Pulling 7 year old out of school. What do you do?

[princessmom29]

Sept. is going to be all review anyway. I would not hesitate to pull a 2nd grader in Sept.

This is definitely NOT the case at DD's school. They do NOT spend a month reviewing, and I don't know of ANY school here that does. That is what the first week of school is for. New material is started in week 2. Something is wrong if a class is spending an entire month on review work. That is a month of instructional time wasted.

 

[walkdmc]

As long as your child isn't having any problems in school, and the school allows such absences, go for it. You don't need anyone's approval, except for the school's administration. The only teacher that expressed any frustration over our choice to vacation during the school year, was my DS's first grade teacher! LOL. However, her daughter works for DH so I think she was more reserved in her opinion than she might otherwise have been. The other teachers were lamenting on how much they enjoy Disney with their families and they don't know how they'll get there now that they're working (they were new teachers).

We're surrounded by parents who do this on a regular basis so it's a non-issue to us. So far, it hasn't stopped the kids from getting into the job/college of their choice.

We go the week before Thanksgiving to see the Christmas decorations and enjoy the low crowds and nice weather.

 

[catra121]

DO IT!!

My parents took my brother and me out almost every year when we were younger for trips in October. We always go assigments ahead of time (though whether we actually worked on them during vacation or not I cannot remember). And let me tell you something...those family memories are more precious than anything I would have been learning in school those weeks.

And those are the vacations we remember the most. Summer trips to Disney are just not the Disney trips we remember. September/October vacations allowed us more "family" time to enjoy each other's company and spend "Quality" time together.

My boyfriend on the other hand...his mom, dad, and 2 brothers are teachers. They are appalled by the idea of taking kids out. I even remember going for a choir trip to Disney in high school (a school choir trip) and some of the teachers were just down right abnoxious about missing school for such a thing. Never will understand that.

But you are the parent and as a child who was pulled out every year for years and years...take the kid out and have an AMAZING vacation! Those memories last forever. And take LOTS of pics!

 

[princessmom29]

DO IT!!

My parents took my brother and me out almost every year when we were younger for trips in October. We always go assigments ahead of time (though whether we actually worked on them during vacation or not I cannot remember). And let me tell you something...those family memories are more precious than anything I would have been learning in school those weeks.

And those are the vacations we remember the most. Summer trips to Disney are just not the Disney trips we remember. September/October vacations allowed us more "family" time to enjoy each other's company and spend "Quality" time together.

My boyfriend on the other hand...his mom, dad, and 2 brothers are teachers. They are appalled by the idea of taking kids out. I even remember going for a choir trip to Disney in high school (a school choir trip) and some of the teachers were just down right abnoxious about missing school for such a thing. Never will understand that.

But you are the parent and as a child who was pulled out every year for years and years...take the kid out and have an AMAZING vacation! Those memories last forever. And take LOTS of pics!

Well, I was the child who HATED being pulled out over and over. I was a bright child, and didn't have trouble making up the work, but I hated missing school. I felt like I was "out of the loop" and had to get back into the swing of things. I didn't like missing things that were going on while i was gone. My DD is the same way. She was NOT happy about missing 2 days at Thanksgiving to go to Disney. Not all kids want to be pulled form school for trips.

 

[tink15823]

Hello everyone,
I need your help on this DW & I are planning a trip for 9/16 - 9/23, and of course everyone says, "I can't believe you are going to pull your 2nd grader out of school for 6 days for this trip." I know as they get older, it will be more difficult to travel during this time frame and to pull your kids out of school as the work load get greater, but a 2nd grader being pulled out the 3rd week of the school year, I just don't see the big issue. She is doing extremely well in 1st grade this year, and I don't think she is going to have a lot of trouble getting caught up when we return, and We will ask for homework assignments that she would be missing that week ahead of time so she is not to far behind to begin with.

Can someone give me reassurance that my thinking is not wrong??? I sometimes feel that its mostly just the people who are jealous making these statements to be quite honest. We will never travel during April vacation because We hate the parks when they are that busy. Did it once, and it was awful.

Help make me feel better about this.....

We pulled our twins 6Th grade and youngest son kindergarten and would do it again ! We look at this as a educational trip they do a budget for spending money . Map reading and transportation issues. We had the kids ask how many people the bus hold and how many buses they run each night . Geography and world events when are your kids ever going to get to talk to that many people from other countries ? Our kids world events teacher is taking his kids to go in March . He feels the education of meeting different people and seeing different place is more than they will learn in one week at school.

 

[ccgirl]

Haven't read all the replies. What is the school policy? Is missing the 5 days allowed? A lot of times that time of year is an assessment for the teacher to see how the student is doing. My DD8's school policy is that they get no work ahead of time and have to make up all in class, as well as homework, upon their return. I pulled my 2nd grader out for a week in December and she asked me to never do that again. She is extremely bright and while she had no problems getting "caught" up it was a lot of extra work to do along with her current workload. I will abide by her wishes and she will no longer miss a full week. I will now look at piggy backing long weekends, school vacations, or the summer. That is just my opinion.

 

[princessmom29]

Haven't read all the replies. What is the school policy? Is missing the 5 days allowed? A lot of times that time of year is an assessment for the teacher to see how the student is doing. My DD8's school policy is that they get no work ahead of time and have to make up all in class, as well as homework, upon their return. I pulled my 2nd grader out for a week in December and she asked me to never do that again. She is extremely bright and while she had no problems getting "caught" up it was a lot of extra work to do along with her current workload. I will abide by her wishes and she will no longer miss a full week. I will now look at piggy backing long weekends, school vacations, or the summer. That is just my opinion.

this is what we do as well. IMO a full week is just too much to miss, and if they aren't missing anything important in that week I would have to ask why. I really feel that someting is wrong with a curric. where a child can miss an entire week and not have missed anything important.

 

[MN Disneyfan]

Kids are young once. We pulled my daughter out the 4th week of school this school year and she's a 1st grader. We are in the planning stages of booking Disney again and as a second grader will miss the 4th week. This year her teacher seemed really excited for her to be going. We got her homework prior to her leaving. That first month of school most of what they do is reviewing anyway. Atleast that's what I tell myself.

 

[Hoodie]

I'm sure you've had a bunch of reassurance and also people discouraging. I'm on the "do it" side.

I was pulled out for Disney in 5th grade, 8th grade and for 2 full weeks in 11th grade for a trip to Hawaii. In 5th grade the teachers were fine with it. In 8th, it was a split response. 10th most had a problem with it, but my parents told them to suck it up, we were going. In all cases I was given the homework ahead of time and in all cases I was ahead of the class when I returned.

A lot depends on the child as well. We were good students and all three of us actually learned better on our own and needed little guidance (although I did ask the co-pilot during our flight from Hawaii about vectors. It was actually pretty neat to have them actually use what I was learning at the time.) There are some kids who really need the classroom structure.

 

[Missingthejob]

this is what we do as well. IMO a full week is just too much to miss, and if they aren't missing anything important in that week I would have to ask why. I really feel that someting is wrong with a curric. where a child can miss an entire week and not have missed anything important.

My kids have no problem missing a week, or more sometimes. Don't you reinforce curriculum at home? Why wouldn't your kids be able to be out of school if you are also teaching at home?

 

[ccgirl]

My kids have no problem missing a week, or more sometimes. Don't you reinforce curriculum at home? Why wouldn't your kids be able to be out of school if you are also teaching at home?

My DD8 is very bright. Scored in the 95th percentile for the Iowa tests. Her school is known as one of the more "difficult" schools. By "difficult", I mean they challenge academically. She does not receive work ahead of time so if she misses 5 days she has 5 days to make up all class work, test, homework on top of the current 5 days worth of homework. So, while I reinforce curriculum at home it is challenging to get all of the work made up. That is also taking into account soccer, swimming, and any other afterschool activities she may participate in.

 

[Missingthejob]

My DD8 is very bright. Scored in the 95th percentile for the Iowa tests. Her school is known as one of the more "difficult" schools. By "difficult", I mean they challenge academically. She does not receive work ahead of time so if she misses 5 days she has 5 days to make up all class work, test, homework on top of the current 5 days worth of homework. So, while I reinforce curriculum at home it is challenging to get all of the work made up. That is also taking into account soccer, swimming, and any other afterschool activities she may participate in.

Hmm, I guess at that age I don't need the teachers to tell me what they are learning, we just know. Kind of like people who homeschool.
Eh, I guess just different types of schooling. We do a combination of homeschooling and private schooling. If you are just relying on the schools then yes I can see the issue you have.

 

[ccgirl]

Hmm, I guess at that age I don't need the teachers to tell me what they are learning, we just know. Kind of like people who homeschool.
Eh, I guess just different types of schooling. We do a combination of homeschooling and private schooling. If you are just relying on the schools then yes I can see the issue you have.

I guess I don't understand this?? My DD gets out of school at 2:40. She then has 1 hour before a 2 hr swim practice. Factor in dinner as well. Her bed time is at 8pm. That means she only has 2 hours to make up 6 hours worth of work and tests along with current homework and projects/reports/reading assignments. My DH are both college educated so we are very aware of what she is learning but if she had no problem making up 5 days of work at all I would be concerned that the school was not challenging enough.

 

[Missingthejob]

I guess I don't understand this?? My DD gets out of school at 2:40. She then has 1 hour before a 2 hr swim practice. Factor in dinner as well. Her bed time is at 8pm. That means she only has 2 hours to make up 6 hours worth of work and tests along with current homework and projects/reports/reading assignments. My DH are both college educated so we are very aware of what she is learning but if she had no problem making up 5 days of work at all I would be concerned that the school was not challenging enough.

Apparently you aren't understanding. No big deal. We just school our kids differently. I'll stick with my way of doing things as it allows us to travel, you do your thing. again, not a big deal.

 

[ccgirl]

Apparently you aren't understanding. No big deal. We just school our kids differently. I'll stick with my way of doing things as it allows us to travel, you do your thing. again, not a big deal.

Yes, that was my point that I was not understanding. The thread was about pulling a 7 year old out of school.

 

[Missingthejob]

Yes, that was my point that I was not understanding. The thread was about pulling a 7 year old out of school.

umm....yup

 

[catra121]

Well, I was the child who HATED being pulled out over and over. I was a bright child, and didn't have trouble making up the work, but I hated missing school. I felt like I was "out of the loop" and had to get back into the swing of things. I didn't like missing things that were going on while i was gone. My DD is the same way. She was NOT happy about missing 2 days at Thanksgiving to go to Disney. Not all kids want to be pulled form school for trips.

Well if it's a case where the KID doesn't want to be pulled out then it seems like a no brainer that your shouldn't because that spoils the vacation memories. But I didn't get the sense from the OP that it was the CHILD that was opposed to being taken out of school.


For my family...my dad travelled for work Monday-Friday EVERY week for years and years and years (basically my entire childhood) and family vacations were VERY special for us. I could have cared less about whether I was being pulled from school...good, bad, whatever...it was about spending precious time with family. So if my impression from the OP is correct...I still say DO IT! And if they do it once and the kids hates it then don't do it again.

 

[ceemys]

I pulled my daughter out of 2nd grade. No biggie at all! I will say that we were not allowed to do homework/class work while away. She had to make it up when we came back.

Here where I live, the schools get more money if children do not miss school, so they do not like it if you take them out of school, but as the parent, it is your decision.

Have fun!

 

[Embel]

Always do what feels right for your family. Only you can decide what that is.

We just returned from a trip to WDW in which my kids were scheduled to miss 6 days of school. (A snow day cut it down to 5) I feel that family time is important, 6 days is nothing in the grand scheme of life, and I am willing to work with them to bring them up-to-speed on anything they miss.

 

[princessmom29]

Hmm, I guess at that age I don't need the teachers to tell me what they are learning, we just know. Kind of like people who homeschool.
Eh, I guess just different types of schooling. We do a combination of homeschooling and private schooling. If you are just relying on the schools then yes I can see the issue you have.

Count me as another who doesn't understand how, without a curric. map you can "just know" what will be covered. I can see it for grammar, but how do you know what the next science lessoon will be, or what vocab will be covered in Spanish without asking the teacher?? Don't your teachers cahnge what they are teaching based on the students they have at the time?? Peo ple who homeschool SHOULD habve a curric. map and some idea of what they will be teaching at what time, just like a classroom teacher. They set the schedule so they know what will be covered. I don't see how you can know what the teacher plans to cover without asking them as those plans change on an almost daily basis.