Spoke to principal- I'm not a happy camper-- update post 155

[SnoWhiteRabbit]

I would see about changing your dates and putting your childs education above free dining. If you explain the problem to Disney they will probably allow you to changes the dates. The airlines will charge you a small fee and you child will be tested properly with his peers!

Common free dining isn't worth THAT!

Sure it is! Teacher and mom here -- yes, it is worth it. Life is too short, standardized tests are questionable, and family vacations are precious.

"Tested properly?" Bah humbug. What the heck is 'tested properly' anyhow? What these standardized tests measure is so questionable anyway. That's the only way to check his progress...I don't think so.

Enjoy your first vacation in six years!! And I wouldn't un-enroll for the trip, but you could over the summer...and re-enroll in the fall for the next grade...maybe that would work.

Good luck & ENjoy!

 

[mjantz]

Ok I've got my flame suit on. but all you moms are encouraging one another to start seriously cheating the system simply to go to WDW?

So I guess when kids start skipping class to hang out at the mall ( and don't give me that crap about disneyworld being educational, it's a vacation destination. period!) that's cool too.
Great message to send to a 4th grader. Lie, Lie, lie and if that doesn't work throw a major temper tatrum by pulling your kid out of the school so you get what you want, namely an all important trip to wdw.

i bet you are the same guys who will flame some one for going to disneyworld on credit.....

I think we're inhaling a little too much pixie dust here...

(bolded mine)

Amen! I am so tired of hearing that Disney is such an educational vacation. I'm sure there are learning experiences that can be found at Disney. However, just about any vacation can be educational. We took our kids to Philadephia last summer & they learned a lot. This summer it was Mt. Rushmore & again, lots of learning experiences (those park ranger talks were very informative!) But I'm the kind of person that can turn a trip to the grocery store into a learning experience.

I personally can't imagine taking my 5th grader out for 1 week, much less 2. He'd be so far behind he'd hate both DH & I for the rest of our lives.

 

[SnoWhiteRabbit]

I agree--an education is MUCH more important than missing two weeks of school for ANY trip. Not to mention teaching a child honesty, integrity, responsibility. . .

(And yes, I'm a teacher AND a mother. . .and we do our vacationing when school's out!)

I believe education is the most important thing in life, but education is not limited to the classroom and testing is not education...A child is not being educated during standardized testing.

What do honesty, integrity and responsibility have to do with not going on vacation?

 

[princessmom29]

Sure it is! Teacher and mom here -- yes, it is worth it. Life is too short, standardized tests are questionable, and family vacations are precious.

"Tested properly?" Bah humbug. What the heck is 'tested properly' anyhow? What these standardized tests measure is so questionable anyway. That's the only way to check his progress...I don't think so.

Enjoy your first vacation in six years!! And I wouldn't un-enroll for the trip, but you could over the summer...and re-enroll in the fall for the next grade...maybe that would work.

Good luck & ENjoy!

Tested properly = Test given in resonable increments based on the child's age, given in an environment as free from distraction as possible, and given at the same time as the peer group, i.e the child is not singled out.
As a teacher this is how I would want my child tested. Wether you want to admit it or not standardized tests are important. They are the most fair and objective tools we have as teachers for gathering diagnostic information on skill levels. For most teachers they are the first thing they see when getting a new crop of kids. Honestly, don't you look at last year's scores for you new class to get some kind of idea about the kid's strenghts and weaknesses before you get them in the classroom? I agree that they should not be the determining factor in a child's gade. Some kids just don't test well. Ther sure are useful however whe I am trying to determine where the skill level of my class is and how to shape my lessons to enhance their skills.

 

[amytheobald]

Missing a standardized test in no ways jeopardizes your childs education. Do whats right for your family.

 

[princessmom29]

I believe education is the most important thing in life, but education is not limited to the classroom and testing is not education...A child is not being educated during standardized testing.

What do honesty, integrity and responsibility have to do with not going on vacation?

It is the child's responsibility to be there for testing. Pulling them conveys the message that you only have to meet your responsibilities when it is convenient or doesn't interfere with your plans for fun.

 

[emh1129]

I'd go the homeschooling excuse route too. It'll be over my cold, dead, decaying body that a school board will EVER tell me I can't take my child out of school, or make them go to summer school for a stupid reason like that!

When the Principal gives birth to my child, then she can have a say.

 

[Disney_Angel]

Are you people seriously advocating duping the system by claiming you're "investigating homeschooling" when you know darn well you just want to go and ride Dumbo?! Good grief!

Yes I am.

This is no different then the duping and fleecing of American taxpayers by school boards and teachers unions every year.

 

[mjantz]

Its NOT a 'stupid reason'. He's missing 2 weeks of school unexcused. He's not sick, he's not in the hospital, there's not been a death in the family. The family is going on vacation for 2 weeks.

When I was in 3rd grade, I missed 2 weeks of school due to chicken pox (would have been 3 were it not for Spring Break). When I came back I had to make up the standarized tests I had missed by being sick. To this day, I remember how upset I was & how stressful it was to have to make up those tests. I had to stay in every recess, PE, music, etc just to make up those tests. I could never intentionally make my child miss testing days for this very reason.

 

[amytheobald]

If the system wasn't inherently broken, this debate would not be occurring!

 

[dizkids]

Friends took their 3 kids on their 1st vacation ever...the kids were 11,10,8. The chose the Disney Cruise but picked Jersey Week because our school is also off election day and the kids only missed 2 days of school.

I feel for the OP not being on a vacation in 6 years. But if i had 6 years to plan one i think the timing could have been a little better. 2 weeks of missed school is pretty much unheard of.

 

[princessmom29]

Yes I am.

This no different then the duping and fleecing of American taxpayers by school boards and teachers unions every year.

THAT IS JUST RUDE!!!!!! And insulting!!!!!!! We are here to HELP YOUR KIDS!!!!!!! If you don't want to follow the rules that is your problem. It seems to me to boil down to athority issues. There have to be rules an limits in order for organized society to exist. EVERYONE is subject ot those rules not just when it is convinent for you! School boards are not out to dupe taxpayers and neither are teacher's unions. Teacher's unions exist to help people like my co-worker who was sued by a parent of a child that attacked him and another student in the classroom. They sued b/c he dared restrain thier child to keep her from hurting other students. Apparently the rules didn't apply to her, she could do whatever she wanted. He would have had to pay thousands in attorney fees to defend himself for a bogus charge from parents trying to milk the system for money without the union. That is duping the taxparyers. Trying to give your children the best education possible is not. How dare you attack the people who are trying to help your childern?

 

[emh1129]

Missing a standardized test in no ways jeopardizes your childs education. Do whats right for your family.

I agree. I'm not a fan of standardized testing, anyway, so I think you picked a great time for a family vacation
Seriously, though, if you want your son to take the exams, they must provide make-up dates. There will be other children who are ill during that time, and they must account for that possibility.

 

[Disney_Angel]

Sure it is! Teacher and mom here -- yes, it is worth it. Life is too short, standardized tests are questionable, and family vacations are precious.

"Tested properly?" Bah humbug. What the heck is 'tested properly' anyhow? What these standardized tests measure is so questionable anyway. That's the only way to check his progress...I don't think so.

Enjoy your first vacation in six years!! And I wouldn't un-enroll for the trip, but you could over the summer...and re-enroll in the fall for the next grade...maybe that would work.

Good luck & ENjoy!

OP

Lev Vygotsky - The Zone of Proximal Development
The concept of the zone of proximal development was originally developed by Vygotsky to argue against the use of standardized tests as a means to gauge students' intelligence. Vygotsky argued that rather than examining what a student knows to determine intelligence, it is better to examine their ability to solve problems independently and their ability to solve problems with the assistance of an adult.

Applied knowledge....
We give our kiddos far less credit then they deserve.

 

[BelleMcNally]

Yes I am.

This is no different then the duping and fleecing of American taxpayers by school boards and teachers unions every year.

Darn those greedy Teachers' Unions!

Is lying its own unit in "un-schooling", or can it be worked into other, pre-existing subjects?

 

[princessmom29]

OP

Lev Vygotsky - The Zone of Proximal Development
The concept of the zone of proximal development was originally developed by Vygotsky to argue against the use of standardized tests as a means to gauge students' intelligence. Vygotsky argued that rather than examining what a student knows to determine intelligence, it is better to examine their ability to solve problems independently and their ability to solve problems with the assistance of an adult.

One theory amoung many!!!! Lots of psychologists think standardized tests are valid!!!

 

[eliza61]

Missing a standardized test in no ways jeopardizes your childs education. Do whats right for your family.

It's really not about the standardized test. If what every one is saying about learning occurs outside of the classroom. How about starting by teaching our kids that they don't lie & cheat to get their own way. How about teaching them that some times responsibilities (school, work) comes first. or that we accept the responsibility of our actions, if you cut school you will flunk or that some times we have to follow rules. If missing standardized test doesn't jeopardize your education, then missing or postponing Disneyworld vacation will not emotionally scar a child either.
How about we all start arbitarily breaking rules that we think don't effect us. Heck why should I have to take the SAT's or better yet I shouldn't have to take my state boards, I did my time in med school....

To all the teachers, God bless ya!! We are so screwed up in our priorities.

 

[bumbershoot]

( and don't give me that crap about disneyworld being educational, it's a vacation destination. period!)

Simply because you can't or don't want to or don't know how to create education around a trip to Disney doesn't mean others don't. Didn't you see the reply by a poster about the 3 or 4 units of study she's doing with her child at Epcot alone? Simply because you can't believe it doesn't mean it's not true for everyone.

Amen! I am so tired of hearing that Disney is such an educational vacation. I'm sure there are learning experiences that can be found at Disney. However, just about any vacation can be educational. We took our kids to Philadephia last summer & they learned a lot. This summer it was Mt. Rushmore & again, lots of learning experiences (those park ranger talks were very informative!) But I'm the kind of person that can turn a trip to the grocery store into a learning experience.

Yes, of course. You get the concept! Therefore you don't have to be sick of hearing about Disney anymore, b/c you get that the whole WORLD is full of things that are educational. All you have to do is pay attention.

Editing to add to this. I have a friend who has some sort of teaching credentials, and worked with Head Start before having her DD. When her daughter was around 3, she was *clearly* reading. I mean, seriously, not just memorizing a story, but taking words she remembered and reading them in OTHER books she hadn't seen. Maybe she couldn't have read War and Peace, but that's beyond the start of the reading process. I asked the DD if she was reading, and she said, b/c she'd been taught this..."no, I can't read, I will learn to read in school". She was DOING it already, but REFUSED to believe she was, b/c her mom had taught her that learning happens in schools, and nowhere else. It was the craziest thing. But to them, school was where you learned things, and out of school was for playtime. Nothing else. Odd.

How dare you attack the people who are trying to help your childern?

The person you quoted isn't being helped by teachers. She's teaching her child, and very well it seems, without the help of your fellow teachers. Did you read what she's doing with her daughter while at WDW? That would be more memorable, more informational, and something that would have stuck, than ANY day in school that I EVER had.



OP! Keep figuring it out with the principal. It's crazy that a convo just a few months ago in May is being changed so much by this new principal in August.

 

[reginasue]

You will not be alone with your child missing the ISTEP testing. My son will miss the first 2 days only. He also missed the first 2 days last year. He will make up the missed tests sometime during the week whenever the counselor (that is who gives ours) gets a time scheduled. We did the same thing last year and he was one of the top students in his grade at his school.

Are you 100% on the summer school? I would say probably half our school failed the ISTEP last year and I am almost positive they did not go to summer school. I also know that the first Monday (15th) will basically be a practice test day at our school. Therefore I would think your son could take the test on that day.

I would keep asking questions until you are 100% sure on what the "rules" are regarding ISTEP.

Regina

 

[Snow Shoe]

Ok I just put on my flame suit so here's my two cents worth. What comes first, your child's education, or some momentary pleasure at Disney? As much as I love being in MK, eating at LTT, or riding TT, this is a no brainer, he needs to be in school! Your son is missing 2 weeks if I understand correctly, so it's not just a test he's missing, but also other subjects work that will be missed. Your child can't learn if he's not there plain and simple. You should have changed the dates when the first principal advised you of the conflict. One last thing, I beleive this will come back and bite you in the future because your son is old enough to realize what your trying to do and justify it by using we haven't had a vacation in 6 years so we're going on one and it just happens to be at Disney.

It all boils down to that your playing with your son's future here. It may not seem that significant to you right now, it's just a test, but you have no idea what the future problems might come from this are.