I say YAY, however I believe the school district where we live will be saying NAY very soon, and that NAY may even come with a monetary charge to a parent whose child misses more than the allotted days of school. This was something that I read in a local newspaper a few weeks ago in order to try to alleviate unexcused absences. Needless to say, I was beside myself as I read it since I have also booked a vacation for Dec., and DD6 (then 7) will be missing 5 days of 2nd grade.
Last year, when DD was in K, we took her out for 9 days for a vacation - this was in March and I felt a little bad as where I am from, the children have a week off in Feb., and another in April. I really didn't have too much of a choice as I also go to college, and that was Spring break for me (I also missed 3 days and spoke to my professors prior to going). As far as a Summer vacation, sure the children were off for 2 months, however I took summer courses as well, so basically no summer for me. Anyhow, I notified the school and DD's teacher several weeks in advance, and wrote a note as well. I was told that the note would be forwarded to the office, so the powers-that-be would know why my daughter was absent on such days. Imagine my surprise when we arrived at Disney after being on a cruise ship for 5 days (with no cell phone service while on the ship), and called home to check messages - the secretary in the office had called my home every day for 5 days and basically told me off for not calling to notify the school that DD was going to be absent! The calls progressively got cockier and cockier - I had a good laugh since this woman (who has since been "relocated"), was a complete nut case and obviously clueless. I called the morning that I heard the messages and gave her an earful!
Anyhow, where DD goes to school, the day is very full (8 to 3:15, M thru F), and not only did the curriculum contain the alphabet and colors, etc., but also she began a foreign language, swimming lessons, phys. ed 3 times a week, art and music classes. Did she miss a lot during those 9 days ???? Maybe yes, probably not as she is a great student and finished the school year with high praise from her teacher and good grades. This year she was in 1st grade, and followed the same curriculum as last year, with the addition of homework (2 to 3 pages each night except week-ends)..and I was shocked to see the beginnings of fractions in her later math homework! Times sure have changed since I was in 1st grade.
Well, I still intend on taking her (and DS4 who will be in Pre-K, however it is a private (ie. paid for) school, and they have no issues with it), out for the 5 days come December, and hope for the best. Both DH and I strongly believe in education, and our children do not miss a day for being "too tired", or if snow flakes are falling and school has not been cancelled - they are there. I met a few moms during DD's first year of school who admitted to me that their child didn't go to school "yesterday" because the parent was "too tired" to get up in the a.m. to drive the child to school (no bus service here), or it was "too cold out" (school is indoors), or their child was crying and simply stated that they did not want to go to school that day, so they kept them home (???). Too me, those are unexcused absences that should initiate a reprimand - not taking a child out for a family vacation whereby notice was given. Of course for "excuses" like that, a parent could just call and say their child was "sick", and try to get away with it. At DD's school, the only way to turn an unexcused "sick" absence into a excused one is to provide a doctor's note.
Another mom whose DD goes to school with my DD showed me a letter that she received by the school (not the school district) that basically informed her that they have the discression of charging her $10 a day for every day that her DD had an unexcused absence due to a vacation! I was floored since it is a Charter school and parents have to sign a contract and agree to volunteer "X" amount of hours per year per child , and "donate" supplies to the classrooms and supply their children with everything that is needed (pencils, crayons, books, etc). I have no problem at all donating supplies all year long, however if the school planned on charging me $10 a day for my DD's missing days, that would have been $90 less supplies I would have been "donating", that's for sure. I did not receive that letter, and do not know why the other mom did and I did not.
Either way, I still intend on taking this Dec. vacation, and will notify the school 1 month in advance. I do not expect her teacher to put together a packet of work for her as it is not the responsibility of the teacher to go out of her way just because we have deceided to take a vacation while school is in session. It would be nice, however if it is not offered or frowned upon, I will make up my own worksheets for her and include whatever lessons she is learning, and put aside some time to work with her every day. When we return from our trip, she will have 2 days of school and then Christmas vacation will start, which is a week off. I figure we can make up work then if she is given some. I do not know if "zero's" are given if assignments are missed during a family vacation, but I sure hope not as it is not DD's fault and she should not be penalized with something that could drop her GPA like that. And yes, in first grade, etc., the grades on report cards are based on the A thru F scale - I was again shocked since when I was in elementary school, it was "E" for excellent, "S" - satisfactory, "I" - improvement needed, etc. Boy, times sure have changed......
I truly believe that this will be our last family vacation during the school year - the stress and now the possibility of being "fined" for a child missing days is not worth it to me.
Good luck with your decision.
.
