Pulling Kids Out of K for WDW

[hroyale]

I know I saw a thread on this a while ago, but I can't find it.

We just got back from our first trip to WDW the last week of Jan and loved it. We hadn't been planning to go again anytime soon, but pretty much decided while we were down there to come back next year.

This year my kids are in pre-school (twins). There was no problem just taking them out for the week. We just told their teachers and they were excited for them.

I didn't even consider it a problem for next year, until I was talking to another mother from one of the kids' classes. She said they didn't plan a trip this year because her daughter was in Kindergarten and they give you a hard time pulling kids out for a family vacation.

Really?? In Kindergarten?

If we go, we'll rent points (probably soon) so we won't have the flexibility to cancel if the teachers "give us a hard time". What could happen? According to the attendance policy for the district it will be considered an "unexcused absence", but what does that mean?

DS can already read and do math, DD is very smart and has age appropriate skills. There is no way that missing one week of kindergarten will impact them academically.

We live in a suburban town just north of Boston, MA. We like the school district.

Thanks,
Heather

 

[mjkacmom]

Here, there is no problem taking kids out, up until 7th grade, when they will miss too much work, and will probably fall behind. My dd12 is in 7th, and my biggest regret was not taking them out of school for a week every single year!

 

[roliepolieoliefan]

You need to check your childs school policy.

I just pulled my now 4th grader out for a trip in October.

Next year DS will be in 5th grade, DD in K and again they will be pulled for our week long vacation in December.

Our schools max to pull is 5 days. We have to write a note on how the vacation will be educational. All trips are approved though as long as the kids grades are good and its not during standardized testing time.

But check your school policy. I know some on here say they can't get any approved absenses for a family vacation.

 

[Fabinva]

I've taken mine from both private and public K for vacation with no problem.
Now that my oldest child is on third grade still taking them out during school year but try not to make them miss more than three days.

 

[blessedby3]

I have 4 kids (3 in school- one in college now) and we have always taken them out for Disney trips. Even when DD was in high school we took her out in 9th, 11th and 12th grades. We prefer to travel in the off season and thats why we take them out. We have never had a problem, but I would say it varies by each school district. Now that DD is in college we have to go on her breaks so we are going 3/7-3/14 when she is on spring break. The other 2 in school (8th and 4th) will be pulled out for the week. Kindergarten is a piece of cake to miss!! My neighbor is pulling her Kindergartner our for 2 weeks in May and talked with her teacher who said no problem. I wouldnt pull my kids out for 2 weeks, but 1 week has never been a problem.

 

[jodifla]

We just pulled out our son out of 1st grade for 3 days with no problem. We picked a week where we already had the Monday and Friday off.

Districts vary so much....borrow a district handbook from another parent and see what it says about absences.

 

[Kit'smommy]

Check with your school to find out their attendance policy and then do what is right for your family.

The best time for families to vacation does not always aline with the school calendar. It never will for us so I don't let other make me feel bad for doing what we need to in order to have some away time as a family.

 

[adventure_woman]

I think the kids learn SO MUCH MORE at WDW than they ever would in class. Especially since they are only in kindergarten.

 

[all4fun]

We pulled ds out of school for 2 weeks in December for a cruise and trip to WDW. I was definitely worried about telling his Kindergarten teacher but she didn't seem to have a problem with it. Like you, I didn't see the big deal. In this state, kindergarten isn't even required. Our state does have a truancy law that is pretty strict and parents can go to court if their kid misses more than 10 days of school, the law states that it starts at age 6yrs, ds was still 5 when we went. So far, the school hasn't said anything to us about ds' abcense in December. He hasn't missed any other days for illness but he's generally a healthy kid. Of course, our trip this spring is over spring break, and from now on, we will try to avoid him missing school days for trips as much as possible, especially given the law in our state. You may want to check the laws in your county and even call your local school to speak to the principal and get a feel on what they think about this now.

 

[jenb1023]

You should have received a manual from your school with their policies. Our school allows 5 days per school year for family trips/educational days and they are excused absences. We pulled our DD out of K in November and her teacher was fine with it and had no problem getting me the work to make up. We just had to fill out a form and send it to the school - the principal approved it the same day. However, I do know that the 5 days is pretty ironclad for our district. Another parent requested 7 days and the principal could not approve it. I personally think it has to do with funding, etc.

 

[susykt4]

We just took our kindergarten son and 3rd grade daughter out for two weeks for Disney and other fun/educational stuff in Florida. We had the best, most relaxing trip with light crowds! I have no regrets at all! Kindergarten is NOT what it used to be- the kids DO learn to read, blah, blah. I don't care! Family time is important, too! My kids aren't gifted or at the top of their class or reading at an 8th grade level in 3rd grade. If either child was struggling with keeping up, I probably wouldn't take them out of school, but my kids will be fine. I figure "unexcused absences" are kind of as major as that time in 2nd grade when I smacked little Jenny on the playground going on my "permanent record."

 

[mjmoon]

This is probably my biggest issue with public schools. These are our children and I think if we want to take them on vacation for a week or two we should have that right as their PARENTS.

I think as parents we need to make sure our children are keeping caught up on their work so they don't fall behind but aside from that the government shouldn't be able to tell us whether or not we can take our kids out of school for a week to visit family, Disney, go overseas, ANYTHING.

JMHO

 

[party-five]

This is probably my biggest issue with public schools. These are our children and I think if we want to take them on vacation for a week or two we should have that right as their PARENTS.

I think as parents we need to make sure our children are keeping caught up on their work so they don't fall behind but aside from that the government shouldn't be able to tell us whether or not we can take our kids out of school for a week to visit family, Disney, go overseas, ANYTHING.

JMHO

my thoughts exactly!

I take my kids out every year for 4-7 days for family stuff. Our district allows 10 absences before you get the dreaded letter but in my oppinion, I am paying the bills for them, so I will make those choices. If the state wants to start paying the bills, by all means they can set the rules - I do think it is the parents job to be sure their kids don't fall behind as a result of trips. Also, I took my younger brother with us last year - he was in college - missed a week of classes - still got straight A's that semester.

Our school district offers a yearly trip to Washington D.C. for seniors who want to go (and can afford it) and they miss 7 days of school for the school sponsored trip, so they are pretty good about working with parents who want to do the same thing with their kids

 

[poohteacher]

As a teacher (I taught high school math in my life before children), I hated it when kids were pulled out of school for a week, and sometimes more, at a time. Many times, the kids and parents expected tons of after school tutoring either before or after the trip to get caught up, and many never did catch up. In math, and other subject areas, that can mean the rest of the year down the drain. I remember getting on my soapbox and vowing that I would never pull my kids out of school, blah, blah, blah.

That being said- I now have a child in Kindergarten, and I realize that time with the family can be more valuable than time spent at school. We have an excellent and competitive school district where we live, and I try to have my daughter there every day; but, I pulled her out a day in September so that we could make a long drive to visit an elderly aunt, and I will pull her out a day in March when our family takes a long weekend together, and heck, if the time we were able to make a Disney trip coincided with the schoolyear, I think I would take her out again. In the end, maybe she will miss some things, but some of those things will not be remembered anyway. She will remember that Family is important and that time together with family should be treasured. I can't think of a better lesson. (Oh, if my former colleagues could hear me now, they would never believe that I said this)

 

[verlee]

We just pulled my ds6 out of K for a 10 day trip to Florida. He only missed 6 days of class. His teacher had no problem with it. I did intend to read with him while we were down there but he had a ear infection and was pretty sick. Of course, he was doing fine in school and if he had been behind I would not have done that.

I agree with the poster that said we are the parents and should be able to decide what is best for our kids. My parents took us on vacation every year in the spring, even in high school. I did just fine. I did have to make up work but it was worth the family time. We only have our kids with us for a short time. We need to make the most of that time.

 

[ms_missy66]

I didn't read everyone's responses, so forgive me if I'm repeating, but I did pull out my kindergartner this year for one week and wouldn't do it again. Our school's attendance policy is ridiculously strict. They say you can have no more than 10 unexcused days (meaning days out of school with a medical excuse, proof of bereavement or principals' approval).

Our trip was 5 days and was the week before Christmas vacation. Any other absences has are medically excused.

In Janauary we were called in for an Attedance Intervention meeting where we were forced to sign a contract that says if our daughter misses ANY more unexcused days or has an unexcused tardy that our cause will be elevated to the district level. If she has another unexcused absence or tardy beyond that, we will need to appear in family court.

1) I let the teacher know 2 months before going.
2) I communicated with the principal 1 month before going.
3) We chose the least important week possible
4) She's in freakin' kindergarten.

When we had this meeting I sort of just sat back and took it all. But as I left, I started to get more and more mad. The contract is for one year, rather than just until the end of the school year. Plus, we're not inviolation of the stupid policy. She has five unexcused days. Technically 4 1/2 because one of the days she missed was a half day. The policy is ten. I feel like we're in trouble when we didn't yet really break the rule.

I love my daughter's school and her teacher, but I think they are over-the-top with this one. The one-year deal is ridiculous, expecially since the "10 unexcused days" policy is a school year policy.

Sorry for this being so long. I'm just still truly unhappy about it all. So, while we had an awesome time and really really enjoyed our time in WDW, I will not take our daughters out of school again, even when the younger one is in kindergarten, for five straight days. I would consider two, but not more.

Hope that helps! And I'm truly bummed that we're now on a summer vacation or school break only schedule. It's been sooooooooo nice going off season all of these years!

 

[RMulieri]

My Twsp has a real strict attendance policy as well, and we are pulling DD out of K the week before Xmas this year.It is not really up to the school to decide when as a family we can go on our trips ,nor is it negotiable in my mind. Dh and I are restricted with our jobs as to when we can travel and we can't go in the summer months because of that.