Need to write letter explaining educational value of WDW to take kids out of school

[Goofy_Dad_24]

The worst part about the football thing is not about missing practice or the coach being mad. It is that the other players on the team are going to be pissed off that someone is missing a week of school during football season.

I can't possibly believe that your son is happy at all about this.

 

[Mickey'snewestfan]

I think the "lessons" that you want your high school aged son to take home from Disney are things such as:

1) Mom and Dad are pretty wonderful, and spending time with them is precious.
2) My identity isn't dependent on my peers, I can do things without them and be my own person.
3) Reaffirming and clarifying family values during family meals, waiting in line, etc . . .
4) Celebrating how far he's come (Varsity QB and straight A's, I'm sure you're super proud) and gathering energy for the home stretch before college applications.

I think there's immense value in all of these things, and for a strong student they way outweigh a week of school. On the other hand, as a teacher, when I read proposed letters to teachers that outline "educational lessons" such as the fact that Brits have no sense of humor, or that the child will learn things such as "the value of budgeting and money" or "how to read a map, from navigating the park", I scratch my head. Surely you can learn these things from the comfort of your own home, or for that matter from Britain. There's nothing unique about Disney that makes learning those things there more effective. In my school district, a child who attends school with perfect attendance still has more non-school days than school days, not to mention all the hours they spend out of school on school days. Given that, I think that parents who thought those skills were important could find the time to take them to a store and teach them the value of money, or to hop on a public bus and read the maps there.

For a young elementary school student, I think saying that "Spending this time together as a family is important to us, and we'll try our best to make up for the lost educational time by capitalizing on the educational opportunities that will arise there." is fine. For about 4th grade and above I think the message needs to be "We've decided that for this week, building family ties and clarifying values is going to be our priority. We realize that pulling him out of school presents challenges, and we're happy to have him do any extra assignments you give us. Sorry".

 

[Blurrysmom]

I think it's silly that people are being so critical here. Family time is precious, and as she explained, they have limited windows for travel due to commitments that (unlike high school) actually are non-negotiable, like paid employment. My parents took me out of school occasionally to travel to the Caribbean. They did it because money was tight and they couldn't afford school vacation weeks. I was a straight-A student and involved with several activities. My dad later became ill and passed away young, and those vacations are some of my most treasured memories. The only thing I missed about school was the chance to gab with my friends 24/7. These days, kids don't even have to miss out on that. Everywhere you look, family organizations are lamenting the loss of quality family time and communication, to the point of launching a celebrity PR campaign simply to encourage families to eat one dinner a week together. I applaud this mom for being so sensitive to her family's competing interests.

 

[Mouse House Mama]

I think it's silly that people are being so critical here. Family time is precious, and as she explained, they have limited windows for travel due to commitments that (unlike high school) actually are non-negotiable, like paid employment. My parents took me out of school occasionally to travel to the Caribbean. They did it because money was tight and they couldn't afford school vacation weeks. I was a straight-A student and involved with several activities. My dad later became ill and passed away young, and those vacations are some of my most treasured memories. The only thing I missed about school was the chance to gab with my friends 24/7. These days, kids don't even have to miss out on that. Everywhere you look, family organizations are lamenting the loss of quality family time and communication, to the point of launching a celebrity PR campaign simply to encourage families to eat one dinner a week together. I applaud this mom for being so sensitive to her family's competing interests.

Nobody is saying that family time isn't precious. Most of us are saying that it is just plain silly to write a note to the school telling how your high schooler is going to be educated at a theme park.

 

[Leajess99]

The worst part about the football thing is not about missing practice or the coach being mad. It is that the other players on the team are going to be pissed off that someone is missing a week of school during football season.

I can't possibly believe that your son is happy at all about this.

I agree. I know for my kids' soccer teams they get mad if someone misses a lot of practice and still gets to be a starter while they have been there every practice. My daughter is a starter and makes almost all the practices but her whole team will be on vacatiion when we go so nothing to worry about there as even the coach will be gone. My friend is a HS soccer coach and the child missing for vacation, bye week or not, would not be a starter and may not even remain on the team. That child made a commitment to his team and now gets to skip out on them because "mommy talked to the coach"?? That would not fly around here.

 

[Disneydreamer5]

Sorry we offended you, but if you didn't want info about football, then why include the fact that he was starting QB in the post?? It seemed that you were looking for input about missing football as well as school, and the best way to approach that.

I only mentioned him playing football because I was explaining that we were going during football season and during school. I was pointing out that trying to pin point a week to get away was not an easy task. Not easy at all.

My title was pretty clear that I had to write a letter to the school, not the coaching staff. At least I thought I was.

Anyway, I am glad I posted even though I was a bit put off by some of the replys I got. I guess that is what happens sometimes. No harm.

I know no one meant any offence but some sounded pretty mad that I was taking him away from football. He is fine with missing that week because he knows he isn't missing any games and he still have the next week to prepare for the next game. We have only been on 1 family vacation his entire life and our last trip that we were scheduled to take in 07 was canceled due to DH crushing his arm in a fork lift. We have had a very hard last 2 years so I am sorry that having this week with my DH & children is very important to us. As I said before, the basketball coach told me straight out, there was no way he could miss anything, practices or games. Period!
The football coach was fine with him missing some practice before a by week.
Now had he said he reallly didn't want him to miss anything then we wouldn't be going away. I would never do anything to effect my DS or my DD's playing time cause I know how much they love it and how hard they work.

Thank you to all the peps who gave me some really good ideas and pointed out the value of a family vacation. That's the stuff I was looking for.

 

[NMAmy]

One thing we learned was that the Brits had non sense of humour. He went around asking if any had seen a blue police box and none of them had a clue what he was talking about.

I guess I have no sense of humor since I have no clue what he was talking about either.

If that's what he "learned" at WDW, I think he would have been better served by watching videos of Monty Python, Peter Sellers, Eddie Izzard, or Jonathan Ross to name just a few pretty funny Brits.

To the OP--dd was lucky enough to attend two different high schools both of which allowed students to go on family vacations. I picked weeks with half days for parent/teacher conferences, etc. so she didn't miss as much. I just had to fill out a form and these were excused absences which did not jeopardize her GPA or keep her out of college. Call the school and ask them about the procedure.

I do agree that the letter is pretty silly--even for elementary students.

 

[Darcy03231]

OP - If you haven't already, you should check your school's vacation policies. Some districts are much stricter than others (I happen to live in one of the strict ones). While some districts are fine with family vacations during the school year, other districts don't allow make-up work for unexcused absences (vacations) and the child gets zeros on all missed work. That can really effect grades, which is tough when you're in high school and looking at colleges. Or, if the student has too many absences they automatically fail the class no matter what the grade is.

Hopefully, you live in one of the districts that doesn't have an issue with family vacations during the school year and you have a great trip!

 

[mjkacmom]

I think it's silly that people are being so critical here. Family time is precious, and as she explained, they have limited windows for travel due to commitments that (unlike high school) actually are non-negotiable, like paid employment. My parents took me out of school occasionally to travel to the Caribbean. They did it because money was tight and they couldn't afford school vacation weeks. I was a straight-A student and involved with several activities. My dad later became ill and passed away young, and those vacations are some of my most treasured memories. The only thing I missed about school was the chance to gab with my friends 24/7. These days, kids don't even have to miss out on that. Everywhere you look, family organizations are lamenting the loss of quality family time and communication, to the point of launching a celebrity PR campaign simply to encourage families to eat one dinner a week together. I applaud this mom for being so sensitive to her family's competing interests.

I think some of the PP have issues with taking children in HS out of school for a week. There is no way my dd13 could catch up after that long, and it would probably ruin the rest of the year for her, and since she's only in MS, it wouldn't even be on her permanant record. I can't imagine risking a low GPA for a vacation, this close to college.

 

[teacup princess]

Ok, I don't get why people are being so critical. I watched an episode of Modern Marvels on Disney the other night and I thought it was hugely educational. To me Disney is the greatest example of American vision and inginuity. I mean, some guy, Walt Disney, acutally thought of this concept for a great American Theme Park, bought swamp land that nobody else thought was buildable, found a way to build on it, came up with animatronics that were 40 years before their time, ect.. ect..., and packaged it all into this wonderful vacation spot called DisneyWorld which we all know and love today. If I were you I'd have your son watch that episode, decide what interests him most, ie: the history of Disney, Walt as a visionary, a study on animatronics, the construction of Disney, ect.; take note of examples of it while you are there, and have him write an essay to show the school when he gets back. There's a ton of different directions you could take this. See what interests your son the most. This is what I plan to do with my kids when they get older. I want them to know that great things like Disney don't just happen by accident. It all starts because someone had a great idea and the houtspa to make it happen.

 

[WDWstu]

Would your school give you a hard time about this? We are leaving next Friday for a week and pulling DD out of school for it. We just called the school yesterday and told them. They said to have a great time and just to send in a note today with her saying when we will be gone. The teacher told us she will send work home for her but that she doesn't expect her to do it all at once and she can take a week to turn it in. She goes to private school though so maybe it is different? If your school gives you a hard time about it, that is just dumb to me. Especially if you kid is a good student and doesn't miss much school otherwise.

 

[princessmom29]

Ok, I don't get why people are being so critical. I watched an episode of Modern Marvels on Disney the other night and I thought it was hugely educational. To me Disney is the greatest example of American vision and inginuity. I mean, some guy, Walt Disney, acutally thought of this concept for a great American Theme Park, bought swamp land that nobody else thought was buildable, found a way to build on it, came up with animatronics that were 40 years before their time, ect.. ect..., and packaged it all into this wonderful vacation spot called DisneyWorld which we all know and love today. If I were you I'd have your son watch that episode, decide what interests him most, ie: the history of Disney, Walt as a visionary, a study on animatronics, the construction of Disney, ect.; take note of examples of it while you are there, and have him write an essay to show the school when he gets back. There's a ton of different directions you could take this. See what interests your son the most. This is what I plan to do with my kids when they get older. I want them to know that great things like Disney don't just happen by accident. It all starts because someone had a great idea and the houtspa to make it happen.

Yes, but this is only educational if you choose to spend your time studying the principles of mechanics involved in the rides, the bisiness practices being used, the methodology bahind animitronics ect. That doesn't leave much time to actually ride rides, see shows, and enjoy the parks. Which one do you think most vacationing families are likely doing?? Most families do not make these things the focus of thier trip, and that is what would need to happen for it to be justified as educational. Yes, there are educational opportunities to be had at diseny, but what family is willing to give hours of their park time each day to experience them? Not many I would wager.

 

[princessmom29]

Would your school give you a hard time about this? We are leaving next Friday for a week and pulling DD out of school for it. We just called the school yesterday and told them. They said to have a great time and just to send in a note today with her saying when we will be gone. The teacher told us she will send work home for her but that she doesn't expect her to do it all at once and she can take a week to turn it in. She goes to private school though so maybe it is different? If your school gives you a hard time about it, that is just dumb to me. Especially if you kid is a good student and doesn't miss much school otherwise.

Yes, private and public schools are very different in their policies b/c private schools do not have to answer to the NO Child Left Behind laws. They can set their own polocies, but pubilc schools are required to meet attendance and preformance standards. The regulations get tougher every 2 years. By the end, if schools do not have 100% attendance and 100% of students making 100% on every standardized test they will be cited for it and placed in "school improvement" status. Who comes up with this stuff???
I teach in a public schools, and DD goes to a private school. Most public school teachers send their kids to private school around here, and are just waiting dfor enough years of experience to have a shot at a private school job. It is a broken system largely because of NCLB legislation, thank you Ted Kennedy!

 

[Blurrysmom]

Yes, there are educational opportunities to be had at diseny, but what family is willing to give hours of their park time each day to experience them? Not many I would wager.

Agreed. But it might be both educational and sort of cool if your son worked on a Disney project before the trip, then added a post-script when he returned. For example, perhaps he could do some research about the business model Disney is based on, and how it stresses certain aspects of customer service, employee training, product placement, marketing, etc., and then when you are there, it would add to his experience to observe in action some of the principles he's learned about. He wouldn't have to interview people or anything like that - just bring an educated perspective to his own experience. That's really what colleges and employers are looking for - the ability to analyze and apply knowledge and ideas in a concrete fashion. And maybe the whole family could help - make a game out of telling him if they just saw or heard an example of good service, for example.

 

[teacup princess]

Yes, but this is only educational if you choose to spend your time studying the principles of mechanics involved in the rides, the bisiness practices being used, the methodology bahind animitronics ect. That doesn't leave much time to actually ride rides, see shows, and enjoy the parks. Which one do you think most vacationing families are likely doing?? Most families do not make these things the focus of thier trip, and that is what would need to happen for it to be justified as educational. Yes, there are educational opportunities to be had at diseny, but what family is willing to give hours of their park time each day to experience them? Not many I would wager.

__________________

Uh, duh, nobody's going to spend their whole vacation researching. That wasn't what I was suggesting. Learn a bit about a topic before you go, keep out a keen eye of observation while you're there, and then write a report about it when you get back. Observation is a very important part of learning.
The OP wasn't asking for a debate about whether her chosen vacation week is a good time or if you think a WDW vacation is educational or not. She admitted THIS IS A VACATION where her kids will be learning different things and she wanted examples of educational ideas.

 

[princessmom29]

__________________

Uh, duh, nobody's going to spend their whole vacation researching. That wasn't what I was suggesting. Learn a bit about a topic before you go, keep out a keen eye of observation while you're there, and then write a report about it when you get back. Observation is a very important part of learning.
The OP wasn't asking for a debate about whether her chosen vacation week is a good time or if you think a WDW vacation is educational or not. She admitted THIS IS A VACATION where her kids will be learning different things and she wanted examples of educational ideas.

No need for sarcasm. IF you are going to justify pulling your kids from school by saying the a trip is "educational" then it's primary purpose should be education, not entertainment. I have no problem with pulling kids for a trip, but it bothers me when parents try to pass off a vacation as "educational" when the intent of the trip is clearly recreation. Just tell me you are going on vacation, don't give me some trumped up justification for it, because we all know that trying to pass a Disney vacation of as an educational experience for a high school student is a crock. That is what the OP wanted. A justification as to why this should be considerd an educational trip, and there is just no basis for that. I mean come on, it is at rip to a THEME PARK. It is not and never was meant to be an educational experience. That would be a trip to the Smithsonian, or to the D-day beaches where the primary purpose is to learn about the historical significance of them.

 

[Cinderellabride]

Wow! Another reason I'm glad I'll be homeschooling my boys.

The funny thing about that is I have already started thinking about all the educational things we can tie in when we go to WDW. But I tend to think about all the educational opportunities that are everywhere. It is possible if you are intentional about it. (I'll just note that if we do educational things at Disney when they are in the older grades there will be designated times for those things while we are there).

As for the letter to the school, I'm wondering what the purpose of it is? Honestly, until recently on this board I have never heard of writing such a letter. Different schools have different policies, but if your school policy is that vacations are unexcused then writing a letter explaining the educational value won't make them excused. I also don't think it will make teachers or administration see the vacation any differently, and it may annoy them (speaking as a former student teacher, the teacher's I worked with would probably be annoyed by such a letter). I just think it would be a waste of your time to worry about writing it because I don't think it would change anything.

Unless, your school gives excused absences for vacations if a certain amount of time is shown to be educational. If that's the case you would need to make sure you do the things you are saying. And if that is the case PM me and I'll give you some ideas.

Good luck, and I am sorry people here are being so judgemental. Seriously folks, don't assume things. I'm sure that she knows the rules where she lives, and she knows her kids and what is best for her family. And oh yeah, guess what? Football is not the be all end all of life. And as for loosing credit, again I'm sure she knows the rules where she is from. Where I am from we got 10 unexcused absences a year (or a semester I forget), and we could make up the work. And for a straight A+ student making up a missed weeks worth of work is not going to kill him. Shoot I missed a month my senior year because I had heart surgery (yes I know it's different, my point is not the reason for being out it's the ability to make up work) and I made up the work, and I didn't even care about it.

She knows her family and her situation. Give her a break.

 

[DVCajun]

Good grief.

Some people love nothing more than to get up on their soap boxes.

Congrats. You're officially "self-righteous."

Here's your certificate.

Now.

Get a life.

 

[Cinderellabride]

Good grief.

Some people love nothing more than to get up on their soap boxes.

Congrats. You're officially "self-righteous."

Here's your certificate.

Now.

Get a life.

To whom are you referring? It looks like you are refering to me because you posted it right under mine and didn't quote anyone else, but I don't see how I was being "self-righteous" by sticking up for the OP? So I'm thinking maybe you were referring to all the people giving her a hard time?

 

[Sorsha]

I always pull my kids out of school for vacations. I always TRY to work vacations around long weekends and such, but they almost always end up missing a few days. Luckily my school system is very reasonable about this, and as long as the kids don't miss an exorbitant amount of days, they are fine with it.

The school system is there to serve me, I am not here to serve the needs of the school system. They are MY kids and *I* will make decisions for them based on what works best for everyone in our family. I do take my childrens' educations into account when I am making plans, but school schedules (and NCLB garbage regulations) will not be the end-all to my plans.

Flame away if you so desire, because I have been a mom for a long time, and my kids are smart and well-educated, AND we have a healthy family life, so I don't see any need to change how I do things.

Now, that said, I have always used this letter for letting schools know we will be gone. Everyone at the schools usually get a huge kick out of it and pass it around.