Pulling kids out of school?

[Mommy26]

Are you taking your kids out of school to go to Disneyland?

My children will miss four days of school to go on a 5 day vacation, but we could not go any other time. We had to work around DHs work schedule, MILs work schedule and transportation. There is no way I was going to say no.

How are you planning trips without missing school?

 

[Queenbillabong]

We're going for five days, but DS will only miss two days as I planned around a professional day and a weekend - not that I would mind taking him out for longer if I had to. We don't go on vacation all that much and he can bring anything important with him (I will be working a bit while we're gone, so he will have some time to keep up).

 

[MK2thcleaner]

My son is going to miss the first 2 1/2 weeks of his 8th grade year. We're going to DL then doing the Panama Canal Repo. I feel kind of bad, but then I also think it's so worth it. He's an excellent student, rarely misses school, and really loves school. Even when he's sick, it's hard to get him to understand he needs to stay home for his and everyone's benefit. I look at it like this, this is the last year we can do this. He can't miss days in high school. This is also a special time because we are traveling with my parents. I think family time is very important.

He knows that it's possible his school will require him to do Saturday school to make up the hours, and he's okay with that.

FYI: he's missed 10 days of school before for a WDW trip. He continued to be a straight A student and I don't regret it.

I couldn't afford to do a trip like this if it was at peak season. Traveling off-peak really saves me money!

 

[jemilah]

I have done it every year except this one, the reson we did not this year is DS11 is on student council and they limit the absences they can have so we could not chance using up his sick days. We are upfront that we need t go out of town and ask for work to do . Some teachers are great about it some not so much. Some won't give the work until you get back. I usually say this is our only time we can go due to work, and the boys work hard to not get behind.
Now when I was in school my parents were encoraged to take me to travel and I usually was asked to write a journal or report on what I saw, they understood that alot of learning occurs out of the classroom.
Finally they are YOUR kids, do what you think is right for them! Have fun!

 

[Mommy26]

Thank you.
My kids also love school and don't have trouble keeping up. I'm getting their work for them to do ahead of time, but I'm still getting dirty looks from the office when I tell them why.

We are also going with extended family and absolutely could not go any other time.

 

[jemilah]

Don't let them bring you down! Thats what they do, if they are anything like the staff at our school , I pulled mine mid day for an emergency and boy they were still mean.

 

[JenDisneylandlver]

We've done it, usually he's never missed more then 2 days though. My Mom pulled me out to go when I was a kid too. It never effected either of our learning and we always made up our work.

We homeschool now. That's one nice thing about it, we go on vacation when we want to.

 

[Mommy2PrincessAbby]

We are not there yet (dd is only 4), but right now I would say that if she wasn't having trouble keeping up, I wouldn't have a problem pulling her out of school--especially for something like DL to beat the crowds. Right now the teachers at preschool seem surprised by our choice of vacation days... they never fall in line with traditional times off--except Christmas holiday... and we like to travel when no one else in our area is too!

~Lisa

 

[ptlycloudy]

I know this is a controversial topic. I place a high value on family time , vacations, and life learning. I think it is fine as long as the expectation is there that the work has to be made up. I try to keep the number of days to a minimum working around long weekends or professional days. I want my kids to know that vacations and family time are important. Just as important as any job or school. If there isn't down time for people to rejuvenate then I believe their performance and well being suffer. I subscribe to the theory that I work to live not live to work. I want my kids to know that life is a balance. Yes, there is summer break and holidays to take vacations but my kids are not the only members of the household. It is not possible for my husband to travel during the summer and I can't travel during the holidays.

The looks from the office is just because they are worrying about how they will get funding. If the child is absent without a contract the school does not receive money for the student. My dd's teacher doesn't like it simply for the fact that she is so disorganized that she can't just hand me any work that they will covered because she hasn't planned it yet!!

Enjoy your family time!!

 

[rentayenta]

Are you taking your kids out of school to go to Disneyland?

My children will miss four days of school to go on a 5 day vacation, but we could not go any other time. We had to work around DHs work schedule, MILs work schedule and transportation. There is no way I was going to say no.

How are you planning trips without missing school?

We pull them out of school for trips. It just life. I hate to go when its crowded. They are in YR school right now but we usually go with friends so we try our best to make it the least painful for all parties. Their teachers have been great thus far. My oldest DD is going to D.C. with DH this September for a leadership forum so I am pulling the little out out to go to Disneyland!

 

[wadelle2]

I just had a conversation with three other mothers at my daughter's dance class the other day about this same topic. One of the moms is taking her daughters out of school for a week next week for a DL trip. I confessed I took my daughter out for 4 days in December before their xmas break started for our DL trip. We were upfront and notified the office and the teacher in advance, so we had all of her classwork and homework which we did (plus more!) I still got a SARB notice with an official warning about missing school, that we were being reported to the superintendent, with warnings of consequences if she continues to have unexcused absences, etc. Those 4 DL days were the ONLY days she'd ever missed school. It was all very official sounding and a bit scary. The other mothers in the room assured me that this is just a procedural letter that everyone gets with unexcused absences and there's nothing to fear. As it turned out all four of us took our kids out of school for DL trips in the last year! One mother shared that the best method is to apply for independent study during that time. That way, the child is not expected to be at school but the district still gets paid for the days she's gone. I'm going to look into that for our January trip when we plan to take our daughter out for another 3-5 days.

I also am of the mindset that one week off during the year for family time is time well-spent assuming the child is not struggling in school and that arrangements are made in advance for homework, etc. Especially in this day and age when summer vacations are shorter than ever, both parents often work, and kids schedules are so full, the benefits of a family trip are SO important to kids and to families.

 

[ptlycloudy]

We also did an independent study contract for my dd, in first grade, for our trip to DC. It just required signing a form and doing the missed work. She learned more on that trip than she ever will in her classroom with the activities we did and the people she met. It is required in our school if you are going to miss more than 3 days in a row. Then the school is paid and everyone is happy.

 

[samkj]

There have been many, many discussions on this subject.

I for one would never pull my kids from school for vacation. Its not a matter of catching up, as they would have no problems there, its just we feel school is a commitment that we need to respect. We have plenty of other times (they are in school 180 days, which leaves 185 non-school days) we can go on vacation and just accept crowds as a normal part of our trips. We still get our quality family time.

 

[mindylovesmickey]

I home school my dd8, just for this very reason. We are military and when dh is home, we want to be able to do vacations and family time. I got tired of dealing with public schools and attendance policies and such. Our time as a family, whether it's at home, at Disneyland, or in Timbuktu, is the most important and precious times we have, and it's what gets us through our deployments, both for the kids and I, and for dh. I will be gosh darned if any government entity is going to tell me when my family can go on vacation, or punish us for missing some school. Home schooling gives me the flexibility I need, I realize not everyone can do it, but it works for us.

I say go on vacation, let your kids have fun, and don't feel bad about it. Just make sure the school work gets done as well.

 

[pixiewings71]

We have taken our girls out for weekend trips to DL but for us it's only a day at a time. For instance we went in Dec. for DD's 8th birthday, we took both girls out on Monday so we were in the parks Saturday, Sunday and part of Monday. They are both at the top of their classes so their teachers were OK with it. DD11 is in 6th grade, her teacher gave her an assignment and she did most of it on the drive down, the rest she did on the drive back. DD8 is in 2nd grade, she didn't get an assignment but she did bring home extra work during the week so she wouldn't fall behind. I feel that family time is very important, I don't think most family get enough of it so we try to balance family and work/school time. While work and school is very important family will always be more important to us.

 

[DisneyNic]

I was taken out of school for a week atleast every other year while I was growing up to go to DL. My parents informed the school beforehand, and sometimes I was given catch up work before we left and sometimes not until we got home. I was always at the top of my class and it never affected me to miss school, even for an entire week. My kids are 2 & 5 right now, but will be 6 & 4 when we take our next trip. My DD will have just started 1st grade, and DS Pre-K. I will be taking them out for an entire week. While I believe that school is very important, our family time is much more important. And like many others, my DH and I's schedules do not allow us to travel during the summer or holidays, so we will continue to travel when WE can and we will continue to take OUR children out of school whenever that may be.

 

[bonita_babe232]

My son will be in gr.1 also next time we take a trip, and i will be taking him out of school to go! I don't think the schools here are as strict as some of your guys school's down there sound. Aslong as you tell them up here that your gonna be gone and you get any work done it's my understanding they don't care to much. I know when i was younger i was takin out of school for a few trips, and just had to do my homework at night in the hotel. I'm not sure once they are in highschool what i will do because its a harder to catch up as you have so many diffrent teachers but elementry i'm not worried about! For me a trip to DL is alot of money so i would rather go when we would enjoy it more meaning off season, once the kids are older i might not mind waiting in lines so much cause i could get them what ever handheld game is popular by then... but waiting in line with a 5, 3, 1 yr olds is gonna be hard even short lines... so for now i don't mind taking them out!

 

[JenDisneylandlver]

We also believe school is a commitment that deserves respect. But we also don't feel we are disrespecting that commitment by going on vacation!

We have better quality time when we go on vacation during non-peak times (which these days isn't always easy to figure). We can relax and enjoy being together better. If keeping up the grades isn't an issue, I can't think of one that would prevent us from doing that. The schools keeping their funding for a few days never concerned me that much! LOL

I can respect those who don't want to do so though. If they are fine with big crowds, and have jobs that are good with taking time off then, more power to them! But I assure anyone that taking a few days to a week off from school doesn't mean these families commitment to education is any less.

 

[nutshell]

Are you taking your kids out of school to go to Disneyland?

My children will miss four days of school to go on a 5 day vacation, but we could not go any other time. We had to work around DHs work schedule, MILs work schedule and transportation. There is no way I was going to say no.

How are you planning trips without missing school?

Yes. We are pulling our daughter out for five days. However, we will get an independent study packet that she can complete so the days will not be counted against her. We will be gone M - F. We will get the packet the Friday before we leave and she will complete the weekend before our trip and the weekend after, before she returns to school the following Monday.

This is in California. I would check with your school district and see if they have the independent study. In my district (and maybe the state) the student must be absent for at least five consecutive days.

 

[godalejunior]

Yep, we only go during the school year and pull DS out. Last year he was in preschool and this year he was in Kindergarten so he missed a minimal amount of school. Next year as long as he is doing well in school I will take him out.