Pulling kids from school for vacation?

[jodifla]

How would you like this? My son is a public school in the preschoolers with a disability. I have had nothing but grief from the school about this and that. I informed the school that we would be gone for two weeks and they said they were going to remove him from the roster if he misses more than 5 consecutive days. THIS IS FOR PRESCHOOL! Because of Disability acts they must provide services to my son. Only after I threatned legal action did they become so suddenly accomidating understanding of the situation.

Good for you! I tell you, these school people don't have the good sense God gave them sometimes. It's too bad that you have to threaten with lawyers, but a lot of times, it's the only thing schools listen to.

 

[michellelovesthemous]

...but then my DD8 is only in third grade and I can rationalise it easier as she only misses 4 days of our 10 day trip due to Thanksgiving and a teacher in service day. I don't know if I will be as likely to pull her out when she gets to middle/high school because of the harder courses and homeowork issues. But on the flip side that means we have at least 4 more trips available for me to pull her out "guilt free"

 

[seashoreCM]

You know your kids will have to make up the work eventually.

You know your kids are not going to spend the equivalent of the school day in the resort room doing school work each day.

So everybody thinks about the catch up period after returning home.

How about doing practically all of the work that would be missed before leaving for vacation? The planning and discipline for doing this will make most teachers and school boards more receptive to your vacation.

Not all of the extra workload expected when returning home would be eliminated. Some review is needed because of the span of time (down at WDW) when little or no school work is being attacked. Also if the anticipated work done in advance did not exactly match the actual work in school during the absence, the discrepancies need to be made up.

Disney hints:
http://members.aol.com/ajaynejr/disney.htm

 

[DaisyD]

Seashore my DD got her work to be missed last week for our upcoming trip. She finished it over the weekend. We always do the work ahead. It gets it out of the way and no worries about it after the vacation is over. There is no way I'd make DD do any work during vacation.

 

[WAHMto5]

We try not to pull our kids out as much as we can. This year we decided that we wanted to try this time of year and just went ahead with our plans. It is actually "State Testing" week at our school this week. So the school was kind of angry that they are missing that, but I was kinda happy that they would not be missing any regular school work!
We leave tonight

 

[Sunny37]

We try not to pull our kids out as much as we can. This year we decided that we wanted to try this time of year and just went ahead with our plans. It is actually "State Testing" week at our school this week. So the school was kind of angry that they are missing that, but I was kinda happy that they would not be missing any regular school work!
We leave tonight

If your state is like mine, the schools have to test a certain percentage of students, otherwise they won't meet AYP (average yearly progress); so the school may have a good reason to be ticked about you taking your kids out during this time. These tests also arm your childrens' teachers with information needed see what kind of progress they make from year to year.

Not trying to start a debate, because everyone has to make this decision independently.

 

[UTgirl]

Feelslikeadream,

Thanks for bringing the excuse letter from Mousesavers to our attention. That is great! We live in a state that has very strict rules our unexcused absences so I was plotting what I would say to the school for my son!

I see no problem at all taking your children out of school for a family vacation. Especially if the child rarely misses and has good grades. Do not feel guilty for spending quality time with your children. I think that every child could use a little more family time. Sometimes I wonder if there isn't a little too much structure in the schools - they try to fit every child within the same box.

Family vacations are where some of your childs fondest memories will come from.

 

[weirdpaintballr]

I know that in 8th grade, I told all my teachers about a week and a half in advance with a letter signed by the principal, excusing my absence. Basically I just had to take a note from my mom to the office and they gave it the principal. When he had time to look at it they called me dow and he told me to have a good time and gave me the signed note. I'm in high school now(9th grade) and I'm going to be pulled in May for a week. I am going to have to talk to the principla, but she he was my parents principal, my sister's, and my cousin's, I think I'm gonna be ok. My sister also was pulled out of high school a few years ago and the pricipal just told her to have a good time and make up your work. My personal experience was that I've really only had a problem with 2 teachers over the years and many trips to Disney. I had one teacher twice (Who has worse luck than me?) and the first time she was not very happy about it(I think her peronal life was a little rough at the time) and the second time she didn't care because she trusted me. The other teacher...Ms. Dezern. Man she was nasty! I think she was just unhappy because her son and daughter-in-law and their kids (daughter worked at school) and the daughter-in-law's mother (also worked at the school--COOLEST TEACHER EVER--Mrs Culpepper) all went to disney, leaving her behind....and she was just overall crazy. And I'm not joking...but hey, Family Time is what matters...Are your kids gonna remember what missinga few days of school was like, or spending a week in Disney with their family??? I'd pull them as long as they are capable of making up the work...And also talk to the teachers...if you child is having problems, maybe you can get the work a couple weeks in advance and you can help them get ahead?

 

[Gerweniel]

I was concerned about this last year as I took both my sons (then 6th and 7th grades) out of school for a week for our Disney vacation. The trip had no effect on their grades, the teachers were excellent and either provided them with make up work or gave them work to do during the trip. (Reading, math packets etc - stuff they could do at the airport or on the plane.)
This year I am also taking them out for a week in Oct and I hope the same thing applies.

 

[laceemouse]

Feelslikeadream,
Sometimes I wonder if there isn't a little too much structure in the schools - they try to fit every child within the same box.

Many of us figured this one out a long time ago and are now.....HOMESCHOOLING!!!
Personally, I think taking them out in elementary school is fine as long as there are no strict rules against it and your kids are good students who rarely miss. By Junior High maybe, and High School DEFINITELY the work load gets much heavier, there are different teachers for every subject, and there is a lot more lecturing, groups projects, ect. that are hard to make up. However, we were always in very tough and competitive school districts. Any kid in the older grades who can miss a week or more and "not miss much" is at a pretty awful school IMO! There are plenty of other times to have family time when school is not in session. JMO! Most of the folks on this board who scream "they don't own my kids" generally have younger kids!!

 

[Rainman]

My DW and I have promissed each other we will never take our kids out of school if they are struggling. But that has not been the case as they are doing great at school.

We are pulling our sons out of school this Oct. for the second year in a row. I agree that it depends on the kids and how they are doing in school. Our boys are young so that makes it a lot easier. So far our boys have been doing great at school. We always give the teacher plenty of notice and offer to do whatever it takes to not get behind. Last year and this year the teachers both where real supportive of us. Our school has a mini fall break with two days off in Oct. Lots of families take advantage of the days. I know of 4 families that are going to Disney during the break. Our kids are young so it is easier. No clubs or sports. No papers, speaches, tests...

Our three trips in 5 years have been while it is less crowded. May once and Oct twice. This will be our third Oct trip. So you can tell we really enjoy Oct. We know that when the kids get a little older that we will be going when everyone else does (Spring Break, Xmas, Summer) and are nurveous to attend while the parks are more crowded. So if you can do it I say do it, take the kids out of school if it does not hurt them.

 

[Brooknwdw]

I am making the rounds on all the school threads tonight..

We are taking ours out for 6 days..they will be unexcused (I am assuming) and as they are allowed no more than 10 unexcused for the year, we are good to go. What other reason would I have for the rest of the year to take them out where it would be UNexcused? None.

My number one tip is to be aware of your school's policy on absenses. Know how many they can miss.

Also of course there is the issue of if your child can handle missing a week without suffering.

 

[almburr]

how nice 10 days we are allowed only 4 days and after that acidemic probation and you can argue it out with the school board. Our DD was in the hospital last Sept. for 4 days. she was put on the list!!! They do this so kids wont play hookey. She was in the hospital, they knew where she was .