Pulling kids out of school for a WDW trip

[Queen of the WDW Scene]

Take your kids out because you enjoy Disney as a family. But let's not go to ridiculous extremes and claim that a theme park with cartoon characters is educational. Going to Rome to see history, that is educational. Visiting the World in Epcot is visiting a theme park. Not even close.

Its my opinion why the heck do you even care?
But as I told another poster as a child my family road tripped to Disney and along with the education at Disney we also went to DC, Stone Mountain, Rock City, Ruby Falls, The Lost Sea, Silver Springs, Weeki Wachee Springs (home of the mermaid), Homosassa Springs (home of the manatee), Cypress Gardens..... they are educational places while being fun so yep Disney is too in my book. Learned a heck of a lot there especially at Epcot but also the other parks. Heck I have learned so much just from COP alone. Its the first place I saw a stereoscope and then when I went to the Letchworth (grand canyon of the east) I actually saw one in the museum and found out it actually is a toy lol.

 

[tex1989]

I would think it is common sense that there are consequences for any actions in life.

If a parent does not realize this then they have bigger problems that go beyond the scope of this thread.

Based on my 14 years of listening to my wife tell me the horror stories she dealt with each day and granting you the idea that if parents who can't deal with this have bigger issues that go beyond the scope of this thread then I can only use a Spock like response and say "the only logical conclusion is that many Parents have problems that go beyond the scope of this thread."

 

[Ellie008]

My DH's spring break does not line up with my kid's school break. We can (and do) take trips during the summer, but we also pull the kids out of school and go on a trip during DH's spring break. So the kids have missed a week of school for vacation every year so far. I expected that to stop in middle school, but so far DD says she is fine with making up the work. As long as she is comfortable with it, I am going to keep doing it. The school is fine with it. It does count as "unexcused", but there are no consequences other than having to make up the work.

 

[LSUmiss]

Kind of off topic, but sometimes I believe the “bad school” thing is kind of a chicken & egg scenario. Do good students avoid the school because of poor results? Or, are poor results due to the fact good students don’t attend? Perhaps both.

In Orleans, I think it’s money, corruption, & demographic changes over the years. That started the issues & now they’re worse b/c no one with options goes to public school here. But, in New Orleans, the catholic school system has always had a huge presence. Like I said in the pp, even my grandparents attended catholic schools. To give you an idea, one of my grandmothers attended a catholic high school that was established in 1791 & my DH attended a high school established in 1849. So there is a long history of private catholic schools in the area & a continued decline in the public school system.

 

[GreatLakes]

You are the parent and should know what is best for your kid. If you know they won't fall behind in school if they miss a few days and they are at an age where that makes sense go for it. I think the schools try to manage way too much of what should be the parent's job.

However, I don't think for one minute anyone goes to Disney because it is as or more educational than school. I go at least once a year and may one day take my kid out of school to go (too early to tell) but I won't lie to myself and say it is for education. It isn't.

 

[Gumbo4x4]

Based on my 14 years of listening to my wife tell me the horror stories she dealt with each day and granting you the idea that if parents who can't deal with this have bigger issues that go beyond the scope of this thread then I can only use a Spock like response and say "the only logical conclusion is that many Parents have problems that go beyond the scope of this thread."

DW has spent a similar amount of time as a school clerk/secretary.

The horror
The horror

 

[tex1989]

DW has spent a similar amount of time as a school clerk/secretary.

The horror
The horror

Amen Brother!

 

[sam_gordon]

Why not both?
You dont think other educational places are fun? My niece had a blast in China, Europe, and Peru.
And when I was growing up and my parents were taking me out to go to Disney we road tripped it so we stopped in DC, went to Stone Mountain, Rock City, Ruby Falls, The Lost Sea, Silver Springs, Weeki Wachee Springs (home of the mermai), Homosassa Springs (home of the manatee), Cypress Gardens..... tons of fun and education to be had all around you.

So you're going to WDW because it's educational? As you say... tons of fun and education to be had all around you. Go shopping, go to a mini golf course, go ice skating. You're not going to WDW BECAUSE it's educational. Can you learn something there? Sure. But you can learn from a LOT of places. That's not why you're going to WDW. That's not why your family went to all those places either.

 

[Queen of the WDW Scene]

So you're going to WDW because it's educational? As you say... tons of fun and education to be had all around you. Go shopping, go to a mini golf course, go ice skating. You're not going to WDW BECAUSE it's educational. Can you learn something there? Sure. But you can learn from a LOT of places. That's not why you're going to WDW. That's not why your family went to all those places either.

Ok great opinion. Now leave mine alone. Thanks.

 

[siren0119]

So you're going to WDW because it's educational? As you say... tons of fun and education to be had all around you. Go shopping, go to a mini golf course, go ice skating. You're not going to WDW BECAUSE it's educational. Can you learn something there? Sure. But you can learn from a LOT of places. That's not why you're going to WDW. That's not why your family went to all those places either.

Perhaps a little less assuming what someone else is thinking might be in order? Since you don't *know* the PP, or their thought process, you can't really make that kind of definitive statement.

 

[wilbret]

time to close the thread... it's been fun

 

[Summer2018]

While I have certainly advocated that you should do what you want in terms of vacation during school, I do freely admit there are limitations due to the law. One can read this statement at it's extreme and say "Hey if I want to keep my kid out of school all year to tour Africa, then I can" Well yes you can, but at that point if your permanant residence is in the US then you have an obligation to apply for Homeschooling and follow an accepted curriculum to make sure your child is being educated. If not then you will be held accountable for your actions. That is the world we live in.

While it seems strange in some instances my wife as an Attendence Clerk was able to help people avoid issues if they spoke to her first. We live in a suburb of Houston and due to our location we have people live here from all over the world. Many to work in the Medical Center and at MD Anderson Cancer Center, Many to work with NASA, and many who come for the Oil and Gas business. As a result people want and need to take international trips all the time for family matters, funerals, weddings, etc. Obviously these trips can exceed the allowable days out of school for the student. In those cases my wife's best and easiest advice was to withdraw the student from school and upon return just re enroll them. No problem. no missed days on the record, no missed homework, no one questioning where the heck the kid has been. In other words there are solutions that do not turn into huge issues. So ask and be flexible and it does not become an issue.

Withdrawing students is a creative idea unless a student fills your child’s spot while you’re out of town. My school is overcrowded because it’s one of the better schools in the inner city district. I had a student withdraw and move to Florida on a Monday morning, and by Tuesday morning, there was a new student to take his spot. The father of the boy who moved with his mother to Florida said that the boy is returning in three months to live with his father again. The father wanted us to hold his spot. The secretary just laughed. There are 13 children on the waiting list for my classroom right at this moment.

 

[longboard55]

what the local district did was add a lot of school vacation days around traditional vacation times, but does not allow vacation time during regular school days. Seems to work. but it made the school year longer

 

[Kitty 34]

time to close the thread... it's been fun

It's definitely been the usual responses that even the OP was aware of probably getting when asking for opinions..........

 

[Toolulu22]

what the local district did was add a lot of school vacation days around traditional vacation times, but does not allow vacation time during regular school days. Seems to work. but it made the school year longer

Interesting..My sister moved to a city outside of Charlotte, NC. Her children attend the public schools there, and she works in one of the elementary schools. A frustrating thing she has to deal with each year is that the elementary schools run on a different schedule than the middle and high school schedules. Same total number of weeks per year, but the elementary schools have two weeks off in October, and two extra for Christmas--four 'extra' weeks. However, they have four fewer weeks in summer. Essentially, she and her youngest are on a different schedule than her two older kids. I always wondered why they would do this.

 

[Colleen27]

In our district, a masters degree is a minimum requirement to teach. It cracks me up when parents say they can teach it just as easily at home. I bet anyone can do your job easily too? If it is so easy and you don't like the policies, then is should be a piece of cake to homeschool. Our district also offers an online program, so that may be an option for parents that want to travel during the school year.

That's a ridiculous leap. Helping a kid make up a few days of missed work isn't comparable in any way to being a classroom teacher. It is closer to being a sub (which doesn't even require a degree in my state or district), since you're following a lesson plan that a qualified teacher designed and using materials s/he developed or selected, but even subbing requires classroom management skills that helping your own kid(s) catch up doesn't.

Again, it is choice, which is a good thing. The thing you can't have is your cake and eat it too. You can't be part of the best school district here and also expect teachers to accommodate your whims to travel outside of school breaks.

That may be true in your corner of the world but it is hardly universal. Around me, it is the lower performing districts and the schools serving disadvantaged communities that have the strictest attendance rules, while the highest performing schools and those with the most involved parents that are the most permissive.

Interesting..My sister moved to a city outside of Charlotte, NC. Her children attend the public schools there, and she works in one of the elementary schools. A frustrating thing she has to deal with each year is that the elementary schools run on a different schedule than the middle and high school schedules. Same total number of weeks per year, but the elementary schools have two weeks off in October, and two extra for Christmas--four 'extra' weeks. However, they have four fewer weeks in summer. Essentially, she and her youngest are on a different schedule than her two older kids. I always wondered why they would do this.

Sports. Elementary schools can get creative with their schedules and plan solely around what produces the best educational results, but middle and high schools usually want to accommodate athletic schedules. So they tend to stick to the way it has always been done, because that's how the seasons are set up and how all the opposing teams are doing it and neither the students/families or staff are supportive of basically extending the school year by holding practices through the scattered weeks off. At least, that's been the way it has played out around me - one district has elems only on the modified schedule, and two districts rejected the idea entirely because they didn't want different school calendars for the different levels.

 

[Kae]

I don't know what state you live in but you said it was a generic letter they may have had to send it you and Mark that they did make contact with you about the absence days. Some times it's all about the paperwork.

 

[Patience]

Take your kids out because you enjoy Disney as a family. But let's not go to ridiculous extremes and claim that a theme park with cartoon characters is educational. Going to Rome to see history, that is educational. Visiting the World in Epcot is visiting a theme park. Not even close.

This. At our school, you can request an excused absence for vacations if there is an educational component to the trip but I felt silly writing that a Disney vacation was "educational".

 

[DopeyDame]

I agree. Do what you want with your children. But also accept any and all consequences of your choice without complaining. If your student gets a zero for missing a test (ie: no makeups allowed in our district,) you can't complain to the teachers.

I've only seen one person complain about the consequences. (The poster who disagreed with the 0 policy)
Instead, most parents are saying that they've taken their kids out and haven't had a problem, and that they deem the consequences to be acceptable for their family.
What makes you think people don't accept the consequences?

 

[DopeyDame]

Interesting..My sister moved to a city outside of Charlotte, NC. Her children attend the public schools there, and she works in one of the elementary schools. A frustrating thing she has to deal with each year is that the elementary schools run on a different schedule than the middle and high school schedules. Same total number of weeks per year, but the elementary schools have two weeks off in October, and two extra for Christmas--four 'extra' weeks. However, they have four fewer weeks in summer. Essentially, she and her youngest are on a different schedule than her two older kids. I always wondered why they would do this.

Oh my goodness that would make me livid!!! How do you schedule around that as a parent? Presumably a ton of families have kids in both elementary and middle school. Is this some sort of phased in transition period or something, or is this the way it is for the long term? Ugh!