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

[princessmom29]

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?

Of course I do, but you cannot reinforce what has never been taught in the first place. If she missed a week, I now have to teach a week's worth of new material at home in between dance lessons, current homework, ect. That is LOT of catch up to do. If it is not, then there is not enough rigor in the curriculium. On the order of 8 hours that needs to be taught at home during a regular school week. There is a 1 week deadline on makeups tests, so when we come back on Monday, she would have unti lFirday to learn all missed material, and take the missed tests, while learning the current material and taking those tests as well as doing all the missed classwork. That, over 6 subjects, adds up. A week missed should be a significant chunk of new material missed that would need to be taught by someone. If it is isn't something is vastly wrong, and the child is not being challenged enough. As I said, my child is bright and runs at least a 98 average in every subject. She has NO porblem catching things the first time they are taught, but even a couple of days out sick means 2-4 hours spent with me at home catching up on missed new material she has never seen before, becuase she missed the first time it was taught. She COULD be out of school and catch up, but it is a LOT of work to do so and make sure everything that was covered in school is taught at home.

 

[Missingthejob]

Of course I do, but you cannot reinforce what has never been taught in the first place. If she missed a week, I now have to teach a week's worth of new material at home in between dance lessons, current homework, ect. That is LOT of catch up to do. If it is not, then there is not enough rigor in the curriculium. On the order of 8 hours that needs to be taught at home during a regular school week. There is a 1 week deadline on makeups tests, so when we come back on Monday, she would have unti lFirday to learn all missed material, and take the missed tests, while learning the current material and taking those tests as well as doing all the missed classwork. That, over 6 subjects, adds up. A week missed should be a significant chunk of new material missed that would need to be taught by someone. If it is isn't something is vastly wrong, and the child is not being challenged enough. As I said, my child is bright and runs at least a 98 average in every subject. She has NO porblem catching things the first time they are taught, but even a couple of days out sick means 2-4 hours spent with me at home catching up on missed new material she has never seen before, becuase she missed the first time it was taught. She COULD be out of school and catch up, but it is a LOT of work to do so and make sure everything that was covered in school is taught at home.

I suppose then since it's too much for you then you shouldn't take them out for long periods of time. Many of us don't have an issue keeping our kids up with their school work if we take them out of school. But just because it doesn't work for you doesn't mean you should be making blanket statements about other people.

 

[ccgirl]

umm....yup

I just got confused because you started talking about schooling your children differently where it allows you to travel.

My point was that if that child missed 5 days of classes it takes a lot of time to make it up as that is in addition to the current workload. Say the school day is 6.5 hours, take out lunch and recess and that is 5.5 hours. You then only have 2 hours at night to make up what took 5.5 hours during the day on top of the current homework. That can be quite an undertaking for those in advanced/challenging classes. In addition, the current week builds on the previous week so if you are not there the previous week it may be more difficult to learn the current week.

Op - you know your child best. I have taken my DD out in K, 1, and 2. She was able to make up the class work each time but it became increasingly more challenging with each grade. Our handbook only "discourages" vacations during school time it does not prohibit them. I believe she can miss 9 days a semester. I'm not positive on that though. I say if it falls within the guidelines and your child won't be left behind go and have a blast.

 

[Missingthejob]

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.

We don't just rely on school to teach our kids. I suppose I can see if thats how your kids are taught then you would not know what will be covered. We use homeschooling curriculums as well. Since the homeschooling curriculums follow what they are doing in school it's very easy to teach them what is being learned.
Yes many public schools need to change their curriculums in order to keep the "slower" students up. This is common because of NCLB. the teachers need to teach to the, well, lowest common denominator. This isn't something we deal with in the schools our children go to. If a child isn't keeping up they fail. There are grades you must keep in order to attend their schools.
I forget sometimes that there are people who rely solely on the public school system to teach their kids. So your right you wouldn't know what to cover. My circle of friends all have children who attend the same schools that we use and we all homeschool as well. It's easy to think that everyone is doing the same, when you're right, that just isn;t the case.

 

[Missingthejob]

I just got confused because you started talking about schooling your children differently where it allows you to travel.

My point was that if that child missed 5 days of classes it takes a lot of time to make it up as that is in addition to the current workload. Say the school day is 6.5 hours, take out lunch and recess and that is 5.5 hours. You then only have 2 hours at night to make up what took 5.5 hours during the day on top of the current homework. That can be quite an undertaking for those in advanced/challenging classes. In addition, the current week builds on the previous week so if you are not there the previous week it may be more difficult to learn the current week.

Op - you know your child best. I have taken my DD out in K, 1, and 2. She was able to make up the class work each time but it became increasingly more challenging with each grade. Our handbook only "discourages" vacations during school time it does not prohibit them. I believe she can miss 9 days a semester. I'm not positive on that though. I say if it falls within the guidelines and your child won't be left behind go and have a blast.

Teaching a child one on one allows for things to be covered much more efficiently and quickly. You certainly wouldn't need to spend 5.5 hours teaching what the school taught your child. Especially if you are dealing with a child in advanced studies.

 

[ccgirl]

Teaching a child one on one allows for things to be covered much more efficiently and quickly. You certainly wouldn't need to spend 5.5 hours teaching what the school taught your child. Especially if you are dealing with a child in advanced studies.

Correct, but my DD receives 45 minutes of homework a night. If she missed a day and has make up work that is double or 1 1/2 hours. If she only has two hours a night available for work that would leave me with 30 minutes to teach the new material. 30 minutes to teach Science, Social Studies, Religion, Language Arts, Computer, Spanish, Math, Reading, and Writing would leave 3.33 minutes to teach each new concept. You can see how that would be difficult regardless of how efficient or quick a parent is or how advanced a child is.

Op - I wanted to ask how your child handles homework now. If they are not struggling at all I would say they should be probably be fine. Also, if it is your school's policy to give work ahead of time you could do some on the plane or car ride (which ever is applicable) and you can be that much ahead of the game. It is when the school policy is not to give work ahead of time that it becomes more difficult. Good luck with your decision.

 

[princessmom29]

We don't just rely on school to teach our kids. I suppose I can see if thats how your kids are taught then you would not know what will be covered. We use homeschooling curriculums as well. Since the homeschooling curriculums follow what they are doing in school it's very easy to teach them what is being learned.
Yes many public schools need to change their curriculums in order to keep the "slower" students up. This is common because of NCLB. the teachers need to teach to the, well, lowest common denominator. This isn't something we deal with in the schools our children go to. If a child isn't keeping up they fail. There are grades you must keep in order to attend their schools.
I forget sometimes that there are people who rely solely on the public school system to teach their kids. So your right you wouldn't know what to cover. My circle of friends all have children who attend the same schools that we use and we all homeschool as well. It's easy to think that everyone is doing the same, when you're right, that just isn;t the case.

Iti s not about slower children needing to catch up, it is about actually responding to the needs and interests of the children in the classroom. A good educational model should NEVER be static, teching the same things in exactly the same manner year after year. For instance, If the students are interesed in say, butterflies, then I might decide to teach metamorphisis using a butterfly aviary rather than the book, or if my students as interested in electricity, then I might teach thye priciple of equlibrium using an electrical system rather than the chemical syatem in the book. We may spend a little more time on electricity and less on theromdynamics. Good teaches changwe thier curric. in response to student needs, and not just the ones falling behind, but everyone. You are the one making blanket statements and assuming here. My child does nOT go to public school.

I suppose then since it's too much for you then you shouldn't take them out for long periods of time. Many of us don't have an issue keeping our kids up with their school work if we take them out of school. But just because it doesn't work for you doesn't mean you should be making blanket statements about other people.

My point is not that it is "too much for me" (nice little jab by the way) but that it should take some effort to keep them caught up, otherwise, why send them to school at all? The curric. has no relevance to them if they are not learing anything novel. If the curric. in my child;s school were so basic and repetitive that she missed nothing of value in a week's time, then I would be advocating for a change. No kid should be getting nothing out of an entire week of school.

Teaching a child one on one allows for things to be covered much more efficiently and quickly. You certainly wouldn't need to spend 5.5 hours teaching what the school taught your child. Especially if you are dealing with a child in advanced studies.

Yes, but that doesn't negate the need to cover the material. I think my estimate is more in line for what should be necessary in asuitably rigious curric. 2 hours for every 6 classroom hours. Any less, and the curric. is NOT adequate, and that is my point. If it only takes a few minutes to catch that child up on a week of missed work, something is seriously wrong with the curric. being used. It is NOT meeting the needs of the students and needs to be changed. It SHOULD be an effort to cacth a child up on a week of missed work.

 

[Missingthejob]

Correct, but my DD receives 45 minutes of homework a night. If she missed a day and has make up work that is double or 1 1/2 hours. If she only has two hours a night available for work that would leave me with 30 minutes to teach the new material. 30 minutes to teach Science, Social Studies, Religion, Language Arts, Computer, Spanish, Math, Reading, and Writing would leave 3.33 minutes to teach each new concept. You can see how that would be difficult regardless of how efficient or quick a parent is or how advanced a child is.

Like I said it's quite obvious that we don't teach our kids in the same manner. Which is fine. We are already teaching at home daily as well as sending them to school. If you aren't and just dong homework then yes to add in a homeschooling curriculum would be near impossible. Our schools obviously just don't function in the same way. So obviously you should be making sure you don't spend too much time away from school. If you recall you quoted me after my reply to the person saying that a week is too much. Who also implied that if a child can catch up from that week there must be something wrong with the educational environment. Which is just plain silly. So although our conversation has gotten off track my point remains the same. Of course a child can miss a week, be on track with school and still be in a challenging atmosphere.
In fact when my daughter was in 2nd grade we went to Jamaica for a month(we had family and home issue to attend to), was able to stay on top of her studies and acclimate herself to the learning environment upon returning. Seamlessly.

 

[catra121]

This is off topic of the original post because I am totally in support of taking the child out and that is that.

But all this other nonsense? I know schools all over the country vary in terms of curriculums and intensity, and that many have very differing policies relating to attendance and all that. I don't know what the situation is for the original poster but I would say with confidence that if she was really concerned about any of the things that people are talking about in terms of catching up with school work or it being against policy, etc. she wouldn't be asking this question. It's a general question asking for opinions on whether or not it is okay.

I am someone who has gone to public school all my life. Graduate HS with a 5.0/5.0 GPA. Got great scores on my SAT and ACTs with no prepping or planning. I am no genius...just a regular person. The public school system is not even remotely what people seem to idealize it as. Due to serious health problems I missed over 30 days of school in my junior year of HS and ended up graduating early because my health deteriorated each year I was in HS and I missed more and more school. I never had any trouble catching up on the work and maintaining great grades.

I work with people in the general public and it is APPALLING how poor their basic school skills are like math, reading, spelling, etc. So to assume that taking a child out of school for a family vacation (something that you cannot put a value on) has any impact on that child's success in school is just ridiculous. Each parent needs to make their own priorities and decisions based on what THEY know about THEIR children. A blanket statement that it is in some way detrimental to their learning is just absurd. That may apply to your own child but I do not believe it applies to the masses. Family time to me is more valuable than ANYTHING you will EVER learn in school.

That said...if the KID doesn't want to be pulled out of school then don't do it. My brother chose to stay at home and skip a Disney trip once because of Homecoming and my parents let him. But come on...a week...two weeks of school...what do you seriously think they are learning at 7 years old that will sink their academic career in the future? Come on...

 

[melancholywings]

I've pulled my child out of school for a week from K - 3rd. For Disneyland, DisneyWorld and a cruise. If the school doesn't mind you doing it, then go for it. Who care what the internet says.

 

[princessmom29]

This is off topic of the original post because I am totally in support of taking the child out and that is that.

But all this other nonsense? I know schools all over the country vary in terms of curriculums and intensity, and that many have very differing policies relating to attendance and all that. I don't know what the situation is for the original poster but I would say with confidence that if she was really concerned about any of the things that people are talking about in terms of catching up with school work or it being against policy, etc. she wouldn't be asking this question. It's a general question asking for opinions on whether or not it is okay.

I am someone who has gone to public school all my life. Graduate HS with a 5.0/5.0 GPA. Got great scores on my SAT and ACTs with no prepping or planning. I am no genius...just a regular person. The public school system is not even remotely what people seem to idealize it as. Due to serious health problems I missed over 30 days of school in my junior year of HS and ended up graduating early because my health deteriorated each year I was in HS and I missed more and more school. I never had any trouble catching up on the work and maintaining great grades.

I work with people in the general public and it is APPALLING how poor their basic school skills are like math, reading, spelling, etc. So to assume that taking a child out of school for a family vacation (something that you cannot put a value on) has any impact on that child's success in school is just ridiculous. Each parent needs to make their own priorities and decisions based on what THEY know about THEIR children. A blanket statement that it is in some way detrimental to their learning is just absurd. That may apply to your own child but I do not believe it applies to the masses. Family time to me is more valuable than ANYTHING you will EVER learn in school.

That said...if the KID doesn't want to be pulled out of school then don't do it. My brother chose to stay at home and skip a Disney trip once because of Homecoming and my parents let him. But come on...a week...two weeks of school...what do you seriously think they are learning at 7 years old that will sink their academic career in the future? Come on...

this is truly a sad commentary on the state of public education in this country, and i can assure you it would not be the case in the school where I teach or at the school my DD attends. That somoene could miss 30 days and have no trouble catching up speaks volumes to what is NOT being done correctly. When we have a child out for an extended period like that, homebound teachers for each subject would visit the child and catch them up on missed material, otherwise there would be no hope of them staying on track, except in the most exceptional of cases, or one in which the parent is capable of teaching the material. Which is as it should be. Children should be learning new and challenging material in school, otherwise, why should they be there?

No one is saying one week is gonig to sink thier academic career, at lest not that I see. I am arguing that an adequate curric. being taught would mean that there would be enough material missed over that week that it would require a fair amount of effort to replace it.Can it be donbe? Sure, but if it only took me 15 min to catch my child up on a week of schoolwork I would definitely be questioning the validity of what we being taught.

 

[princessmom29]

Like I said it's quite obvious that we don't teach our kids in the same manner. Which is fine. We are already teaching at home daily as well as sending them to school. If you aren't and just dong homework then yes to add in a homeschooling curriculum would be near impossible. Our schools obviously just don't function in the same way. So obviously you should be making sure you don't spend too much time away from school. If you recall you quoted me after my reply to the person saying that a week is too much. Who also implied that if a child can catch up from that week there must be something wrong with the educational environment. Which is just plain silly. So although our conversation has gotten off track my point remains the same. Of course a child can miss a week, be on track with school and still be in a challenging atmosphere.
In fact when my daughter was in 2nd grade we went to Jamaica for a month(we had family and home issue to attend to), was able to stay on top of her studies and acclimate herself to the learning environment upon returning. Seamlessly.

If you are doing a full homeschool curric., why do they go to school at all? Of course school is redundant for them and they are not learing anything you are not already teaching. In that case, they could be gone for a week, and the homeschool time woudl catch them up. I really don't get doing both homeschool nad traditional school at the same time though? Doesn't that make gonig to school a complete waste of time? My DD couldn't go to school all day, do a full homeschool day after that, and do after school activities. ALL of our time out of school would be spent repeating what she had already been taught. How do you do it?

I am pretty sure you are referringto me here, but that is NOT AT ALL what I said. I said that if a child can miss school for a week and it is not necessary to spend any time catching them up there is something wrong. That is very different from what you are implying I said.

 

[Leajess99]

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.

My 8 year old is the same way. She hates missing school because of the extra work to catch back up.

 

[Missingthejob]

If you are doing a full homeschool curric., why do they go to school at all? Of course school is redundant for them and they are not learing anything you are not already teaching. In that case, they could be gone for a week, and the homeschool time woudl catch them up. I really don't get doing both homeschool nad traditional school at the same time though? Doesn't that make gonig to school a complete waste of time? My DD couldn't go to school all day, do a full homeschool day after that, and do after school activities. ALL of our time out of school would be spent repeating what she had already been taught. How do you do it?

I am pretty sure you are referringto me here, but that is NOT AT ALL what I said. I said that if a child can miss school for a week and it is not necessary to spend any time catching them up there is something wrong. That is very different from what you are implying I said.

You just like to argue.I've seen you around here enough to know that you're a waste of time. Have a nice day.

 

[imthatgirl]

You just like to argue.I've seen you around here enough to know that you're a waste of time. Have a nice day.

 

[Leajess99]

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.

My daughter is also advanced and she absolutely hates missing a week of school. Heck, she hates missing a day of school. The makeup homework on top of the everyday stuff gets to be a lot.

Not only does she hate the makeup work, she hates missing her best friend, pe, and other things at her school.

I have only pulled my kids out of school for 2 days for a trip to WDW and that was because those 2 days were snow makeup days. My kids do not want to miss school for trips. They want to be in school and take trips on school breaks.

 

[spacemountainmom]

I'm just wondering about the 8 year old child who has to go to swim practice for two hours every day. WOW! That really puts a dent in homework time.

Then again, I've just never understood the "over" scheduling of children today. Parents complain about kids not having enough time to do schoolwork, yet schedule their every waking minute in some sort of sport or activity. One of the biggest laughs I ever had was a local news story about parents who were getting concerned that they and their kids were overscheduled...the solution...they started a weekly discussion group to try and figure out what to do. OK?!?

 

[Leajess99]

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.

Wow, that seems quite rude to assume that just because one follows the schools means they are only "relying on the schools." We do homeschooling as well as public schooling but the school still has its own requirements which must still be met by the kids. You can't just take time off and not make up the work.

You just automatically know everything being taught at that specific time?? Hmm, I have 2 older kids and I know that the youngest is learning different stuff than the older ones did at this time. The youngest one has a different mathmatics program than the older ones had and as such the teacher makes sure we know what the kids are learning so yes we are told what they are learning. My daughter does a lot of different things at home but her math program at school is way different than any we have ever used or the program we have at home.

 

[princessmom29]

You just like to argue.I've seen you around here enough to know that you're a waste of time. Have a nice day.

so, what you are saying is, that in addition to being insulting, you have no response?? I have said it before and I will say it here, becuase it applies:
When you stoop to personal attack, it is becuase you are out of valid points to make.

 

[princessmom29]

My daughter is also advanced and she absolutely hates missing a week of school. Heck, she hates missing a day of school. The makeup homework on top of the everyday stuff gets to be a lot.

Not only does she hate the makeup work, she hates missing her best friend, pe, and other things at her school.

I have only pulled my kids out of school for 2 days for a trip to WDW and that was because those 2 days were snow makeup days. My kids do not want to miss school for trips. They want to be in school and take trips on school breaks.

This is my DD too. She loves school and hates missing for anything. She wants to go to school, even when she is sick( of course i keep her home when she needs to be)