Need advice on taking kids out of school for a WDW trip

[crisi]

We will take ours out for three days (two and a half really) and get a week by going over teachers conferences. In Minnestoa this is Mid-October - but most school calendars have sometime NOT over a major holiday where the kids are off a few days....teachers workshops, parent teacher conferences, etc. This minimizes their absence, and since a lot of parents do similar - those weeks tend to be "easy" weeks to miss.

 

[LauraAnn630]

We took out 8yr old out of school for 2 days for a long weekend to Niagara Falls. The school wanted advanced notice and they had a form the wanted filled out. We decided to go on a whim. I didnt think it would be a big deal. We were willing to get all the school work done. We made it an educational trip!

 

[Amy&Dan]

I took my kids out of school for 4 days last month to do Disneyland with my parents. My dad is 80 and my mom is 69 and has cancer so I knew we needed to do a time that wasn't too hot or crowded. My kids missed some school but they will always remember the time they got to go to Disneyland with their grandparents. I wouldn't trade it for the world. Sometimes your priorities have to be flexible. Note to to Gorshgoofy: I wish my 21 year old nephew had had a dad like you! His dad (who he only saw occasionally from age 6 to age 11) never took him anywhere; he couldn't forgive my sister for presenting him with a kid he didn't want. You sound like a really nice, caring father. Do what you want, she is your daughter too and if your ex wife and the school don't like it they can lump it! Have fun!

 

[marciemi]

Really you need to check with your district. I've read so many posts over the years here of districts that (as mentioned) give all zeroes for what's missed, districts that count all non-illness absences as unexcused, etc. I know in our district (in Michigan) the policy is VERY liberal. When my son was in 2nd grade we pulled him for 6 days for Disney. Additionally, he ended up with strep 7 times during the year. Finally, he had his tonsils out (due to the strep) which resulted in another missed week. I looked into our district's policy and it was he had to miss more than 1/3 of the year (62 days I believe), PLUS be below grade level in most subjects to be held back.

However, now that my kids are in middle school, it depends a lot on the teachers. DH is going down for business, & we decided to pull the kids for 3 days. No teachers have told me they can't make up the work, but most have said "have him check with me when he gets back". Obviously it's a lot of work to figure out what they'll be doing, get it all organized, and give it in advance. We're coming back Thursday night so my boys can go in Friday, get their work, and do it over the weekend. I let all the teachers know as soon as I found out and they all seem willing to work with me.

 

[Disneymom9598]

I went and spoke to the school nurse today letting her know that we would be going on vacation from this Friday until the following Saturday, and that essentially our two children (DS 6 and DD 9) would be out for 6 days. I spoke to both teachers at parent teacher conference in November about the trip and they said it was fine. I requested work and a run down of what would be covered in their absence, in addition to the work I have assigned for them to do (journals, math problems, etc - that I developed to keep their little brains working). I plan on having them do some on the plane and taking time out daily in the evenings to work on school work.
The nurse told me that they are considered "illegal absences" because in our state (NY) any more than 3 days absence requires a doctor's note. My kids have only missed two days tops since the year began due to illnesses (which were excused with doctor's notes) and generally do not miss much school at all at any given year, but should I be worried about this?
We have not been to Disney in 3 years (we used to go every year- since 98). My husband was diagnosed with Chron's disease - after that we all went through hell - it was a daily battle just for him to deal with the pain...and for us, we had to watch it and not be able to do a thing about it. We almost lost him when the pain became unbearable and I took him to the emergency room. Turned out there were holes in his intestines and his body was being contaminated with the contents and he had to have emergency surgery done (this was in May). If he had taken a few pain pills and gone to sleep he wouldn't have made it through the night.
Needless to say this had taken a toll on all of us. I am in graduate school and all of our schedules are hectic and I think we all need time TOGETHER....as a family. But should I be second guessing my decision here??? How bad do illegal absences look??? The nurse said for us to go and have a good time and not to worry...but I just don't know.

Thanks for all your advice and input.

 

[mel64]

Please Please Please go and have a good time. Your children are in the first and third grade????? I don't think a few days out of school will mess up their long term school life. I am taking DS6 out for 7 days his teacher said "have a good time, I wish I could go with you". Everyone has to do what is right for their families and make their own decisions. Have a magical time and don't worry.

 

[Tymouse]

Hi, I am new here but I took my children out of school last year for Disney Trip. Contacted school, got all homework and so on. After this trip I decided I would never be able to home school children.
My 3rd grader had no problems what so ever
My 5th grader on the other hand had a real hard time getting back into the swing of things and we had a rough couple of weeks when he got back getting him caught up with his work. SO I guess what I am saying is it depends on the child. Planning another trip in June the day after school gets out. Good Luck to y ou

 

[Spencer'sMom]

As a teacher and mother, I do understand the need to vacation at other times than the typical summer dates. At my school, the parent must notify the principal in writing about the absence. My principal is really very pro-family! She always approves the absence as long as the child completes important classwork that they would miss while on vacation. Schools need to be a bit more flexible and be thrilled that families still do things together.

 

[Swimnoid]

We have taken our DD out of school for Disney every year since Kindergarten. She is a SR now and has been accepted to college so our yearly Oct quests will end....sigh.

The district's attendance policy provides for 8 miseed days per semester and they count it by class. (so you might have 5 misses in one class and 7 in another depending on what you missed for..ie Dr appointments etc)

The teachers very rarely made her take work with her. Sometimes she would do a special project like a photo diary etc.

Go and have fun! We never regretted it.

 

[sha_lyn]

Really you need to check with your district. I've read so many posts over the years here of districts that (as mentioned) give all zeroes for what's missed, districts that count all non-illness absences as unexcused, etc

Here in GA it is state law that vacations are unexcused and that 5 unexcused days will lead to a report to family and children services. Teachers are also not suppose to give makeup work for unexcused days. So here in GA a week out of school for WDW would likely mean failing the school yr and an investigation by family services.

 

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

I do think school funding is tied to attendance. At least it is here. Of course we are 38th in the nation (as a state) for public education, so we are certainly not the model to follow.

Our district policy is that vacation days are unexcused. A child may have 10 unexcused absences in a school year. If you have more than 10 (and every 3 tardies = an unexcused absence) then you have to go to truancy court.

I sent a note to each of DS's teachers yesterday letting them know he will be out two days next week (Friday is a teacher workshop day so he is out that day) for Disney. I basically said I am aware they are unexcused and the teachers can do whatever they please. If they would like to provide the work I will have him complete it - if not, not!

My original plan was to fly out on Thursday and come home Monday (MLK day) so he would just miss Thursday, but the flights didn't happen that way. And really, this way is better because we get home early Sunday and he goes back to school Tuesday - nice to have some time to rest after Disney!

Any work they choose to provide can be done on Monday while he is home.

Last year he was out sick 17 days - all documented by his pediatrician. I can't imagine 2 days at Disney will do much harm. He has only been out sick one day so far this year.

 

[Gillian]

It might be helpful to talk to the teacher your DD has now to see when testing & such is done. Or just to get an informal feel for the rules (if it's the same school as next year.) Maybe you'll get some good advice from someone who knows the system!

Such a sensitive subject. And a personal one.

Have fun planning!!

 

[marciemi]

It's interesting about the funding. I believe our district's funding is done by attendance on the last Friday in September. They make a big deal out of asking you to be there that day. When I went in last year to ask about them missing some days in Sept for a cruise, all they cared about was it didn't include that day. The other thing they get paranoid about is the MEAP (state standardized test) because anyone missing counts as a failure so they usually put those dates out early. I have 2 kids taking it this year and fortunately my DH's convention down in WDW works out to be the week before instead of the week of the MEAP's.

 

[paigevz]

2nd grade.................here's my take: a week missed can be made up, BUT little brains get rusty quickly, especially during these elementary years when so many novel concepts are being introduced, and understanding can be tenuous.........so, I do like for the child to practice key concepts during that week..........many parents naturally do this with the child all the time anyway, and will continue to do so on vacation. However, if the child has special learning difficulties, has previously missed a lot, or the parent does not know how to practice skills with the child naturally (I'm talking about just talking to the child, pointing out things, making connections for them, having them help read signs.........), then that week can be awfully hard to make up and can take a very long time. In addition, there will be some things that go on during that week that the child will miss completely. If the child has interested parents who take time with him (like all DISers!), then he most likely will have or will already have had similar experiences, and this will not leave holes in his knowledge/experience base that he needs to continue learning. The biggest hurdle, I think, for younger kids is how much they miss socially during a week...............life moves on without them, basically. A week to you and me is like a month or more to them............they may lose friends, social standing, may not understand a new term or missed a shared experience that leaves them feeling sort of out of it for a bit. No big deal for most kids, they may be upset a few days, but soon get back into the group. Shy kids, though, can really be set back by missing school.

I don't say any of this to discourage anyone, but just to help you understand what to do to help your child ease back in to school. I think that parents make up their minds despite what anyone else says, and I certainly will not tell other parents what to do with their own kids as long as the kids are safe and cared for. I do think, though, that more than one planned week missed per semester is really not a good idea........and really could hurt a child's education..........if the child gets too far behind, he won't catch up in that school year and that would be a shame..............also, summer school is not a substitute for missing the year, we do that as sort of a "safety net" to try to help the child, but at that point (unless the child got behind at the very end of the year), this child has been trying to learn without all the background he needed, and so likely has not properly learned concepts he's been present for after his absences...........

Family celebrations and vacations have tremendous value to children..........take your child, just be judicious about when and how often, and support your child when she re-enters school, emotionally and as a tutor if necessary.

 

[poutytink]

I am taking DS the last week of September this year. He will be in the second grade. I figure that school has just started, how much is he really going to miss? I had to postpone this trip from this Feb. due to DBF needing triple bypass surgery (only 40 years old!). The school will just have to deal with him not being there 6 days. I'll try to get his work before, but if his teacher is a pain, we'll deal with it after. I am also going there to straighten out my mother's estate. I'll put THAT in my letter to the teacher as to why I am in FL. They are only this small once....I believe in enjoying every minute of it!!

 

[mel64]

Poutytink, I agree. I hope you have a great trip

 

[macfamily]

I would have to agree with the opinion that your child is only small once, so enjoy it while you can.

I have one child and will never have more. We are going the week of the anniversary of the death of my toddler neice to a car accident one year ago March 9th, in hopes that my DD9 will have a wonderful time and not have to relive that horrible time through our family. I know that if I was home it would be a bad bad time.

My daughter's education is valuable and I want to make sure she gets as much as she can. Her teacher is wonderful and very happy that she's able to go to WDW, as there are many many families in our area that don't have the resources to make a trip like this, or just don't care to spend that much time in the company of their children. I find that so very sad, and consider myself extremely lucky to be able to give this type of memory to my girl.

~ Rachel

 

[Pinnie]

As a teacher, I am going to echo what paigevs said. I totally agree that family time is very important but that each trip needs to be judged on it's own merit. The social issues also have to be considered.

To the poster that spoke about MI, our actual count days are the fourth WEDNESDAY of the school year. We get part of our funding then, but we also have a count day in Feb., when the remainder of the funding is given.

MEAP tests are extremely important, especially for High Schoolers, and scholarship money for the student is tied to the successful passing of those tests. There isn't a lot of wiggle room for retesting.

pinnie

 

[bdcp]

When my 21 yr old DS was in 3rd grade his teacher asked me to make sure that he was in class for their standardized math testing. The schools were ranked by scores and he was the best math student in the school (now a math major), doing at least 5th grade math then, and they wanted him to take the tests to raise the 3rd grade score. There are lots of reasons teachers and the school districts dont' want kids to miss school.

 

[jeannej]

Before my kids were in middle school, I really never thought much about pulling them out of school in either January or early Febraury to do Disney.
I just was mindful when FCATS were. Now that I have a 6th grader and an 8th grader in advanced academics programs, it is more difficult for the kids to make up the work. So, I am now trying to decided when there are other slow times at WDW that would be less intrusive to their academic schedule.

jeanne j
(wishing for the good old days )