On student absence..a teacher's POV

[carlennaro]

Your children are young only once, and the opportunity to spend some quality time with them is more important than anything else in the world. I am an elementary teacher (please don't check my grammar and spelling) and am absolutely thrilled when a student leaves for an exciting family trip where more lessons will be learned than even realized.

Your teachers should be creative with assignments. I can't think of a curriculum unit that couldn't be tapped into during a high seas voyage. Some examples I have used that you might suggest to your children' teachers:

1. A journal with photos and descriptions of activities. (Langugae Arts)

2. Read a biography of WD while on board and report to class (History & Lit.)

3. Keep an expense account. (Math)

4. Learn facts about the ships's size and weight, etc.. (Math & Science)

5. Interviewing crew members to find out about jobs and careers.

6. Bring along a world map and find out where different cast and crew are from.

The list goes on and on.

Personally, I tell the parents GO...Have a Good time! We will all be here when you get back. If they insist on work to be done, then I give one of the assignments above.

It is all about loving your children and spending your time together wisely. Nothing else matters. In today's world, there should be no debate. Happy Vacations to you all!

 

[jfis1020]

I couldn't agree with you more. My former principal disagreed with this philosophy. He was always saying that the parents should arrange around school. Unfortunately not all jobs follow school calendars. Most "seminars" or "conventions" do warm places in the winter!

I always told parents back when he was in charge that I fully supported their choice to go, just don't tell the boss I said it! Also, make sure you bring the teacher a souvenier
Just kidding!

 

[The LK 4]

This is the first time we have taken our children out of school for a vacation. We are going in January for several reasons - to save money, less crowded, my work load is heavier during the summer months, etc. I tried to time it around days they already have off. We are staying for 6 nights, but they are only missing 3 1/2 days of school. I was expecting a lot of resistance at the school, but everyone has been great. DD is in 2nd grade and her teacher gave her a journal to work on during the trip. DS is in 4th grade and his teacher is going to give him a few things to work on, but not much. I told them about the passports we can get stamped at Epcot, and they are excited about that and taking it back to school to show everyone.

 

[carlennaro]

Glad to hear that you are being met with enthusiasm. A great family memory lasts forever. Like I said, more is learned on these trip than we realize, perhaps most important being the value of family.

 

[hapandpam]

I'm so glad to see there are other elementary teachers who feel the way I do. I hear so many people complain when a student misses a few days of school, yet I aways feel they learn so much when they travel. I rarely send any work when one of my students goes on vacation, and I'm usually able to catch them up in a few days. Wish high school was so easy....No more off season trips for us until the girls graduate! Pam

 

[4crusinransiers]

Its great to hear a teachers positive point of view on family time.
I have gotton nothing but positive feedback on taking ours out of school but only because my school understands my situation,
I work 55 to 70 hours a week year round and extra long hours on weekends. I NEVER get WEEKENDS OFF so my time with my children is very much appriciated.

 

[floridaminnie]

I am a 6th grade middle school teacher. I usually tell my students to go enjoy themselves. (I had one student who was gone a whole month to South Africa). Usually they are A students to begin with. I did have one student who didn't complete work while he was in school and the parents took this student out of class twice every nine weeks for an extensive amount of time. I started giving this student work, because it was a little bit too much. But usually I tell them to go have a good time and wish that I was going with them!

 

[Cruise]

My sister is an 8th grade geography teacher and she's taking her kids... all 126 of them... out of school for 3 days. The entire 8th grade. This is the second time she's planned this trip and I was fortunate (crazy?) enough to go along the first time as a chaperone.

And where do they go? Disney World, of course

Disney has a program called Y.E.S. (Youth Education Series) that works with teachers to provide educational programs at the parks.

The kids who can't afford it are able to fund-raise, and if that isn't enough, then they're sponsored by donations from the teachers and other kids' parents.

The real experience is in knowing that this is the first... and in some cases, the last... big trip that some of these kids will ever go on. Some have never been out of our little town and probably never will again. How can you teach that in a classroom?

Julie

 

[TeamMom011]

I love these boards!! I'm going to e-mail carlennaro's list of possibilities to the my ds's 3 teachers to see if they can incorporate some of the ideas into what they'll want him to do while he's gone. Much more interesting than a sheet of math problems.

And I probably would have thought about it somewhere along the line but jfis1020's "just kidding" to bring back a souvenir is something I would have been mortified if I'd forgotten. His teachers are very supportive of us taking him out of school which makes the decision stress-free, so the least I can do is bring them back something.

Thanks again my DIS friends

 

[rae519]

Thank you so much Educators for posting this information and your advise!

Certainly a more productive and educational environment when both parents and teachers have to work together to benefit the students!

I homeschooled our oldest son during high school - it was hard but rewarding and "vacations" always had underlying educational purpose. By the way, he's at IUPUI and a Dean's List student (bragging mama here!)
I did try to do this with our youngest son but after 18 months (first grade level), I put him back in school. He loves school and works best with a teacher.

Thank you to all Educators for their hard work and dedication but especially for their understanding about vacations during the school year!

Rae

 

[musicgirl]

One of the earlier posts mentioned a principal who wanted the parents to schedule vacations around the school calendar. He obviously has never tried to take a family or any kind of vacation during breaks! Can you imagine if everyone had to go on a vacation at the same time? It's crowed enough at most places as it is!!!! I'm a teacher and would love to be able to go during the school year for just once so that my family could experience the "lighter" crowds. Not to mention maybe getting an upgrade on the ship. From what I gather, the ships are generally full at the traditional vacation times-hence the higher rates!

Go, be with your families and enjoy each others company. The kids grow up way too fast.

 

[snelsonbrown]

This meeting place of hearts never ceases to amaze me in all fashions - I know that our children stand a chance in this world for so many care not only about the children but the importance of building memories for their future - the amazing thing is the knowledge that so many come back with - I not only appreciate the Teachers but honor them as well - it is a tough job, but it is being done with a heart - My congratulations goes out to all of those that have posted here with such awesome ideas and imput.
Someday it will come back to comfort you - I know this first hand.
With love always
Shirley

 

[tchrmom]

As a teacher myself....I have to agree! There is more to an education than what is written in a book or on a worksheet! I can't wait to take our family vacation in OCTOBER! Not only am I taking my kids out of school.....I'm taking myself out as well, with my principal's blessing.

 

[Rock'n Robin]

I am a teacher also, but can I add a caveat here? I know people have to vacation during the school year, but there are times you should absolutely NOT go--for example, Ohio schools have state mandated tests the first week of March this year. Standardized tests are extremely hard to make up. If you have a child in high school, please do not schedule a vacation during semester or final exams--or the week before, as he or she will miss all study and review.
Robin M.

 

[MiaSRN62]

What a refreshing point of view---thank you. I can't tell you how many times I've seen such heated debates on this topic on various boards.
Not only do I agree with you in regards to family time and the educational value of a vacation, but for us, going in off-season is often the only time we can swing it. I'm an RN and have an extremely difficult time scheduling vacations during the summer. The scramble from all the staff to get a week off is extremely stressful. I've seen nurses turned down even when all airfare and hotel has been paid for. One nurse was turned down for a 2 week trip to Hawaii and another for a family reunion to Korea. Her husband and kids had to go without her. I've worked at the same employer for 11 years and only on 3 occassions was I granted any time off during the summer. Also, to add, we often bring my mil with us to WDW (and more recently on the Wonder cruise). She just cannot handle the heat in FL during the summer months.
We have often done projects and reports on what the kids experienced while on vacation. Epcot and Sea World in particular were more than eager to supply us with educational info about their parks when we requested it. We've also made scrapbooks and the kids have presented them to the class. Thanks again for your comments

 

[MiaSRN62]

What a refreshing point of view---thank you. I can't tell you how many times I've seen such heated debates on this topic on various boards.
Not only do I agree with you in regards to family time and the educational value of a vacation, but for us, going in off-season is often the only time we can swing it. I'm an RN and have an extremely difficult time scheduling vacations during the summer. The scramble from all the staff to get a week off is extremely stressful. I've seen nurses turned down even when all airfare and hotel has been paid for. One nurse was turned down for a 2 week trip to Hawaii and another for a family reunion to Korea. Her husband and kids had to go without her. I've worked at the same employer for 11 years and only on 3 occassions was I granted any time off during the summer. Also, to add, we often bring my mil with us to WDW (and more recently on the Wonder cruise). She just cannot handle the heat in FL during the summer months.

We have often done projects and reports on what the kids experienced while on vacation. Epcot and Sea World in particular were more than eager to supply us with educational info about their parks when we requested it. We've also made scrapbooks and the kids have presented them to the class.

but there are times you should absolutely NOT go--for example, Ohio schools have state mandated tests the first week of March this year.

You are right in that this can pose a problem, but, I wish our school district would give us more notice as to when these state tests are taking place. We usually schedule our vacation a year in advance. It can be tough sometimes. This year, we scheduled the Wonder cruise during a week where the schools were closed for 2 days (1 day for election day and another was a teacher inservice). I honestly had only known about the Election Day because we booked the cruise in January (for November) and we don't receive the school calendar until the last week in August---we just got lucky with that inservice day ! lol

 

[rae519]

Right now I am waiting for our school district to make the 2003-2004 calendar up so I can plan ahead for vacations (if possible). Sure would be nice to have something other than "we always start the third week in August and end the last week of May".

; )

Rae

 

[goin2dzny]

We have a group of 15 going on the Feb. 1st cruise together. This consists of three families... including five (5) High School Students (1 - 12th, 2 - 11th, 1- 10th and 1-9th), Two Middle School students and Two Elementary.

When I faxed the notice to the High School Principal yesterday requesting that she approve the five days that my two (2) children would miss... she called me. She said... "There is one condition to getting approval for vacation... that you take the principal with you". Boy was I relieved... so I thought this was the time to warn her that she would be receiving a letter from two other families for three more students that will be going too. She asked who that was... and where we were going.

Our school system has strict regulations concerning absences. Absolutely every absence must be approved. Only five may be done by the signature of a parent... and guess what... we just used all of those for our trip.

The biggest obstacle for our high school children is the make-up work. We are leaving after their first four days into a new semester. We purposely waited for finals to be completed. Our semesters are made up of four (4) classes so over a week's time each child will miss nearly eight (8) hours of instruction time for each class. Except one student who is enrolled in a vocational tech class in which he will miss over 20 hours of that class in one weeks time. Unfortunately, that's our kid... and he does not historically do well in school. (please send some pixie dust his way!) Now, it is up to each teacher to provide the work that a student has missed... and in the past we have had a problem with at least one teacher. And the grades suffered immensely. However, due to the fact that our child does not apply himself very wisely... we really didn't have a defense.

It really does make the trip more enjoyable when your children are not fretting about all that they are missing in school.

I hope we will receive at minimum, the cooperation of all teachers in the make-up process. I sure would hate for such a special occasion to create unnecessary stress on any of us.

That all being said...



WE LEAVE IN LESS THAN THREE WEEKS!!!

 

[Ginny]

Carlennaro - Thank you for your wonderful thread. It is great to hear that family time is a priority for you as a teacher.

When we took DD to WDW in December, her teacher knew ahead of time and was so supportive. We had to keep the trip a secret because my DM's health (at 87) is a roller coaster and we would never want her frightened or alone when she is not well. So, we were prepared to cancel up until the last moment.

Three weeks before our trip, DD (8) was assigned a project to do a "cereal box" biography of a famous person. Knowing of the "surprise trip," DD's teacher suggested she do it on Walt Disney. So, DD read two children's biography's of Walt Disney before we left. We were able to keep our surprise all the way to the airport and imagine our delight as she recounted interesting tidbits about Walt Disney as we toured the parks. We have been blessed to have encountered teachers who have understood and supported our plans to the max!!

goin2dzny - I am sending boatloads (pun definitely intended) of Pixie Dust your way that your trip is wonderful and that your "student" picks up the "makeup" ball and runs with it!! I'm so glad that your principal has his/her priorities in order and a sense of humor to boot.

My parents took me out of school on several occasions for travel and I think the "special time" I spent with them was so important. It may not work for everyone but I treasure those memories and, as my father was pretty much bedridden when I was 20 and died when I was 24, I wouldn't trade those times for the world. And, though DM's short term memory is fading, she clearly remembers those trips long ago. So, for my family it was a win-win decision.

 

[sandygirl]

I am so glad there are educators out there who are supportive of the family and value experience. We just returned from a 7 day for which we pulled my Kindergartener (full-day parochial school)out of school for a whole week. Her teacher did send some worksheets and when I saw they were starting to learn "time" I thought, " well, if she doesn't know how to tell time when she is 20 it will be all my fault!" The teacher did write a note telling us to have a great trip.

I had planned for my DD to keep a travel journal as a learning experience. We took 2 cameras, one for her journal and one for my scrapbook. I loaded hers with B&W film and we got some really great shots. The journal has on old-time feel to it and is really more of a pictorial guide of her journey, life-boat drill included. She wrote the captions.

I am a firm believer in education. I also believe that experience is one of the best educators. As an older parent (ancient) I cherish the time we spend as a family. My DD will have wonderful memories and will always know that her dad and I took the time to enjoy our lives together.

I can always catch her up on academics. These trips have taken a shy youngster and taught her confidence and poise. And instead of just reading about things she can draw on a wealth of first-hand knowledge. Not to mention the fact that she has heard her name pronounced in every imaginable accent! A small thing, yes, but certainly a mind-opening exercise.

Thank you, teachers and prinicpals and administrators!