Pulling kindergardner out of school for 2 weeks.....

[CharlesTD]

Our kids miss 2 weeks every Dec to go to WDW and the school has never said a thing about it they are more than happy to oblige our family holidays. The teachers usually ask if they can tag along. We honestly don't see a problem with it for what it's worth up here we have different standards than in the US and our schools aren't funded by the number of students that attend etc so it is much more leiniant for us. Mind you I would never dream of not taking my kids out of school for the trip to WDW and I know they feel the same way.

 

[marathonmommy]

... I was in WDW last year during Jersey week which is during the NJ Teachers Convention and we ran into 4 teachers from our schools. I thought they were given the days off with pay to attend the convention that was in Atlantic City.

FYI:
Teachers are not given those days off without pay. Teachers' contracts are developed with those days in mind. Teachers' salaries are determined and based on the 180 (or more in some districts) days they are "working". I am not trying to be nit-picky, but teachers often get a bad rap.

 

[MrGrumpy222]

FYI:
Teachers are not given those days off without pay. Teachers' contracts are developed with those days in mind. Teachers' salaries are determined and based on the 180 (or more in some districts) days they are "working". I am not trying to be nit-picky, but teachers often get a bad rap.

Now I have friends that are teachers here in NJ and their pay, for that pay period that they are supposed to be at the convention, does not decrease. Please don't get me wrong, I don't really care but I still think it should be done during the summer. Call it what you want but they get paid to attend the Convention. That being said, it does make for a weak argument on their behalf when I pull my children to go on vacation the only time I can. Please take on offense, teachers play a vital role in our society and should be compensated well. I do not think that all teachers fore go the convention. I worked in A.C. during a few of them and let me tell you, there are thousands of them there. A very small few blow it off. By the way, Why does it seem that all Science teachers are alike and all English teachers are a bit ecentric. I just love that! Thank goodness for them.

 

[marathonmommy]

Now I have friends that are teachers here in NJ and their pay, for that pay period that they are supposed to be at the convention, does not decrease. Please don't get me wrong, I don't really care but I still think it should be done during the summer. Call it what you want but they get paid to attend the Convention. That being said, it does make for a weak argument on their behalf when I pull my children to go on vacation the only time I can. Please take on offense, teachers play a vital role in our society and should be compensated well. I do not think that all teachers fore go the convention. I worked in A.C. during a few of them and let me tell you, there are thousands of them there. A very small few blow it off. By the way, Why does it seem that all Science teachers are alike and all English teachers are a bit ecentric. I just love that! Thank goodness for them.

I know, I know, but . . . technically their contracts are based on 180 days divided into equal pay periods. They still get a check that week and it is the same amount as the other paychecks, but so are winter and spring breaks. (I know this only because of I was a teacher).

That said, I don't think you are wrong either - MANY teachers blow off those days, and I dare say MOST. (I was a teacher - most I worked with have young children of their own and the trip just isn't feasible.) I was a teacher, too. And once I was in WDW during the convention time. (They don't pay for your travel expenses to AC, so I went to FL instead that year.) Convention is "old school" and that union is strong, so I don't think it's going anywhere soon.

As a former teacher , I do not think less of anyone for pulling their children out of school for a week to go on a much-needed family vacation. Who am I to judge? (Heck, I'll do it with my own kid - her school vacation doesn't match mine!)

I take no offense at all. I think we are on the same team! :thewave:

 

[MrGrumpy222]

I know, I know, but . . . technically their contracts are based on 180 days divided into equal pay periods. They still get a check that week and it is the same amount as the other paychecks, but so are winter and spring breaks. (I know this only because of my profession).

That said, I don't think you are wrong either - MANY teachers blow off those days, and I dare say MOST. (I am a school administrator and I don't know of anyone who is going this year from my school - most of them have young children of their own and the trip just isn't feasible.) I was a teacher, too. And once I was in WDW during the convention time. (They don't pay for your travel expenses to AC, so I went to FL instead that year.) Convention is "old school" and that union is strong, so I don't think it's going anywhere soon.

As a former teacher and current administrator, I do not think less of anyone for pulling their children out of school for a week to go on a much-needed family vacation. Who am I to judge? (Heck, I'll do it with my own kid - her school vacation doesn't match mine!)

I take no offense at all. I think we are on the same team! :thewave:

I am glad that I didn't offend you Hey, my union gets pretty crazy too. Now I have one in H.S. and it will be getting harder to go. He plays football on the freshman team and in all honors classes. This may be our last December trip for a few years. He wants to go to West Point or the Air Force Academy. He broke 1000 on his SAT's in the 7th grade and gets straight "A's" so he may be a lock. His cousin is already at West Point.

Cheers

 

[tlbwriter]

DD told me today that she liked kindergarten better because all she doesn't learn anything new in first grade. So her falling behind is not a concern of mine. Two weeks of school is no big deal.

Yeah. That wouldn't make me say "Yay! She can miss two weeks of school and not miss a single thing! Isn't that wonderful!" It would make say "Yikes! Something is seriously wrong with my school!" I know you're going to say it's a wonderful school, but seriously, if NOTHING worthwhile happens for two whole weeks... how good could it be?

Why is it OK to have the Teachers Convention during the school year instead of during the summer vacation? HMMMMMM

Is this a work-related conference? If so, the teachers are not under contract during summer vacation, and therefore are not actually working for the school at that time.

And something that another poster mentioned... when you take your child out for two weeks, who helps him/her catch up? Are you asking the teacher to spend more one-on-one time with your child, which hurts the other students? Are you asking the teacher to stay after class to help your child, which isn't very considerate of the teacher's own valuable and limited "family time?"

I'm not against taking kids out of school. I took DD out of kindergarten for a couple of days before winter break last year, and I'm doing it again this year. But two weeks is a long time. And again, if your student misses *nothing* over the course of two weeks, isn't it something you should be concerned about?

I think one can easily get fixated on "family time" without thinking about the effect on the student and others. It's always easy to justify what we really want to do. Bringing up other absences, such as illnesses, is irrelevant. Since they are not planned, optional activities (and as much as we love our vacations, we all have to admit that they are optional), there is no comparison. And also, if "family time" is the most important thing, let's remember that it doesn't have to happen at Disneyworld.

To the OP... if winter is the only time you can take a vacation, doesn't your school have a winter break you could take advantage of?

 

[MazdaUK]

I haven't read all the posts as there are just too many of them and I know most will make me cross!

So what I think is.... education is more than a classroom, and your kid will have great experiences in WDW, not least learning patience (waiting in lines ).

We took our sons (5 and 11) out for 8 days at Easter (the rest was part of the school holidays anyway). I made them journals to complete (see themouseforless), which both the teacchers through was a great idea and asked them to bring them in when they got back. Obviously I had to help younger DS fill his in, but he got a lot of fun out of it. Epcot and AK in particular are very educational.

Your kid - your decisions - your fun holiday! (Can I come too )

 

[JenDaveBrendan]

Just wanted to give an update:
I spoke with my DS's kindergarten teacher about the trip yesterday. He said he had no problem with it. He also said he has had plenty of parents that have done the same thing. He said he would give me a packet of the curriculum for the 2 weeks (so I can work on it with DS) and asked for DS to do a journal/picture project to bring back to school and share with the class.

I appreciate and respect everyone's thoughts on this issue (I wasn't trying to turn this into a debate, however) As everyone knows, it is a sticky subject with many different opinions. I was just curious if anyone had the same experience since I was worried about pulling him out of public school.

Thanks!
Jen

 

[skiwee1]

Just wanted to give an update:
I spoke with my DS's kindergarten teacher about the trip yesterday. He said he had no problem with it. He also said he has had plenty of parents that have done the same thing. He said he would give me a packet of the curriculum for the 2 weeks (so I can work on it with DS) and asked for DS to do a journal/picture project to bring back to school and share with the class.

I appreciate and respect everyone's thoughts on this issue (I wasn't trying to turn this into a debate, however) As everyone knows, it is a sticky subject with many different opinions. I was just curious if anyone had the same experience since I was worried about pulling him out of public school.

Thanks!
Jen

I'm happy to hear your teacher feels time with family is important too! Packets are easily done. We have always did school work at night when coming back to the hotel and it worked out just fine! Have a wonderful guilt-free trip! I know we will!

 

[skiwee1]

Yeah. That wouldn't make me say "Yay! She can miss two weeks of school and not miss a single thing! Isn't that wonderful!" It would make say "Yikes! Something is seriously wrong with my school!" I know you're going to say it's a wonderful school, but seriously, if NOTHING worthwhile happens for two whole weeks... how good could it be?
?

My DD was in school for 5 days when she stated she wasn't learning anything yet. We don't start school around here til the beginning of September. Of course there is review time. She will not miss anything because she was given all of her work to be done while she is gone. Having 3 children ranging in age from 6 to 22 I think I can go by my own parental experiences in the matter of taking my kids out of school. Guilt free I might add! LOL! I can certainly help her with her work. If you feel that you aren't capable of helping your children with missed work then by all means keep them in school. I know I am more then capable and am happy to do it. Have a nice day.

 

[ms.ojo]

Oh my goodness! I have not read this entire thread but what's I've seen is getting really out of hand! We too are parents of a Kindergartener and I, like the OP, am taking ds out for 2 wks this Dec! Why 2 wks??? Dh has a conference in Orlando. so 1 week is time at the nice conference hotel...and the other week is time w/ the family at Disney. Do I wish it wasn't 2 wks of missed school? Yes. But am I going to pass up this golden oppty? No way. The financial savings to our family by tagging along w/ Dad's business trip is huge!!! His airfare is paid...and one full week of meals, hotel, transportation is paid! And seeing as we wanted Daddy along for the actual park touring...we added the 2nd week. I feel badly ds will miss some fun school time during the holidays...but he will have fun w/ his family too. We're going the week after Thanks giving and into Dec.

To the OP, do not feel badly. People on this board love to help, and share their opinions...sometimes they forget they can disagree....without being disagreeable!

 

[tlbwriter]

My DD was in school for 5 days when she stated she wasn't learning anything yet.

Okay, I'm confused. First you said it was perfectly fine to pull your child out of school for two weeks because she said she didn't learn anything anyway. Now you're saying that what she said was irrelevant. So why use it as a basis for your statement that missing two weeks of school is harmless?

She will not miss anything because she was given all of her work to be done while she is gone. Having 3 children ranging in age from 6 to 22 I think I can go by my own parental experiences in the matter of taking my kids out of school. Guilt free I might add! LOL! I can certainly help her with her work. If you feel that you aren't capable of helping your children with missed work then by all means keep them in school.

See, that's what I'm talking about. Someone had to prepare your child's work ahead of time. And probably had to do something different for your daughter because she would miss in-class activities and lessons. That's what I was referring to earlier when I said you need to think about who else you're affecting so you can get your faaaaaaamily time exactly when you want it. I'm perfectly capable of helping my first grader with her missed work (but thanks for suggesting you think otherwise. ) I think it's inconsiderate to ask the teacher to go to so much extra work just for our convenience. A few days, no big deal. Two weeks is different. Now I suppose you're going to say every single thing your daughter learns is on worksheets anyway, and the teacher never ever lectures to the class or has them do experiments or projects or anything like that, so the teacher just tore some pages out of the workbook and went to no extra work at all. But even if that's true for you, it's not true for everybody. Teachers DO have to put in extra work to help students catch up on what they missed (and even when the parent steps in, the teacher has to work on it... it's not like the teacher can just say "we learned about silent E today, be sure to teach that!"). Teachers have discussed this on similar threads. It *does* happen. Personally, I'd feel guilt over that.

 

[skiwee1]

Okay, I'm confused. First you said it was perfectly fine to pull your child out of school for two weeks because she said she didn't learn anything anyway. Now you're saying that what she said was irrelevant. So why use it as a basis for your statement that missing two weeks of school is harmless?


See, that's what I'm talking about. Someone had to prepare your child's work ahead of time. And probably had to do something different for your daughter because she would miss in-class activities and lessons. That's what I was referring to earlier when I said you need to think about who else you're affecting so you can get your faaaaaaamily time exactly when you want it. I'm perfectly capable of helping my first grader with her missed work (but thanks for suggesting you think otherwise. ) I think it's inconsiderate to ask the teacher to go to so much extra work just for our convenience. A few days, no big deal. Two weeks is different. Now I suppose you're going to say every single thing your daughter learns is on worksheets anyway, and the teacher never ever lectures to the class or has them do experiments or projects or anything like that, so the teacher just tore some pages out of the workbook and went to no extra work at all. But even if that's true for you, it's not true for everybody. Teachers DO have to put in extra work to help students catch up on what they missed (and even when the parent steps in, the teacher has to work on it... it's not like the teacher can just say "we learned about silent E today, be sure to teach that!"). Teachers have discussed this on similar threads. It *does* happen. Personally, I'd feel guilt over that.

Well actually I prepared her packet for what she will miss. I am a substitute in her school. I prepare a lot of packet for vacationing kids. At at our school the teachers don't have to take time away from the other kids. They let the subs or the parent volunteers to do it. We have more parent volunteers that are needed anyway so they are always more then happy to help. And no I don't know what goes on in other schools and really don't care. That would be up to the parent of the child to decide if a vacation is worth missing school over. Their child. Their business.

 

[tlbwriter]

And no I don't know what goes on in other schools and really don't care. That would be up to the parent of the child to decide if a vacation is worth missing school over. Their child. Their business.

Then it's probably not a good idea to tell people that it's perfectly fine to pull their kids out of THEIR schools (since you don't know and don't care what goes on there) because it doesn't create extra work for anybody. Obivously it *does* create extra work at your school - someone has to do it, even if that person is a volunteer. Other schools don't have parent volunteers sitting around waiting to take care of these tasks. So parents, please, if you don't think about what your child is missing in school, at least think about the people who are making sure your child doesn't miss anything in school, and try to minimize the extra work/time for them. That is all.

 

[MrsPete]

Well actually I prepared her packet for what she will miss. I am a substitute in her school. I prepare a lot of packet for vacationing kids. At at our school the teachers don't have to take time away from the other kids.

The teacher didn't have to tell you what the class would be covering during the absence? Didn't have to make a list of books that'd be read, concepts that'd be covered? Didn't have to give any instructions about the material?

When my students are out, it takes me a good bit of time to write out what we'll be doing, pull out worksheets ahead of time, etc. So I do that this week for one kid, two weeks from now I'll do it for another kid, the next week I'll do it for a third kid. And what really bothers me is that the great majority of the kids do not do any of the work.

 

[skiwee1]

Then it's probably not a good idea to tell people that it's perfectly fine to pull their kids out of THEIR schools (since you don't know and don't care what goes on there) because it doesn't create extra work for anybody. Obivously it *does* create extra work at your school - someone has to do it, even if that person is a volunteer. Other schools don't have parent volunteers sitting around waiting to take care of these tasks. So parents, please, if you don't think about what your child is missing in school, at least think about the people who are making sure your child doesn't miss anything in school, and try to minimize the extra work/time for them. That is all.

We can round and round all you'd like. You did the same argumentive crap the last time this subject came up. I believe everyone has said that if the child is doing fine in school then there shouldn't be a problem. The last thing I'm going to worry about when making a personal decision on whether to pull MY child out of school for personal reasons is if the teacher minds on not. The teacher is not the one in charge here. That would be me. I am done with this thread anyway as the OP has gotten the answer she had hoped for. Obviously her child's teacher wishes her a happy vacation and so do I. To the OP have a wonderful time!

 

[skiwee1]

The teacher didn't have to tell you what the class would be covering during the absence? Didn't have to make a list of books that'd be read, concepts that'd be covered? Didn't have to give any instructions about the material?

When my students are out, it takes me a good bit of time to write out what we'll be doing, pull out worksheets ahead of time, etc. So I do that this week for one kid, two weeks from now I'll do it for another kid, the next week I'll do it for a third kid. And what really bothers me is that the great majority of the kids do not do any of the work.

No she didn't have to do anything. All teachers, thanks to a new thing here at school, has a planner of what has to be done for the next 6 weeks. Everything on that planner has to be implemented and taught at a specific time. From math, to reading, to spelling, to science. I pulled her planner and there it is. This was done specifically because of the new curriculum brought into our school last year. I feel sorry for the teachers to have to plan that far ahead but that is the way it is done here.

 

[tlbwriter]

The last thing I'm going to worry about when making a personal decision on whether to pull MY child out of school for personal reasons is if the teacher minds on not.

Yes, you've made it very clear that you couldn't care less whether it makes extra work for the teacher. Goody for you.

Also, referring to someone else's posts as "crap" simply because they disagree with you is rude. It's fine to disagree with someone's opinion. But really, it's immature to get so nasty about it. Lighten up.

 

[sha_lyn]

I haven't read all the replies and I am keeping my opinion to myself. I know how nasty this subject can get.
However I know that here that 10 unexcused absences would result in the child having to repeat the grade.

 

[madge]

I know this type of question has been posted before about pulling kids out of school, excuse letters, and such... but I was wondering specifically about parents pulling out their kindergardners?? Is it looked at differently since it is only kindergarden and no homework yet? Did the school give you a problem?
My son is in a half day program at the public school and we want to pull him out for 2 weeks in January.
My parents (who are teachers) have already given me grief on this - but I honestly don't see the big deal since he isn't in the upper grades yet.
Thanks!
Jen

In our district, 10 days of absence is considered truant. Absences are taken very seriously. I live in a district with 3 extended breaks (Fall, Christmas, and Spring) and missing school for a vacation is heavily discouraged and usually considered unexcused.

In our district, Kindergarten students have homework each night.