Taking Children Out Of School For Disney Trip

[drp4video]

Don't forget Innoventions at Epcot...lots of science. I think everything at Epcot is educational.

Aminal Kingdom has Dinosaur, where they can see what it was like when dino's roamed the earth; all the animal theme attractions are educational; Tough to be Bug...even the Lion King has a message.

Magic Kingdom..What about the Hall of Presidents..that is educational.

MGM has Drew Cary; learning about sounds, Amination; Millionaire..test their knowlege..

Wow, forget school...the kids will probably learn more in WDW than they will at school.

I remember when my daughter was in k-12..we pulled her out a lot, and we always combined out trips with learning..I think she learned more with us than at school. She was actually able to bring back volcanic rock for the members of her class, from a dormant volcano, and the class was studying volcano's at the time. We never needed a note asking for permission or exlaining why she was going to miss school. Times have changed.

 

[Mariposa]

Up here a U means "unexcused" rather than "unsatisfactory". But I don't know know of any schools which look at a child's attendance record as an academic indicator, so as I parent I would not be too concerned by a half dozen U's during the course of a year (especially when the teacher knows where the child will be) on his/her long term school record.

It becomes an issue when that tally starts to climb -- talking double digits. We have CPS involved for some students in our school as it does not appear anyone is supervising the children enough to make sure they get to school. Other times the courts request the records in a custody case or child neglect case.

Here getting an U in attendance for the grading period means their attendance was unsatisfactory.. and as was made clear to me by my child's principal, around here if they get multiple U's in attendance there's a possibility they can be held back.

I don't know how likely that is, and DO know that she was trying to scare me as she personally feels it is completely inappropriate to take your child out of school for vacation, but still.... Scared me.

 

[bicker]

Why is that the school districts (not all but some) require people to justify the educational experience for an absence due to vacation but dont' mind when kids miss school to go to band, cheerleading, sports and other events.

The school can itself attest to the educational value of school-sponsored arts activities.

 

[boomhauer]

Such a shame that this is necessary. I would like to type something like this:

Dear Teacher:

Don't bother excusing my child for the 5 days he will be missing while we take our family vacation. We don't undermine the value of an education. At the same time, we don't undermine the importance of family togetherness. While we understand how convenient it is for you to take vacations given that you have multiple weeks off during the course of the year, as well as over 2 months in the summertime, for some of us, when we take our vacation isn't as open a decision. I sincerley apologize that my occupation doesn't allow me to take vacation whenever I feel like it. However, the 5 days out of 180 my child will miss from school, I sincerely feel will not affect him as adversely as not spending time with his family for that time.

Thank you.

 

[bicker]

Unfortunately, that plea would necessarily fall on deaf ears, in many states. In those states, the law is very specific that absences from school must be for one of a few specific purposes. This is to protect children from questionable judgement by parents with inadequate judgement, something which is, while still very rare, sp much more common these days that states have decided to put laws in place to address the problem.

 

[boomhauer]

Yeah, I know. And I never would write a letter like that. It's more me thinking aloud and venting frustration.

From a parent with limited vacation time, and even more limited options when I can take vacation, it's a touchy subject to me. The time I spend with my family on vacation is VERY important to me, and in my sincere opinion, just as important, to my family. The times I spent on vacation as a child with my family were some of the greatest memories of my life. How can you put a price on that? How can you justify having to trade that for 5 days abscence from school?

I'm sorry and don't mean to offend any teachers out there, but it's very easy for you to have the no child should miss school for vacation attitude, when you have so much more vacation time and so much more open time to take vacation. It's hypocritical to me. We're the parents and we should make these decisions in regards to our children - Not the schools.

 

[bicker]

I don't think anyone would begrudge what you're suggesting, if you were also trying to benefit from the shared educational system which is provided by the government. That shared system relies on everyone, students and teachers, coming together for a specific set of 180+ days. The variabilities of individual students or teachers taking off when they wish, instead of during the designated school holidays, would result in an intolerably inefficient system. No one would want to pay the additional taxes necessary to support such a flexible education system.

That kind of flexibility isn't even available in college -- if you miss class, it is your problem. Don't expect the instructor to help you catch up. If you miss a test, again, it is your problem. Don't expect to get a make-up.

By the same token, outside of a shared system, anything is possible. However, few parents are able to take the time necessary to homeschool, and few parents have the money to pay for tutors. So without those resources, they're limited to the shared system, and its limitations and restrictions.

 

[gingermommy94]

Yeah, I know. And I never would write a letter like that. It's more me thinking aloud and venting frustration.

From a parent with limited vacation time, and even more limited options when I can take vacation, it's a touchy subject to me. The time I spend with my family on vacation is VERY important to me, and in my sincere opinion, just as important, to my family. The times I spent on vacation as a child with my family were some of the greatest memories of my life. How can you put a price on that? How can you justify having to trade that for 5 days abscence from school?

I'm sorry and don't mean to offend any teachers out there, but it's very easy for you to have the no child should miss school for vacation attitude, when you have so much more vacation time and so much more open time to take vacation. It's hypocritical to me. We're the parents and we should make these decisions in regards to our children - Not the schools.

AMEN! Also loved your "letter"

My DH works in a union company, so his vacation time is "bid" on. It's not always possible to get his vacation in the summer and for the past several years, we haven't. I've pulled the kids out for 5 - 7 days and not felt the least bit guilty about it. They are good students, get good grades, and have always gotten caught right up. The school and teachers have been great and I'm thankful for that...but if they hadn't...well too darn bad. Kids are kids for such a short amount of time, and having time as a family is more important than a few missed days of school (days that have no negative effect at all).

 

[boomhauer]

Kids are kids for such a short amount of time, and having time as a family is more important than a few missed days of school (days that have no negative effect at all).

Bingo.

Seriously, how anyone can possibly argue with that one simple sentence, is absolutely beyond me.

 

[vatmark]

We took our kids out of school in October. They missed 4 days. Our school district required a letter as well, stating how this experience would be educational. My kids also had to make a journal and give an oral report to the class in order to get their absences excused. On top of this my daughter whose in 4th grade had to makeup all her homework. It was not only work that would have been for homework but any assignment that was done in class including a spelling pretest, spelling test, reading tests, chapter reviews etc. I had to give her all the tests. She also had to be sure and do 120 minutes of reading. I really could not believe how much work was sent home for her to do. And the teacher would not send the work home until the day before we were to leave. I wasn't quite sure why I even needed the letter for my daughter because she didn't miss anything. The only difference was that her butt wasn't sitting in her seat at school.

After going through that I would not take my kids out of school again. It was just too much for my daughter. My sons teacher was more sensable and he just had to do his journal and oral report.

Annie

 

[idofabric]

I think that one of the problems for schools is that the Federal Goverment has requirements on attendance. And there is also the Fed. funding. Each year there is a form that comes home from school that requests student info so the school dist. can request and recieve the Fed.funding that makes up a great deal of the budget. And attendance for each student is tracked... Schools in S.Carolina, and I (think...I remember...) California, and Tenn. had to have students attend at least a 1/2+ day of class to get the Fed. $$money$$. So if a my DS's High School wants to have a half day of classes and still get the Fed. funding for that day. So if class starts at 8am and end at 3pm the students must be in class till after 1pm. That is an aprox of the time requirement. The teachers don't make up the rules for attendance. So the ( funny ) letter some one else posted to the teacher regarding the days their kid would be a WDW should have been addressed to either the attendance office or school district for the school.

It all comes down to the money... and how the schools can get enought to get by. And the info I have talked about above is from what I was told by the Attendance Officer for our school dist. I had a beef with the local football players taking a few days off to go to our state capital and miss classes. However, my DS, a solid B student, got hammered 'cause he missed 6 days of class in the first semester. 3 with Doctor excuses, 1 sick, and 1 1/2 for a WDW vacation. He missed the last 2 class periods of school the day we left, and lunch. So it was counted as a "full" day absence... no money from the Feds cause he wasn't in class for the required hours that day... go figure....

 

[boomhauer]

Oh yeah, there's no doubt it's because of the government. That's even worse. Those clowns get more time off than they work in a year.

It's hypocricy in the utmost form.

 

[bicker]

Seriously, how anyone can possibly argue with that one simple sentence, is absolutely beyond me.

However, and without regard to the actual issue being discussed here, viewing one's own perspective as the only possible rational perspective results in overall lack of understanding, and invariably leads to conflict and turmoil in society.

 

[boomhauer]

However, and without regard to the actual issue being discussed here, viewing one's own perspective as the only possible rational perspective results in overall lack of understanding, and invariably leads to conflict and turmoil in society.

Of course - What's wrong with that? If everyone agreed with Adolf Hitler and accepted his rationale, where would the world be now?

 

[bicker]

Godwin.

 

[boomhauer]

Mighty convenient that you had that all prepped.

It would almost make one think you would fear having your point proven wrong in an discussion, therefore you have a made up "out" to end the discussion.

 

[webray]

We took our kids out of school almost every year for approx two weeks at a time..lol. Teachers usually thought it was a great idea with the exception of a couple. There is so much to learn at disney..believe me your kids education will not be lacking at any point.

 

[bicker]

Oh yes, I made up Godwin's Law.

I'm not that old!

Regardless, you actually agreed with my last comment, with your Nazi reference. Seemed an opportune time to get this thread back on track.

 

[boomhauer]

Oh yes, I made up Godwin's Law.

I'm not that old!

Regardless, you actually agreed with my last comment, with your Nazi reference. Seemed an opportune time to get this thread back on track.

I'm not saying you made it up. I'm saying that it's used conveniently by people who feel as though their point is in danger of being lost or proven wrong.

It's not a Nazi reference. It's a point. You're stating that it's not in society's best interest to only see one perspective in a situation. Clearly, that's far from accurate in all instances.

 

[debbiedoo]

In my area if the trip is educational you can get it pre-approved. The school has to approve, and then I have gotten homework etc.

As of this school year though--it is the same--if your kids have 5 or more unexcused absences then you can be cited.

I took my DD out last year and not this year--the schools tend to know the parents that are repeat offenders and this is one way of cracking down.