Pulling first grader out of school - twice - want opinions.

[mrsap]

I feel humour is lost in today's society and everyone take's offense to everything. I did say "Heh" after the words "annoying school requirement" to indicate I was joking ..

Completely agree. Not for nothing, but you don’t need to explain yourself to anyone. Just do what you feel is best for your family. Have a great time!

 

[AZMermaid]

First grade teacher here. One week, totally fine. Two... eeekkk.... not going to be a deal breaker, but honestly, it’s not the norm. Luckily, they are pretty far apart, so that helps a lot.

Are you planning any other vacation days? A day here? Two days there? Is your son a sickie? I have two kids and between them, they’ve missed 2 sick days in the last three school years. Total. So, I felt pretty good about them missing two days for Disneyland last year (which were the only two days my kindergartener missed all year... and yes, i had Dumb guilt about screwing up her perfect attendance. My son broke his arm so he had missed a day earlier.) But some kids get every bug and it keeps them out for 3 days each time. I’d hesitate a lot if I had a kid who is illness prone.

Its fairly insulting to say it’s “just first grade” but it is much easier to absorb absences when they are younger. If this is the only chance for an extended family vacation, I’d take it now and have a great time. It’s ultimately your decision and as long as you don’t miss more than a couple other days... it shouldn’t be too impactful.

 

[Dayzy]

My son's first grade teacher was "Absolutely take a week! They are only little once." I don't think she would be so generous for a second vacation. Now my daughter's 1st grade teacher makes it known that sick days are for sicknesses, not for trips. So I wouldn't try it with her.

 

[tlmadden73]

First grade teacher here. One week, totally fine. Two... eeekkk.... not going to be a deal breaker, but honestly, it’s not the norm. Luckily, they are pretty far apart, so that helps a lot.

Are you planning any other vacation days? A day here? Two days there? Is your son a sickie? I have two kids and between them, they’ve missed 2 sick days in the last three school years. Total. So, I felt pretty good about them missing two days for Disneyland last year (which were the only two days my kindergartener missed all year... and yes, i had Dumb guilt about screwing up her perfect attendance. My son broke his arm so he had missed a day earlier.) But some kids get every bug and it keeps them out for 3 days each time. I’d hesitate a lot if I had a kid who is illness prone.

Its fairly insulting to say it’s “just first grade” but it is much easier to absorb absences when they are younger. If this is the only chance for an extended family vacation, I’d take it now and have a great time. It’s ultimately your decision and as long as you don’t miss more than a couple other days... it shouldn’t be too impactful.

"Just first grade" just means that I think younger kids have more time to "catch up" and have more opportunity for parents to help teach the kids at home as well ... once we start getting into Algebra and Geometry my memory of those skills have faded!

Ya .. it's that second week that has me hesitating, but going in March is when it is best for my sister's family (as it is THEIR Spring Break, and they just didn't want to go in the summer). It's a little late to think about changing/cancelling my November trip. (My parents are coming down, meeting my cousin and aunt and uncle .. etc.).

No other vacations planned (a lot of the family is in town, and the out of town family we will see on these trips), but he could get sick a few days, and will take that into consideration as March approaches.

My son started first grade today, so we will see how the year goes!
Worse comes to worse, we'll just not go in March. I've already decided to cut the March trip down to 4 days of missed school. (Mon-Thur)

 

[rg35]

We have never pulled our kids out of school for vacations. That's what summers and breaks are for.

 

[mrsap]

We have never pulled our kids out of school for vacations. That's what summers and breaks are for.

I think some people tend to forget that although schools have breaks, it doesn’t mean the parents have off on those days, or the summer. It’s not always that easy.

 

[lolomarie]

if it wasn't for that annoying school requirement. Heh

As an elementary teacher I am insulted by this comment. I don’t spend HOURS of time beyond the school day planning to have parents think missing several days doesn’t matter. Twice in the same year is excessive and tells children school is secondary and not all that important. Vacations are built into the school year for a reason.

As a teacher I completely disagree with you. These requirements are annoying, and silly, and pointless. Education is much more rounded than lessons planned and delivered. Education can and does occur every day, both in and out of school. Families shouldn't feel that time spent on family endeavours is less important than school.

The op's child is in grade 1. Take 2 trips. Heck, take 3. The lifelong memories will be far more important in the overall education of the child.

 

[piglet1979]

I pulled my kids out the first time when they were in 2nd and 3rd grades and then again in 3rd and 4th grades. My kids are a year apart in school. Our school was good with it except the one 4th grade teacher. All of the teachers said to have a great time with the family don't worry about school work. This one 4th grade teacher (he had 2) was not like this. My son got a packet of work but no instructions of what he needed to do. He had to do pages in a workbook but never said what pages or how many pages to do. After getting back and finally figuring out what DS needed too we got it done. Nothing was getting updated in the grade system they use so i emailed and asked if he was missing anything or anything I could do to help. She was not very nice. It took DS awhile to catch up. This was/is the last time I will pull the kids out of school. They will just miss too much. They are in 6th and 7th now.

In first grade I would not have hesitated to take them out twice. Not much in our district happens around Easter. I would check on state testing though if you state does them. They are a big deal in our area and are usually in April. I would not have them miss these.

 

[NYCgrrl]

I pulled my kids out the first time when they were in 2nd and 3rd grades and then again in 3rd and 4th grades. My kids are a year apart in school. Our school was good with it except the one 4th grade teacher. All of the teachers said to have a great time with the family don't worry about school work. This one 4th grade teacher (he had 2) was not like this. My son got a packet of work but no instructions of what he needed to do. He had to do pages in a workbook but never said what pages or how many pages to do. After getting back and finally figuring out what DS needed too we got it done. Nothing was getting updated in the grade system they use so i emailed and asked if he was missing anything or anything I could do to help. She was not very nice. It took DS awhile to catch up. This was/is the last time I will pull the kids out of school. They will just miss too much. They are in 6th and 7th now.

In first grade I would not have hesitated to take them out twice. Not much in our district happens around Easter. I would check on state testing though if you state does them. They are a big deal in our area and are usually in April. I would not have them miss these.

Teachers have different ideas about their avocation as can clearly be seen on threads such as this; same for parents.
Guess this is what makes the world a fascinating and thought provoking place.

 

[robinb]

I never pulled my DD out of school for a vacation. I used school vacations for that. I did pull her out of school for a day or two here and there for championship swim meets. The most was 4 days for a national level meet when she was 13.

It sounds like you're going to play it by ear on the 2nd vacation. I think that's the best way to approach it. See how your child fares in the November trip and approach the teacher about the March trip after your child catches up.

I know it's attractive to go to WDW in the fall when there are more promos and the weather is nicer, but I suggest that you transition to a traditional school break schedule by middle school at the latest. It's not really a big deal to miss a few days in early elementary school but once they hit middle school it's much harder to catch up.

 

[2019TripIdeas]

"Just first grade" just means that I think younger kids have more time to "catch up" and have more opportunity for parents to help teach the kids at home as well ... once we start getting into Algebra and Geometry my memory of those skills have faded!

Ya .. it's that second week that has me hesitating, but going in March is when it is best for my sister's family (as it is THEIR Spring Break, and they just didn't want to go in the summer). It's a little late to think about changing/cancelling my November trip. (My parents are coming down, meeting my cousin and aunt and uncle .. etc.).

I commented early in the thread, and respect that you're the parents and get to chose, but I'd really make sure your child is on track with reading skills. Depending on how your district does things, missing 10+ days could put a child at risk of retention (depending on if it counts as unexcused). In my world, a child who was not reading competently and missing 9 days for "fun"(unexcused, even if you called it in) and maybe a few days here and there for sickness would likely be asked to repeat the grade. We had to approach parents with our concerns by the Feb/March conference cycle. Not all places expect the same thing, but I'd hate for you to get caught off guard at conference time.

While you might see it as "just first grade", most of what I've experienced is that retention is most (or potentially, ONLY, according to some studies) effective done in either Kinder or First, so sometimes teachers push for that with kids who are struggling with reading. Depending on the phonics scope and sequence, that Fall trip could hurt a bit more than you might realize.

I don't want to scare you or be alarmist, and if he's already reading, please disregard this and I would agree with other posters that he'll do fine, enjoy!

 

[rebelbuddhist]

As a teacher I completely disagree with you. These requirements are annoying, and silly, and pointless. Education is much more rounded than lessons planned and delivered. Education can and does occur every day, both in and out of school. Families shouldn't feel that time spent on family endeavours is less important than school.

The op's child is in grade 1. Take 2 trips. Heck, take 3. The lifelong memories will be far more important in the overall education of the child.

As an ELEMENTARY TEACHER I disagree with you. Would parents who take chidren out of school 2,3 times be willing to have their children make up in school time missed during a summer session?

 

[lolomarie]

As an ELEMENTARY TEACHER I disagree with you. Would parents who take chidren out of school 2,3 times be willing to have their children make up in school time missed during a summer session?

I think we likely fundamentally disagree pedagogically on the purpose of school and education. My point is no, there is nothing to make up because education is still happening outside of the school. Whatever is missed, is gained with the family, so there is no net loss.

 

[Smittolis]

How about we call it a wash with all the garbage in service days and double digit sick days missed and covered by a parent sub (because they dont roll over and are not paid out come the end of year) who has the class management skills of a pigeon lol.....

On a serious note, taking kids out of school during elementary years is no biggie. The main cognitive development stages are social at this juncture, missing a week or two over the course of a school year is negligible when it comes to overall development. If missing a week of school means students struggle or fail? Then theres something wrong with your classroom.

Education takes many forms, common core is probably one of the least effective means....

 

[cadien]

As an ELEMENTARY TEACHER I disagree with you. Would parents who take chidren out of school 2,3 times be willing to have their children make up in school time missed during a summer session?

We take our son out 2-3 times a year and have him in the school district's educational summer program even though he's never behind. It's just good for them to avoid summer slide. Missing a week is totally different from missing 3 months.

 

[tlmadden73]

I think we can request a lock this thread and end the discussion before it starts to turn ugly.

I have enough advice from the posters. Thank you.

Some people think attending school every day is important ... some people don't.
And both are right .. as every child is different and learn in different ways.
That is partially the issues some have with public education. Due to its size, it has to be a "one size fits all" system that works great for a majority of kids, but doesn't for others.

 

[AZMermaid]

I think we likely fundamentally disagree pedagogically on the purpose of school and education. My point is no, there is nothing to make up because education is still happening outside of the school. Whatever is missed, is gained with the family, so there is no net loss.

I had a student a few years back who missed 37 school days mostly for multiple family ski trips, Disney trips, trips to NY, etc. This repeated to some degree every year K-3. The parents then pulled him out to go to a $$$ private school because they were frustrated that he was so far behind in reading. Somehow he didn't learn phonics and blending skills on all these vacations. Weird,

 

[KenHutch]

I pulled my daughter out of 2nd grade for a week and when she was 12 and 15 she missed the last 10 days of school for our May/June trips. The only thing I ever got from the school on the last 2 was have a good trip. In our school district they are doing almost nothing the last 2 weeks.

 

[lolomarie]

I had a student a few years back who missed 37 school days mostly for multiple family ski trips, Disney trips, trips to NY, etc. This repeated to some degree every year K-3. The parents then pulled him out to go to a $$$ private school because they were frustrated that he was so far behind in reading. Somehow he didn't learn phonics and blending skills on all these vacations. Weird,

I respect what you're saying, but again disagree. This could really go into a deep debate too, because I also fundamentally disagree with private education. Being Canadian I believe in a high quality public system where all children have equal access. I guesss we'll have to agree to disagree. The beauty of this world is that there are different strokes for different folks.

 

[AZMermaid]

I respect what you're saying, but again disagree. This could really go into a deep debate too, because I also fundamentally disagree with private education. Being Canadian I believe in a high quality public system where all children have equal access. I guesss we'll have to agree to disagree. The beauty of this world is that there are different strokes for different folks.

Absolutely- this was at a public school. I guess the argument is does a child get an equal education when he misses more than 1/6 of the school year for luxury vacations? I felt like you were implying he would just "get it" because there is education in travel (which I fully agree there is). But without the parents teaching the child the missed work (namely systematic phonics skills) he was VERY behind his peers due to gaps.