it. I'm not concerned with that. I think it's a parenting decision and to each his own. However, we are considering it when our son will be in 8th grade. We'd love to go for two weeks, which would be about 10 days of school. I'm just curious how that worked out for other people.

 

[belle_of_the_ball]

ha my parents took me out for two weeks out of 8th grade this year, but you have to think of what kind of student your son is. If he can make up work and will not be far behind when you come back then yes. i would suggest notifying the teachers far in advance then having your son stay after to learn the material. In fact this may help him get to the front of the class if he is not already. if your son cant make up the work have him get after school help with teachers and if he still doesnt get it save the trip till summer vacation...HAVE FUN!

 

[bopper]

I don't think I would take them out for more than a week. Can you combine it with summer vacation or another vacation?

 

[Disney01]

Like I said, I'm not looking for a debate. Just wondering if anyone has ever done it. If I was going to go during the summer, than I wouldn't need to take them out at all.

 

[stahshee]

I do not know what state you are in .I live NY and taking a child out of school other than sickness Dr appt or funeral is an un excused absense. I was told by my daughters principal that more than 2 unexcused abese was iligal and social services will be called.

 

[Beauty]

We are taking our 13 year old out of 8th grade for Friday and the following week for a total of 6 days in September. We have always taken J.C. out of school for at least a week every year. He has never had any problems making up all his work.

 

[iamsorcerermickey]

We've pulled our kids out for 2 weeks (actually 9 days) they had a day off for something.

Our high school daughter chose to only do 1 week (actually 3 days) she had 2 days off for something during the time period.

None of them had any problem "catching up" with their work.

 

[dzneelvr]

It isn't so much the days off as the impact to course grades. Be sure and read all the fine print about "excused" and "unexcused" absences.
We were taking our DD and DS out of school in January (they were missing a good week of school even though we were combining vacation with a school holiday) until the policy changed and they would've been charged zeros for any work even if they had it done and brought it back after the trip. Well, that took care of that--too high a penalty to pay. We changed to summer and really do love that as well.

 

[bethbuchall]

I took my ds out of 7th grade last year for 8 school days (May 2004). He had a lot of work to make up, and he is an excellent student. We are glad that we did it, but by the same token, we decided that was the last time we would pull him and dd (now in 6th grade) out of school.

We live in NYs, and weren't told that social services would be called for the unexcused absences. That may depend on the school system. As much as I heard from others that it is very difficult to take your child out of school, we had no problem with teachers or administration. I can't say that the teachers were happy about it, but we had no complaints.

Beth

 

[gharrer]

We took DS out of school for 1 week in 7th grade. It was really hard for him to catch up. I also think it may depend on when in the semester it will be. I never considered 2 weeks so I don't know about that.

 

[Disney01]

It may be in November. Thanks for the input from those who have done it. I'm not sure, because of my own schedule. Just thinking of alternatives. I hate the heat and crowds, and we've always enjoyed a year-round school schedule.

 

[blessedby3]

We took DD out when she was in 7th grade (and DS was in 2nd) for 8 days. This worked out well for us because they had a revival group come in the first week (where they missed the 3 days- they attend a private Christian School) and the next week they missed all 5 days, but the school was doing Stanford Testing and so they didnt miss too much regular work. I didnt mind them missing testing because they are both straight A students. The school didnt mind either. It was our decision and a great one. We had a blast with all the family time and they did all their make up work before we left so when we came back we didnt have to worry about that. I would say if your child is doing fine in school and can keep up with the work that will be missed - go for it and take him out and enjoy the time together in the off season. We will be doing it again this November with our DD 10th grade, DS 5th grade and DD 1st grade. :thewave:

 

[shakespeare]

My son missed 2 weeks this past year because he was hospitalized. He made up his work but he missed out on things he couldn't make up, for example: disecting a frog, field day, and other reviews and discussions the teacher had that wasn't in a packet to take home.

 

[scrapperjill]

We took both of our girls (6th and 1st grade) for a week this past Sept. I have to say it was hard on my 6th grader...but mainly because of the time...she just started school ...only had three days in middle school under her belt before we headed out. But after a slow start when we got back she was right on track.

We plan on taking both girls (now in 7th and 2nd) out of school for 8 days this October.

 

[Third times a charm]

We took our DD (6th Grade, first year of Middle school) out for a full week in February. I sent in notes two weeks before the trip to tell all her different teachers she would be out and would they please prepare work for her. The week before we left there was an open house at the school, so I got to see her teachers face to face and ask nicely if they could prepare work for her. While all the teachers were very nice and told us to have a wonderful time, she only got advance work from one teacher and had tons of work to make up when she returned to school. She did fine and I wouldn't hesitate to do it again because she is a good student.

 

[eeyoresmountainpals]

We took our three boys, DS 9th grade (Special Ed), DS 7th grade, DS 5th grade, out of school for 8 days last October for a Disney trip. It was considered an excused absence because it would include learning opportunites (Epcot!). None of the boys had a problem with making up work and all of the teachers work great with us. We're planning to do the same thing again next October.

Good luck with your decision!!

 

[Az Pirates]

We took our kids out for 9.5 days to do the Disney repositioning cruise through the Panama Canal.
Grades K, 3, 8, 11

Our state also has pretty strict rules about excused/unexcused absences. Technically we could have been cited by the truant officer and issued an order to appear before a judge... with the possibility of fines/community service.

Timing was key for us. We pulled them out at the end of the year.
Not many truant officers sticking around on their own time to track folks down over the summer.


We started talking with teachers/administrators in January preparing for our May trip.
I think communication and advance notice is really important. It DID take lots of coordinating before hand.

Most teachers allowed early finals for HS DD. Her report card does show a couple of incompletes; she had to take those finals after we got home, so no grades for those courses until teachers come back in the fall.

Most of the middle school teachers were very supportive!
DD did have one teacher who was a bit difficult to work with...
(she ended up with her first B - oh the horror!)



Elementary kiddo's - not an issue for teachers AT ALL.

The kids missed end of year fun stuff, baseball games, birthday parties and had to do independant work and deal with the testing issues etc. DD missed eighth grade graduation.

I asked when we got home if it was worth it - got a resounding YES from all of them! It was an AMAZING trip and we have great family memories to last a lifetme!


Oops... edited to fix my spelling error - if you catch any others just ignore them ok?

 

[newholidayx2]

Middle schooler 5days
This Aug DS13 and I are going to WDW for 14nights. We would never do that during the school yr. He's an honor roll student.

 

[Holly]

My oldest son has missed two weeks of the last two school years (5th and 6th grade), to travel abroad.
I informed his school that he would be missing the time, and on both occasions he was not required to make up work. My son is a excellent student and did not suffer from missing the time.

 

[debloco]

Longest in middle school was 4 days in 6th grade. I agree it's the parents decision. But I will say that after that first experience, we didn't do anything more than one day or leaving early on the last day before a break even though DD is an honor student. DD is now going to be a Junior in HS.