Pulling kids out of school for 7 day. Early or late in the year?

[minimouse43]

I am with all of you that a cruise is better education than in a class room.

I too am having problems with one of DD schools. She is 16 in 10th grade and we are leaving on the March 6th cruise.
I communicated this to all her teachers by phone, note to the school and by e-mail and cc: the principal, vice principal, counselors.

All the teachers were fine with it except the PE teacher. They have a rule at her school that if you miss one day you have to make up 6 laps around the track! That means that she will have to run 48 laps!! = 8 miles!!! I thought this was a little excessive and expressed my concern to the principal.

I told them with all the activities that we planned with shore excursions, snorkling, swimming would they take that in consideration? I would even make her run around the ship for god sakes. They told me no that is the rules!!!! Can you believe that!

This school has a rule that if you miss more that 10 days your grades automatially drop! She will be missing 8.
I can see this rule if you were skipping school then by all means then make her run the laps but she will be on a "excused" family vacation!

I am just going to document every activity she does and then take to the school board. I can't believe some of the rules they have especially since this might be the last vacation with my girls.
My DD (6th grade) school has no problem with it! I can't believe this is the same school district!

Oh well, we are going no matter what!!!

 

[hsteacher]

Take your kids out and enjoy every moment you can as a family!!! Legally (remember I'm a teacher saying all this), the school CANNOT penalize you for "authorized" absences -- authorized being the "parent" who ultimately has control over the child even at school -- schools can only act as "en loco parentis" when the parent is not there. In a vacation situation, there is no "en loco parentis" and the parent has the total discretion, as long as you call in, etc. DO NOT let a school penalize your child EVER for spending time with their family. Teachers complain constantly about the involvement of parents, family time, etc. as to why children don't behave or underachieve and why don't parents spend more time with their kids BUT then they turn around and attempt to penalize when you do have time as a family. I don't know what state you live in but PE (an elective by the way!!!) is not exactly required to graduate. There are minimum standards set by the state but no minimum attendance. It is "harrassemnt" legally (tell them this) to make your child "run laps" for an authorized absence. School rules do not over-rule state law and you can probably find the "school law" book for your state at your library -- oh fun, it's an interesting book!!! I always encourage parents to spend as much time with their kids as possible and if that means taking time off with them, do it. They will be gone all to soon. Get work ahead of time and don't let them harrass, belittle, or intimate you. YOU are the parent and pay those taxes -- you have more power than you know!!! If you need more info. pm me. Just do it and have a great time.

 

[minimouse43]

THANKS hsteacher!!
I feel better now! I live in Washington State. I have a friend that works for another school district and she has taken her kids out of school for trip to Hawaii, but she has alway told the schools it is for a family reunion so it would be excused. I just didn't want to lie about it.
I do believe it is harassment especially since she will be with me. Don't worry I am fighter and I will be at that school every day until they give me satisfaction!!
Thanks again!

 

[MrsPete]

HSTeacher -- rules vary widely from state to state. Our rules are VERY DIFFERENT. Family vacations must be approved by the principal. He or she would probably approve, say, a trip to Italy when the student would be visiting historic sites. The principal would probably say that a cruise would not be excused. I agree that some of the activities on a cruise are educational, but in all honesty, most are not.

From a teacher's standpoint, I would not worry about taking a GOOD STUDENT out for a few days, but a week is too long. I'd suggest choosing the "end of the 9-weeks" when there are a couple teacher workdays -- that way you could take a full week off but only miss 2-3 days of school. BIG DIFFERENCE!

Also, I would think twice before taking a high school student out of school. Now that we're on a semester schedule and our classes are 90 minutes per day, we cover an awful lot of material each day. Even a good student will be a bit daunted when faced with a whole week of Chemistry, Honors English, etc. In my 13 years of teaching, MOST of the students who have missed a whole week of school at one time (for whatever reason) have seen their grades suffer for it -- usually because they don't do the make up work, or they do it halfway. Of course, every parent thinks the student did it all, and high-school parents don't usually check up on these things.

Also, consider that if a high school student plans to go out for a sports team or wants to apply for newspaper staff, etc. the coaches/advisors will consider absences. For example, I'm the yearbook advisor. This year I had almost 50 applications,and I could only choose 12 new people. I did consider absences when I made the choices. Sure, a vacation is a worthwhile thing -- but I have to meet yearbook deadlines anyway, and I can't do that if my staff is on vacation! I wouldn't worry about choosing a student who'd missed a week of school for the flu -- that's not likely to repeat itself, but I'd probably think twice about a student who's likely to go on week-long vacations again.

So what should you do? Consider carefully your own circumstances. Are your children good students? What are their ages? How many days would they miss? Are they likely to miss lots more days, or would these days be the only ones all year? Do you have other options? Your children will miss something at school during those days -- you have to decide whether the trade-off is worth it.

 

[jrabbit]

Have taken DS out of school for over a week for a cruise. He did ALL of the assignments. Only in 1 class did they even GET to any of the assignments (in other words he was ahead of the class). Many of the assignments he did, no one else in the class did because the teacher decided not to do them (go figure!). Same thing has happend while he was sick for a few days. We got his assignments and he was the only one to do them because the teacher never assigned them to the class (and we're only talking 1 or 2 days here!!)

If your child is K-5 I would NOT hesitate to take them out of the class for a week (or even 2) at a time. You are a better teacher with your child (one on one) than the teachers are in classrooms of 30 (thank God for our teachers who are working their tails off under those conditions).

Grades 6-8 you really need to look at how your child is REALY doing in school (take off the rose colored glasses). If they are generally doing ok (C+ or better) no problem. YOU will probably have to work with your child to help teach them some of their lessons.

High School and AP type classes, don't know, but we are going to find out this comming fall when DS is a freshman.

Like others said, Go For It.

 

[chrisn]

I know that opinions on this vary greatly but I think it all really depends on the individual child, parent, teacher and school. We go to WDW every year and always go the end of February as we stay in my Dad's condo and this is when his time is. We always go for 2 weeks. I have a 1st and 10th grader. My 10th grader is an honor student and has never had a problem catching up although it takes her a week or two, she does it and her schools excuse her absenses. This is her first year of high school and she is going to be out for a week in May (for trip to Maui) so we'll see how she does. We also have a WDW/DCL trip booked for next February (she'll be in 11th) and I hope she will be ok. My 1st grader is fine. To me at that age, it really isn't an issue. He's a great reader, speller and accademically is doing wonderful so I won't worry about him until Jr. High. When DD was in elementary, it wasn't an issue either. It was a breeze for her to catch up so I guess I've been really fortunate. I know some schools will frown on this and won't excuse the absenses. You have to do what you feel is best for you, your child and family and I feel that spending fun loving, quality time with your family is just as important as a good education and I intend to keep doing so. I love going in February. Low crowds, usually good weather. Love it!

 

[hydster]

and this year they are in 4th and 3rd grades along with a preschooler. We went to DL on Friday afternoon just before Sept 11th and were scheduled to fly home on the 11th so our kids were supposed to miss 1 day of school because they didnt have it on the 10th for some teacher work day or something. Turns out we were in DL the whole week of the 11th of sept and our kids missed 4 days. The teachers were a little irritated by it but thankfully relented and gave them the work they missed. In Nov of 2002 we took them out of school for 9 days to do the WDW / Cruise vacation. We spoke to teachers and their homeroom teachers were fine. My dd's math teacher was awful about it and actually wouldnt let her make up the math. Her grades suffered a little bit because of it but we felt the benefit outweighed the concern. We are now taking our kids out again in May this year for a week but have learned from our school that it is a good time to take them. We've talked to their teachers (not the principal because he is a jerk) and they have assured us that they think it is a great opportunity for our kids. We have promised them that we will buy the internet package for our kids and our kids will write a trip journal online everyday and send it email to their class. They also asked that we take pictures of something "historical" in each port to share with the class as well as some little trinket or something to show as well. Other than that it is a piece of cake. I think that we will continue to take our kids out of school until they reach middle school and then we will have to reconsider it. Elementary school to us isnt as hard to miss as it is in middle school or high school. When I was a SR. in High school my parents took us on our first ever Carnival cruise for a week. We talked to all of my teachers and they sent me off with good graces. When we got back my english teacher decided to be a jerk and he gave me a D minus because of excessive absences. It didnt seem to do much to my average however and I was still able to get into the college I wanted and I did fine. I think it is all a matter of what you and your child are willing to accept and deal with. When we cant take our kids out of school during the year we will resort to going on other cruise lines not Disney during the summer when they are cheaper.

Heidi

 

[bairdbeth]

Thanks to No Child Left Behind, it may be harder for you to have your child excused for a cruise. School systems had to pick areas to work on and our system and several surrounding systems chose attendance as an area. In order to not be on the Failing Schools list our school must maintain a 95% attendance rate for the whole school for the whole year. While we teachers understand the benefit of family time and that vacations can be excellent educational opportunities, the Federal government has put their hand into the mix and schools can no longer be as understanding. That being said, I will be taking my DD out for 3 days at the beginning of Dec. in order to see WDW decked out for the holidays. I will make sure no standardized testing is going on, as missing that is a "no-no!"

 

[CheapMom]

We are taking our kids out for a week this coming December. Unfortunately our school will not give out work in advance. It will be given out when the child returns. I know that my daughter (grade 2) missed 2 days with the flu last week she came home with a stack of work that was 2 inches thick. I am nervous about what will happen come December. Oh well, at least they will have winter break to catch up as we will be returning on the 19th.

 

[abitjaded]

Beside the standard testing days, make sure your student will not miss offical school census days. Next year I will have one student in Jr.HS on a traditional school year and one in elementary on a track system. We wanted to book DCL on the October break for our Jr. HS student and pull our 2nd grader for that week. Turns out this is the week they keep track of attendance for Federal and State census. As the Parent Liason for the school I know this is a very bad thing. Otherwise our elementary is great at moving a child into another track for missed vacation-during-school time. They will also move off-track kids to an in session class if the child is struggling, so it is not a matter of making the teachers happy, but making the State happy.

Carla

 

[aprilgail2]

Originally posted by CheapMom
I know that my daughter (grade 2) missed 2 days with the flu last week she came home with a stack of work that was 2 inches thick.

When we took my godson out for a week they gave him so much work to do he would have been doing it most of the vacation! And a lot of it was crap work...like word searches...on the plane on the way down, I took one, his mom took one his little sister took one and he took one and we knocked those off..the rest of it after he showed me he knew how to do it I jsut sat there telling him "write down 8, write down false etc...no way was he going to be stuck doing it his whole vacation....this year we are taking his 14 year old sister out of school for the week and my daughter (she is only in preschool so it doesn't even matter). I have said this before and I will repeat it again...never ever did we ever regret taking him out of school...the vacation time we spent with him was way more precious than any time he spent in school...when he died at 14 we all took comfort in knowing that he experienced way morethan a normal 14 year old would have thanks to his vacation time with his mom and myself... you never know what life is going to throw your way...enjoy your kids while you have them, you never know what the future holds for you or them.

 

[carolsherman]

One thing I will agree on is that I think the kids get a better education out of school traveling more of a hands on type of thing for example my kids got to see a real volcano in December on the cruise we went on they got to meet exciting people etc., but my youngest who is an a student with speech apraxia his grades have started to falter a to c and with a week out in december and one in january I have to assume its because of the time off and his school does not give work at grade 3. My oldest is starting to get an attitude with school I don't know if it is just because he started 6th grade or the fact he just started middle school but his grades have also gone down. Like everyone says its a matter of personal preference trust me I would rather go the off weeks paying alot less for disney/disney cruise etc but not at the expense of my kids. Nor am I saying anyone else is because everyone is different so please don't flame me. This is just what is going to work for my family. If it works for everyone else thats great it did for me up until this year. Now I have to play the other side of the fence until grades get up. And my kids were strong always doing the work, extra credit etc., A, B students

 

[denise5374]

I wanted to weigh in on this situation..We have taken our kids out of school once in Oct. 2002 for a 7 day land/sea. The teachers were OK with it but I don't think we would do it again. I think with the summer vacations and the time scheduled off during the year that that is when we take our vacation. Also, my DH is a teacher at a private school and he cannot take time off during the school year unless he doesn't without pay (so thats an incentive)unless he lies and calls out sick. So for now, we will go when my kids and DH are not in school.

Just my two cents

 

[ClarabelleCow]

I was always taken out of school for vacations, back then we were given tons of work to do, my parents never did it for me, they helped, but didn't do it. that kind of defeats the purpose. We now have always taken my DD out of school, in 4th grade, they never gave her anything, or anything upon return, it waskind of weird, but it was like she never missed a beat. Last year same thing, but some work when we got home, but what I do is have her keep a travel journal, she writes in it eveyr day, takes flyers and pictures, and presents it to the class. Last year we were gond to St. Maarten for 2 weeks and went over the the neighboring island of Saba, hiked a rain forest, etc., etc. She did a whole spread on that and the teacher loved it, even commented to me that they can't condone taking kids out, but at least it was a learning experience. This year she missed 3 days in Dec for WDW, and will miss a week in April, I have a feeling though by 9th grade this will be harder and harder, she definatlaey won't be doing the 2 week trips, but may come for a week with us and leave with her Nana? But thenagain maybe not!!

 

[Dancind]

AprilGail, your post says it all.

We have done this several times and it was always a wonderful trip, but I do agree that it really depends on your child and the child's teacher(s). We took DD out for a week in Oct. of her 6th grade year, and there was less make-up work than when we took her out for a week in 2nd grade! That teacher saved every single worksheet from the week for her, and she had to do them all the next week! She didn't miss much learning, but she did miss a lot of "work"!

One trip that I regret a little was at the beginning of 5th grade, we took her out for the 3rd full week. My DD is one of those kids that takes a while to get adjusted to new teachers, routines, etc., and missing that week really threw her off. We actually wound up homeschooling that year for her, it was so bad. Could have still been bad if she'd been there, we'll never know. The teacher was a real tough guy, no quarter for my smart but LD daughter. On the bright side, we took a couple of more trips that year, what the hey! The homeschool teacher (me) was OK with it!

DD missed two days this year and will miss three days next year for Christmas cruising, both right at the end of the semester. Wasn't a big deal this year, and I'm hoping it will be the same for 8th grade. I'm a little worried, because I think they will have finals scheduled, but they made the dumb schedule of going until Dec. 22 AFTER we scheduled our cruise.

Once she starts High School, I think that will be the end of missing school. That is, unless I can convince her to homeschool again! Diana

 

[Rock'n Robin]

Someone briefly mentioned this but one thing to make sure of is that you don't miss any standardized testing. It is very difficult to make that up later and with all of the stupid NCLB laws every school is judged on every test. They also use those tests to place kids in advanced classes, etc. My DD#2 has a boatload of tests to take in 3rd grade next month.
As for HS students (I teach HS) don't pull them out the week before semester exams. They will miss important review, as well as additional material some teachers feel the need to cram in at the last minute. At my school the exam is worth 1/5 the semester grade!
I've taken the girls out for 2 days at a time for two Christmas WDW trips, using my personal days, but I'll never be able to take a week during the year unless I don't want to be paid. So it's summer for us as well.
Robin M.

 

[pooh luver]

We pulled my DS out of school for a week last year when he was in 3rd grade and I don't regret it a bit. We asked his teacher for the work he missed so he could finish it before we left. Many times experiences they have on trips like this is more than they can have in a classroom. Take your DD and enjoy.

 

[momm2four]

You asked whether it would be better to take them out early in the year or at the end of the school year....well....

Taking them out at the beginning could be better b/c, quite honestly, the first several weeks are a review and probably wouldn't result in your child missing a lot of new content.

However, depending upon your child's teacher, at the end of the year SOME teachers relax a little since those lovely standardized tests are over. I have heard several of my fellow teachers comment after testing is over, "Now, we can teach the way we want to and have fun!" A teacher might not get bent out of shape if she doesn't think a child is missing content that will be on "THE TEST".

I would vote for the beginning of the year.

Lori P.

 

[LargoLori]

Thank you everyone for posting. The reason that this decision is extra difficult is that DD will be going to a gifted school next year. It is within the same school system but teachers and a principal that we are not familiar with. If she was remaining at her old school the decision would be much easier. We do have FCAT testing here in Florida so I have to be careful to schedule vacation around that. I know that travel can be such a great learning experience and she would probably come away from the week with much more than if she had sat in a classroom. Unfortunately, we won't meet her teacher until this August and we really want to finalize out plans before then. Maybe DCL will post the summer 2005 dates soon and this won't even be an issue for us. I am leaning towards the beginning of the year to pull her out if we do. She would have been at the school for the year and there would be no FCAT testing that early. Just have to travel in hurricane season. Thanks again to all. I really appreciate the help.


Lori

 

[DreaminDisney]

Originally posted by kcashner

I don't think you can blame grade problems later on having missed 5 school cays for the cruise.

I agree with this.

We're taking our 1st grader out for a week in May.