pulling kids out of school to cruise...

AMEN!!!! This is SO annoying and happens at least half the time- and I teach kinder and first! We don't have grades per say, mostly report card scores are given on teacher input.... so I gotta think it happens less in the upper grades, but it is so frustrating to save all the work for a week (I am not allowed to give it ahead) and then have it never come back.


I would find this extremely rude to do and it doesn't surprise me. Now for DD when we missed for a trip in kindergarten and also when she was out sick in 1st grade we did not return the worksheets sent home, because the teacher said not to worry about it. I'm sure it varies from classes and schools, but for us I think DD's teachers knew I would work through those with her and she didn't want the extra paperwork sitting on her desk. :goodvibes
 
I've been reading this thread now for a few days now and probably will get bashed for my comments.

I teach middle school. Plenty of parents take their kids out for vacation. That's their choice. When this happens, I do spend a few hours putting together work for that student so that he/she is hopefully not too far behind when he/she return. I do get frustrated when the work isn't completed. If you have no intention of doing the work because you're taking a vacation then please don't ask for it. Likewise, understand that your child will be behind when they return. Some kids handle this just fine and work diligently to catch up while others simply don't bother. You know your children best so you do what works for you and your family. I just wish the parents wouldn't blame me when "sample student" isn't doing well in my class when they missed instructional time.

That being said, I would never pull out my high schooler nor my middle schooler. My high schooler won't even miss a day of school unless he's practically on his death bed with the flu. It's too difficult to make up that time especially with block schedule and AP classes.

On a side note, I do love my summers off, but like everyone here has noted, school vacations are peak travel season. I would LOVE to take a vacation during non-peak times. I'm sure I could incorporate my travel experiences into my curriculum. I could definitely find a good way to tie in DCL to Archimedes principle. However I would bet there would be a number of parent complaints if I missed a week of school to go on vacation.

As I said, I will probably get bashed for my comments.

High school teacher here and I could not agree with you more. Very well stated!! I teach in a top tier school in a Chicago suburb. I have students miss often for family vacations, sports tournaments, college visits, etc. Some students manage this fine, but for many students they do not have the maturity, organizational skills and/or ability to recover from an extended absence. For these students such an absence will often result in at least a drop in a letter grade.
 
High school teacher here and I could not agree with you more. Very well stated!! I teach in a top tier school in a Chicago suburb. I have students miss often for family vacations, sports tournaments, college visits, etc. Some students manage this fine, but for many students they do not have the maturity, organizational skills and/or ability to recover from an extended absence. For these students such an absence will often result in at least a drop in a letter grade.

I do have to say that when we get my stepsons homework before we go it is done when we turn it in and I do har I say I feel sorry for you teachers that do take the time to prepare for these students who will be gone and they do my bother to do it...... I myself would say that's inexcusable

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I asked one of my DD's teachers her thoughts on missing school for vacation and she said for good students, it was never a problem. She did inform me that the school was paid on attendance, so if they missed 1-4 days, the school would lose their funding for those days. If they were gone 5 or more days, they could do an agreement that they would do their missed work and the school would be paid for all days missed. So, ironically, it would be BETTER for the school to miss 5 or more days!
This said, my girls haven't missed school yet for vacations. My guess is at some point in elementary school they will.
 


I am the product of a single mother who pulled me out of (private) school often for vacations all the way through my school career. She had no choice; when she had conferences that took her out of town several times a year, she usually took me with her. (She could usually find a friend or babysitter to watch me for individual sessions she attended.) Most of the time her conferences were scheduled at interesting vacation destinations, and she would add a few days on one end of it so we could do things together. I always got my work done, I never got behind, and I never thought of missing school as that big a deal. Once I got to middle and high school, there were certainly weeks I could not miss, if there was a big test, project due, or theatre production I was in, but, honestly, I consistently missed school for family vacations.

I learned very early to find a school/life balance, which translated in adulthood to a very healthy work/life balance. I am a firm believer that children learn as much or more from seeing the world and seeing how other people live, as they do from reading about it. We've pulled our children out of school for vacations for two to three weeks a year every year. (Some of these are cruises, including Disney cruises.) I have an 8 year old who has eaten crepes in France, explored the British Museum in London, climbed ancient Mayan temples in Belize, stared open-mouthed around great cathedrals in Spain, snorkeled coral reefs in Honduras, and swum with, and studied the lifecycles of, sea turtles in Grand Cayman. He's done these all during vacations he took during the school year, with the blessing of his school, (who believes, as I do, that family time is important.)

Missing school does not work for all children, or for all schools, and it certainly isn't practical all times of the year. Only you know your own child's tolerance for disrupted schedules, and how easily they can make up work and get back into their routine. I HAD to learn to be adaptable as a child, I was going to be pulled from school. There may come a time when our kids don't want to be pulled from school because they may not be comfortable with it, but so far, our son is displaying the same adaptability I acquired as a child.
 
Great post, Golden Rose, I couldn't agree more, and good for you! Vacations are OUR time to teach our children. Things that we don't need or want them learning behind a desk. Why have children if you're not going to raise them? I'm sure there are special situations where this does not apply, but for most kids, and in most situations, pull them out, for goodness sakes, and make sure you communicate with your partners in the classroom to help them stay on top. Happy sailing!
 


I am the product of a single mother who pulled me out of (private) school often for vacations all the way through my school career. She had no choice; when she had conferences that took her out of town several times a year, she usually took me with her. (She could usually find a friend or babysitter to watch me for individual sessions she attended.) Most of the time her conferences were scheduled at interesting vacation destinations, and she would add a few days on one end of it so we could do things together. I always got my work done, I never got behind, and I never thought of missing school as that big a deal. Once I got to middle and high school, there were certainly weeks I could not miss, if there was a big test, project due, or theatre production I was in, but, honestly, I consistently missed school for family vacations.

I learned very early to find a school/life balance, which translated in adulthood to a very healthy work/life balance. I am a firm believer that children learn as much or more from seeing the world and seeing how other people live, as they do from reading about it. We've pulled our children out of school for vacations for two to three weeks a year every year. (Some of these are cruises, including Disney cruises.) I have an 8 year old who has eaten crepes in France, explored the British Museum in London, climbed ancient Mayan temples in Belize, stared open-mouthed around great cathedrals in Spain, snorkeled coral reefs in Honduras, and swum with, and studied the lifecycles of, sea turtles in Grand Cayman. He's done these all during vacations he took during the school year, with the blessing of his school, (who believes, as I do, that family time is important.)

Missing school does not work for all children, or for all schools, and it certainly isn't practical all times of the year. Only you know your own child's tolerance for disrupted schedules, and how easily they can make up work and get back into their routine. I HAD to learn to be adaptable as a child, I was going to be pulled from school. There may come a time when our kids don't want to be pulled from school because they may not be comfortable with it, but so far, our son is displaying the same adaptability I acquired as a child.

Thumbs up golden rose and to your mom!!!!!:)

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Definitely pull them. We have and will continue to pull the kids from school for an occasional vacation. Private school makes it fairly easy. I know some public school districts can make it problematic.
 
I agree with Carrie! My boys are in a private college prep school. My husbands busiest time of the year is the summer months. We took our boys out for a week long cruise every year when they were in lower school. We always alerted the school as soon as we scheduled it and I met with their teachers to get the work they would miss. Every morning after breakfast, they did 1-2 hours of school work before we started our fun. When we returned and they turned their work in, they were AHEAD of the class is several subjects. It is possible to do both! Spend good quality time with your kids now. They will forget most of the many days of school they attended but they will never forget the week you spend on a Disney cruise!
 
I see so many people who pull their kids out of school for vacations- I'm just wondering how you would feel if the teacher left for a week of vacation?

I'm not saying its wrong to pull kids out as long as they can keep up, but I'm a teacher and would love to go on vacation during the year when it's cheaper. I don't because I'd rather be in the classroom teaching my kids (high school math) instead of a sub.
 
Meh. Wouldn't bother me at all as long as the sub was able to do an adequate job teaching.
 
When our girls were in (private) school, their teachers and the administration were very supportive of us taking the girls on vacations during the school year. We even had teachers helping us to keep the surprise until the day of departure. Thankfully they understood that not all families can vacation during school breaks. We homeschool now, so it's completely a non-issue - I plan our vacations for when everyone is in school on purpose, lol!

I see so many people who pull their kids out of school for vacations- I'm just wondering how you would feel if the teacher left for a week of vacation?

I'm not saying its wrong to pull kids out as long as they can keep up, but I'm a teacher and would love to go on vacation during the year when it's cheaper. I don't because I'd rather be in the classroom teaching my kids (high school math) instead of a sub.

When my girls were in (private) school, their teachers sometimes did take vacation during the school year. I was just as happy for them as they were for us when we went on vacation.:thumbsup2
 
my2princessgirls said:
When my girls were in (private) school, their teachers sometimes did take vacation during the school year. I was just as happy for them as they were for us when we went on vacation.:thumbsup2

Awesome! I usually take 1 or 2 days off before a holiday to get a head start. I would just hope parents understand. Usually a sub cannot teach for me (high school math). The classes I teach are upper level so I choose not to take off too much. I usually don't have a lot of kids whose parents take them to go on vacation. It's just too hard to miss all of the AP/honors classes they are in high school.
 
jjje said:
Meh. Wouldn't bother me at all as long as the sub was able to do an adequate job teaching.

Subs usually can't teach the upper level math classes in high school. If I missed a week, the students would basically not learn anything new for a week.
 
my2princessgirls said:
When our girls were in (private) school, their teachers and the administration were very supportive of us taking the girls on vacations during the school year. We even had teachers helping us to keep the surprise until the day of departure. Thankfully they understood that not all families can vacation during school breaks. We homeschool now, so it's completely a non-issue - I plan our vacations for when everyone is in school on purpose, lol!

When my girls were in (private) school, their teachers sometimes did take vacation during the school year. I was just as happy for them as they were for us when we went on vacation.:thumbsup2

After elementary, we homeschooled as well. (Vocational classes from 15, 16, 17)

I remember one yr in elementary, there were several out of state weddings in our family and a FL trip or something. Was 5th grade or less so 10 or younger. Someone said something about attendance to Dad. He pointed out that having kids stand end to end with arms out in the assembly hall to demonstrate how big a whale is was no substitution for Sea World where he was taking us or that telling ghost stories wasn't academic either and that he was going to homeschool us through middle school anyway so it would be nothing to take us out a few months early. No one brought it up again. We have gotten to go all over the world since then. (We also enjoyed WDW in Jan almost every yr when next to no one was there because of his tech conventions being held there.) It was a great upbringing! We also had regular job experience in offices since we were 16 which we have built off of for yrs. Older sis is a top AL/FL realtor who has built a huge team, Twinkie has worked at Boeing and currently helps coordinate massive medical card / brochure projects for a firm, I went to some college, have worked for Japanese company and studied it in Detroit, moved south and apprenticed until I ran and operated my own business up until 2 yrs ago and now I work in agency marketing sales coordinating for broadcasting.

Bottom line, we turned out very successful and we are thankful to our parents for opening up all kinds of opportunities to us. My parents did not agree with all the teaching subjects anyway (not talking about math and English of course but certain subjects diverge from our viewpoints) and so they were our educators first and foremost.
 
As a former teacher in school, I never took a sick day or a vacation day knowing that if I missed a school day, it would be so hard at my ret
 
Ashleyfaz said:
Subs usually can't teach the upper level math classes in high school. If I missed a week, the students would basically not learn anything new for a week.

That's an inadequacy of the subs available in your system. I know our local system doesn't really have any qualifications required for subs other than breathing & not a felon. Some school systems do have subs available with advanced degrees & capable of teaching higher math/science classes.
 
As a former teacher in school, I never took a sick day or a vacation day knowing that if I missed a school day, it would be so hard at my return to get the students back on track. However, I was always excited for my students to be able to get away with their loved ones and explore new things. Isn't that what growing up is really about? I'm actually one of those strange people that honestly believe the PARENT knows what is best for their child. Yes, parents can make mistakes, but isn't the same true of educators?
Now I homeschooling and a LOVE the absolute freedom for myself and my students/children!!!
 

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