School work

[dandbsmom]

I was a little annoyed on Wed afternoon when my DSs came home with a ton of paperwork from their teachers since they were missing the next 2 days when we were going on the Wonder. When did they expect them to do this work? Like I was supposed to take it on the ship? Right! Mine you, neither of my DSs have missed a single day of school this year (except for the Hurricanes!) They are also very good students. Anyone else experienced anything like this?

 

[my3princesses]

Oh that's too bad and sounds like a teacher who doesn't know how to have fun!

We go on holidays each year and pull the kids from school because it's crazy to go on March break, plus our kids are bright enough that they would not fall behind too much.

Our school has a great program for those who miss days as a folder with notes about what they missed is filled out by the teacher or a friend and given when the student returns.

Our teachers (kids aged 13, 11, 9) are thrilled that the kids are going on the cruise next month and just tell them to have a great time - that's it. However with this said it is my child's responsibility to get caught up on missing work that is important. If it is something not important the teacher will usually excuse them as long as they understand the concept taught, they are happy. Sometimes my kids have brought a novel along that they are reading in class that they can read while waiting for the plane, but that's all.

Maybe you should speak to the teacher!

 

[cypress_star]

3 years ago when we cruised my children missed a whole week of school and were expected to make up any missed school work. We drive to FL from Louisiana and it gave them ample time to finish all work. Like I told my children, it's a small price to pay to receive such a wonderful reward, A CRUISE!

We will be leaving next week to cruise again, but this time my children will be missing only 2 days of school and again will be required to make up all work.

 

[sunkissed212]

When I was in school and my parents would take me out for 2 weeks to go to Florida and WDW, I would always take school work with me. I was always a good student and my parents weren't too worried about me falling behind but it was always important to keep up while we were gone. I would get the work beforehand and at least 1 hour each evening was spent working on it. I still had a ton of fun and a great time on vacation but I also went back to school knowing that I was going to be on the same page with all the other kids in my class.

 

[dandbsmom]

I really don't have a problem with them making up the work but if you saw the list for only the 2 days, it is incredible. DSs are in 1st & 4th grades. Especially since it was only 2 days. Maybe next time I won't let them know ahead of time! Also, how were they supposed to get it done by Monday? I will send a note with what we accompished this afternoon. Which by the way has been a hassle so far since they are pretty tired! Felt like a rotten mother as soon as we got in the car and arrived home---now come down off of your cruise high and do your homework! We'll have to finish the rest tomorrow or so.

 

[banderson]

Last year, we pulled our kids out of school for three entire weeks and went to Maui/Oahu on vacation. My boys were then 8 and 6, so grades 3 and 1.

It was a battle...I must admit. Imagine your boss saying, "Take the day off, but write me up that big report before you come back." It's a real downer but you can get through it if you adjust your expectations and set up a mini-schedule. Here's how we managed.

Being from the East coast, our kids were waking up at 2-3 a.m. Hawaii time. That's when we would do anything requiring detail/accuracy like math, for instance. Anything that could be done lying down or in the absence of a table, such as reading/memorization, was done on a lounge chair in the shade when the sun was at its highest. It gave us the added benefit of keeping our fair-skinned, blue-eyes boys out of the hot sun for a while. Immediately after lunch, when energy was back on track, I had them write in their journals. That was language arts (and a great souvenir to boot). Then, before dinner, they had to draw a picture to accompany their journal entry and to illustrate some element of Hawaiian life/culture. This was social studies/visual arts.

My eldest had to make-up some tests when he got back and his grades did not slip. What he learned while away far outweighed what he missed in school. There is no better way to learn geography, history, language and culture than by travelling...you just have to incorporate them into your trip activities and all that requires is a bit of creativity/planning.

On our upcoming February cruise, the kids will be on spring break, but we'll still have reading hour and the journal. I've picked books with a Mayan theme (to tie into visiting some ruins in Mexico) and the journals will be a chance for them to write about their adventures. They'll be great souvenirs to share with their class.

Sorry, I didn't have the age of your kid(s), but I hope at least some of my comments prove useful.

 

[ClarabelleCow]

I only wish teachers would give work in advance!!! I see nothing wrong with them giving the missed work. We take our daughter out 2 weeks every year, some years they give her work to do, others they haven't, but then when she gets back, she is slammed with work. I don't see how taking time off from work/school is the same. With work, your taking "vacation" time, with school, your skipping it! Don't get me wrong, I am the first to say go for it, and I do sometimes get dirty looks for taking my daughter out, she is in 7th grade, hasn't missed a day all year and I already spoke to the teachers about the 2 weeks she will miss. But it will be my job to make sure she is current and understands the curriculm missed. Not the teachers.

 

[sunkissed212]

I guess I didn't read closely enough...sorry, I didn't realize that you were only taking your child out for 2 days...there shouldn't be that much work for 2 days.

The other thing with me was that in addition to the 2 week vacation every year, I was a competitive figure skater as well. We had competitions all year long. I would miss a lot of school for those too and we would have teachers give me work beforehand for those trips too. Usually we had at least 1 1-week trips in addition to a lot of Thursday and Friday or Friday and Monday off weekend trips.

Until 12th grade, I missed A LOT of school but was always able to keep up and keep my grades up. When I was a senior in HS, I retired from figure skating and we didn't take our yearly trip to WDW during the school year because of other reasons, we went in the summer.

As a child, I always thought it was so cool that I got to go on vacation while everyone else had to go to school!

 

[ClarabelleCow]

sunkissed - you were lucky!! My dd age 12, wants to miss school for our 2 week Caribbean Vacation. But also wants to miss probably another 5 days at the end of the year, usually fridays for horse show competitions!!! I won't let her do that yet though!! If I ever did, I would definately work with the teachers, even though she's missing school, what she is learning out their in the horse world is very unique!

To the original OP, it does sound like a lot of work for 2 days, but I wouldn't push it. Some systems really frown upon taking the kids out, and will penalize the kids for "unexcused" abscences!

 

[ivanova]

both times we took DD out of school (in 8th and 9th grades) we worked on the homework at home before/after the trip, as well as on the plane between CA and FL both ways.

 

[banderson]

I don't see how taking time off from work/school is the same. With work, your taking "vacation" time, with school, your skipping it! Don't get me wrong, I am the first to say go for it, and I do sometimes get dirty looks for taking my daughter out, she is in 7th grade, hasn't missed a day all year and I already spoke to the teachers about the 2 weeks she will miss. But it will be my job to make sure she is current and understands the curriculm missed. Not the teachers.

If this was in reference to my comment about "Imagine your boss....", let me clarify things.

What I meant was telling your kids they are going on vacation and then telling them they will have "school time" each day is like your boss telling you to take the day off but do a little work while you're at it.

I was in no way, shape or form, making comments about teachers or school. The teachers have absolutely no responsibility if I pull my kid out of school and anything they offer me/my kids as help, replacement work, whatever, is above and beyond their obligations. If I choose to pull my kids from school, I must deal with the consequences, both good and bad. I have to keep them on track and if I'm not willing to do that, then I shouldn't pull them in the first place.

Just wanted to make my comment clear...

 

[CTFamilyCruisers]

I think the issue of schoolwork depends a lot on how old your kids are. We took my DS out of 3rd grade for 4 days last year and the teacher asked him to write a journal about his trip. It was a great idea, we even bought him a disposable camera to add to his story. No other work was required. As you get to the older grades, however, I can see why it is important to make it up. Talk to the teacher, ask for a little extra time. Most teachers will understand if you bring a little in each day once you return.

As for the suggestion that teachers should have all of the work for a 2 week period ahead of time, I totally disagree. I am not a teacher, but I think we all know how hard they work - and I do not think it is reasonable to ask that they plan their lessons out far in advance to accomodate a single student's vacation.

 

[dandbsmom]

Other teachers have given us journals before. I would have enjoyed that! DSs are 6 (1st) & 10 (4th). Like I said earlier..they haven't missed a day of school all year! My DS(6) had nine assignments to do and 4 books to read...for just missing 2 days (we had even already done his weekly homework early)! We're working on it but I was really surprised. You should see how many days many of the other children miss!

 

[jmcross]

I am a fourth grade teacher so I think I will join this conversation. I try very hard to give my students their work after they return rather than ahead of time. I feel if work is given in advance I may not even get to the lessons I had planned and the missing student may be doing extra work that I have not even accomplished with the class. You never know from day to day what the interruptions may be or if the class will need review rather than proceeding forward with the next lesson.

I can not even tell you the amount of time I have spent putting together work for students ahead of time only to be told when they return that they didn't get it done because they were on vacation!

There is a tremendous amount of pressure on teachers today to get through all of the curriculum. I know it is frustrating for parents, too. I have 2 kids in first and fifth grade myself so it gets aggravating for me to watch the amount of work that some teachers expect. Of course, we can only go on vacation during vacation weeks so I have never had to deal with makeup assignments for my own children.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that it's a tough issue and I can see both sides.

Joanne

 

[Billinaz]

Last year we were on the Wonder in Feb and our 8 year old got a small packet of things to do. Not a real problem, and she had it done on the plane trip. I expect about the same this year. And the kids will do it on the plane, and they wont have too much to do on the vacation.


This year we are doing 3 days at WDW first!

 

[goofygal1975]

Thats quite a bit of work to do for just two days! My ds has missed school recently for medical issues(between 1-3 days at a time), but we always ask his teacher to send home any work missed. He does bring back quite a few pages, but nothing like what your kids were assigned.

Also, only living 90 minutes away from Port Canaveral (like we both do)does not make for a lot of time for you kids to do homework, such as the other posters children were able to do at the airport/or on the plane!

I feel your pain! What I do is have ds do as much as he can...even if its just one page, and send a note back into the teacher letting her know we will complete them by the end of the week. Thats usually the best we can do, since this is on top of the daily homework he gets when he gets back to school.

I hope you had a wonderful cruise, and can't wait to read about it!!

 

[Magic3forme]

My dd was given a journal and told to write about her events in it nightly. (She is in first grade) Her teacher said it is vacation, not homework time!

 

[Tera]

How does a 1st grader and a 4th grader get that much homework for just two days??? I can see some things for the 4th grader, but to read 4 books?

My girls (4th grader and 7th grader) will be missing 7 days of school in May and since I have a very good relationship with the 4th graders teacher, I told her that I'm not bringing any homework that that she would write in a journal and read every day. I haven't talked to my 7th graders teachers yet, but since she only has less than 2 weeks of school after, I don't see it being a problem.

Do what you can, but I wouldn't worry about it. These are the times with our kids that we need to enjoy and no worry about small details like homework

 

[dandbsmom]

Goofygal: I agree w/you since we do have the short ride, etc. I was glad that we came straight home today so we could climb this mountain!

DS(6) got the books read and some of the homework. Not sure of how many stories he was supposed to write...she sent home 7 copy pages (area for picture and short story). He ended up writing one of them about how to get ready to snorkel..pretty cute! I wrote a note to the teacher telling her how amazed I was, etc. We'll just finish the rest tomorrow if he needs to write more. DS(10) has 2 tests to take tomorrow, so we were studying some more for them. He finished 2 math pages and is completing the third. He also finished reading his book that he has to take a another test on tomorrow. He'll have to write his stories tomorrow night because I am having him call it a night...as he sits here and yawns!

Thanks for all of your posts...glad to hear the opinions...and they say that FL schools are bad!!! At least the cruise was great!!

 

[natsmom125]

On our last cruise in December, it wasn't the homework that DD was assigned, but she(the whole class) was assigned two projects that were both due on the Wednesday after we got back. We got them done, but man was I stressing out.

Before the cruise, her class had also done a huge project on leaves, find them, tell what kind they are, where did you get them, that whole deal. They had to pick 5, research them in depth, list facts, etc. then present the 5 orally to the class. DD never got to do her oral presentation, so she got an F for that project. The teacher knew we were going to be on the cruise, and she could have let her do her presentation anytime the week before, but chose not to.....so needless to say....Mom had to make a visit to the school to have a little "chat" with this teacher. So, anyone taking the kids out of school, need to watch this sort of thing too!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


Her assignments the cruise week, were to bring a post card from each port &
keep a journal. She also brought back a Pepsi can written in Spanish and some Pesos she acquired in Cozumel. She did do some math on the cruise, because that's the one subject we didn't want her behind in.

However, DD is in the 6th grade...not first....and that much homework for a 1st grader is IMHO, sad. Sounds like this teacher wanted the kids to spend their entire time doing homework....it's got to do with "control".....

Hope you had a great cruise in spite of homework................

Phyllis