Taking children out of school

[Thumper_ehhhhh]

Another canadian here. We just let the teacher know were heading on vacation for 2 weeks. If they ask where we will tell them. They say have a good time and they will keep the work for when they return. Were heading down this may and have already notified the teachers. We will just remind them 2 weeks in advance before we go.

 

[seashoreCM]

I see way too many chidlren go to school sick, I know I get to drive the little ones with fevers and vomitting and yet they still remain in school for the day for various reasons, it always makes me so sad. They need to be snuggled in bed with some soup tlc and some compassion.!

When a parent is called to retrieve a kid from school, that is by definition an excused absence.

It is bad for the kid (and his education) if the parent generates some real unexcused absences, Disney World or not, for the purpose of making an unexcused absence charged as a result of an illness dismissal throw the kid over the limit.

It is not bad for the kid if he has a tummyache or even a bad cold and the parent fails to come get him from school let alone before 11AM, so long as he is not shivering where he is sitting and no one prods him if he should fail to respond to stimuli (such as a question about subject matter from a teacher). (copied from another post) In case of tummyache or vomiting, fasting is in order. Chicken soup should not accompany any TLC.

Kids taken out of school for vacation should have completed a substantial amount of the work otherwise missed prior to return. If this does not happen then it would definitely be a bad idea to take the kids out of school for future vacations. Kids while they are ill should not be pressured to do anything.

 

[ClarabelleCowFan]

My parents always pulled me out of school for family vacations and I have done the same with my 2 girls.

We have 2 Disney trips planned during the school year next year - they will miss 2 or 3 days for the MNSSHP and then 3 weeks for the Repo Cruise in May. I don't know how the school will handle the 3 weeks at the end of the school year though and may have to homeschool them that last month. My girls are A+ students and as long as they keep their grades up I will continue to take them out of school for trips.

I think that a trip thru the Panama Canal and to several cities in other countries is far more educational then sitting and reviewing material that they learned that year and watching videos (which they usually do the last week or so of school anyway).

My happiest childhood memories are at Disney. I can't think of any at school

 

[DisneyBride'03]

My children attended private school for 5 years..now at public. I worked part time in the pre school. I was astonished to learn that for practically the last month of May, nothing was really learned. In fact, the last 2 weeks, it seems all they did was watch videos etc! All that tuition! ugh! So, they would learn more traveling in my opinion!

 

[jpaxton1118]

Well, I live in Ga and was told that my son might not be able to go in May by his teacher. So I wrote a letter and she forwarded it on to someone and it ended up with a social worker who then called me. There are three days in December that my son is not excused because I did not take him to the doctor. My son has breathing problems and the weather changing every other day triggers them. My doctor had us buy a breathing treatment machine and we have a ongoing prescribtion for his medicine so that I do not end up in the doctors office.
Anyway, the social worker said that I still needed some kind of note from the doctor. She also told me that there is no way to tell if we will get into trouble until we go on the trip, which I can not believe! She said that my son is doing good in school (he is being tested for the gifted program right now) but that the "JUDGE" the case would be assigned to would want to know why I took him out when I did. His teacher also said that they would not be doing anything the last few weeks of school and he would not be missing anything. He will have two weeks left once we return and he will have already taken all of his test.
Talk about being so confused. We are going with my parents and that is the only time they can go during the year. Also, I believe that if my son is doing so good in school and I want to take him out for a week to spend time with his family, I should be able to. I know that teaching your children to follow rules is very important and we do, I also do not think that taking my son out for a week is hurting him and his education. You never know what is going to happen from day to day, Who knows if we will be here tomorrow and kids grow up so fast! If taking one week a year off of school to spend with your family making memories is bad then I guess we are bad. I know we can make memories during the school holidays but those are made by the district and they don't know me and ...
Ok I am going to stop now.

 

[DisneyBride'03]

don't be upset....you know what is best for your child! Go to www.mouseforless.comm...download an excellent letter ! Has great factors in why a trip would be beneficial!!

 

[jpaxton1118]

I did use the letter and that is what I emailed to the teacher. I also added some things to it. It did not seem to have an effect. I wish I knew what the right thing to do was. My husband does not believe it is a battle we should fight but to me it is more about my kids and who has control over them then it is about Disney. If I am beating my child or keeping them out of school and their grades are suffering then I can understand. but I think that parents of a child who has been sick but is doing awesome in school should be able to take them out one of the last few weeks of school.

I am going to get started again so I will stop. I just feel very strongly about this. And it is not about going to Disney, it is about the control they have over my kids and my ability not to say anything. I know that if I use the public school then I need to abide by their rules and if I don't and I pay for private school then I am paying double. So should I not pay the taxes for the school...

Ok I am going to really stop this time.

 

[DisneyBride'03]

Follow your gut instinct...a mother's peragotive! sp? Its not about Disney...its about your decision on what you would like your family to do!! Don't think about it anymore, have a great day! You probably dont have to shovel any snow where you are

 

[GhostlyHitchhiker]

I'm another parent who has no problems taking my DDs out of school for vacations. I've done it for short and for longer trips in the past and I will be taking them out for a week this December. I'm actually quite surprised at how many teachers have a problem with this (teachers telling a child they can't go? As a parent I'd be furious too!).

In my School District (and many in California, but not all), anything 5 days or over falls under the 'Independent Study' program http://www.cde.ca.gov/sp/eo/is/. Children are given all of the work they would have been required to do in school during the time they will miss. The student, parents, teacher AND Principal sign a contract that the work will be completed as agreed. When they return they give all of that work to the teacher and they grade it just as if the child were in class. Any tests are usually given as make-up tests during recesses, but that may have just been the teacher.

DD8 (at the time) was able to have nearly everything finished just on the plane trip to FL last year.

 

[HappyDznyCamper]

I did use the letter and that is what I emailed to the teacher. I also added some things to it. It did not seem to have an effect. I wish I knew what the right thing to do was. My husband does not believe it is a battle we should fight but to me it is more about my kids and who has control over them then it is about Disney. If I am beating my child or keeping them out of school and their grades are suffering then I can understand. but I think that parents of a child who has been sick but is doing awesome in school should be able to take them out one of the last few weeks of school.

I am going to get started again so I will stop. I just feel very strongly about this. And it is not about going to Disney, it is about the control they have over my kids and my ability not to say anything. I know that if I use the public school then I need to abide by their rules and if I don't and I pay for private school then I am paying double. So should I not pay the taxes for the school...

Ok I am going to really stop this time.

Unfortunatly school districts must treat all kids the same, straight A's with perfect attendance or all F's with many absences. As a parent of course you know what is best for your family and if you don't like your school systems policy on attendance than you need to do something about it. Homeschooling or private schools are options as well as becoming an active participant at school board meetings. GA has some of the strictest policies, and they make sure people know what they are when the kids start school, if you can't follow the rules, find another educational option that works for you.

 

[jpaxton1118]

It would be great to send my kids to private school but the cost is just to much. It is over $1000 a month for one kid and I have two. And I don't think that the 5% the take off for the second child really helps. There might have been one school that was less then that but it was still around 780 a month. To pay that on top of paying taxes for public school is just not possible. I am not one of these people who gets all worked up over taxes and rules and I usually just go with the flow. Like I said, I know it is their rule and we need to abide by them but it still does not mean that I can't vent about it and still feel the way I do.
Some of my favorite memories growing up where the ones when we went on a family vacation and I seem to remember the ones where I missed school the most, probably because I missed school.
I can not wait until I have finally made a decision about this. I was just telling my best friend tonight that it is not even about the trip. It is about me being their parent and able to make decisions for them. What is next? What is the next rule that they are going to pass to limit my parental rights.(once again, I really am not one of those people who likes to talk down about the government or anything like that) Also I went to private school my whole school life and after having the experience this year with public, I would say that public has a lot more to offer.

 

[seashoreCM]

Sending your kids to private school is all the more more reason not to take them out for vacations. Each unexcused absence is tuition money conspicuously seen going down the drain.

How many people buy Disney passes for so many days and on some of those days they go to Universal or Sea World and waste the Disney days and let them expire?

 

[mm_ja]

Ok, I started reading this post, because it is a topic me and DW talk about frequently when we talk about upcoming vacations. It sounds like Alabama and Georgia are similar in thier stances towards unexcused absences and the No Child Left Behind act. It seems to me that the teachers understand the unexcused absences, it is the administration and the county school system administration that have issues. I believe that it is all due to concerns about absences relating to test scores (whatever the standardized tests are) and the funding they recieve from thier performance. I dont believe for a second they care about my child missing out on the actual learing process. It is also my opinion that the strict rules are meant to target the families that let thier kids stay home because the kids wake up and say I dont feel like going today and rack up 6 unexcused absences by November. In other words a few people runing it for the rest of us. I know my child, we are responsible parents (at least I think we are), and if I thought for one minute my child's education would suffer from missing a few days I wouldnt take him out.

Wow, I better stop because this is turning into more than I wanted. The above is just my opinion and if you want to flame me then feel free.

 

[ksloane]

My neice's school district has a strict vacation policy. If a child is pulled out for a unexcused absence of any kind all makeup work can receive no higher than a grade of 70. As a parent and teacher, I feel this is wrong!

At my high school, I am not required to give any makeup work for an unexcused absence. I rarely do this, but our handbook states that students will not be allowed to make up work for unexcused absences (grades k-12).

 

[LISAVWL]

Ok, I started reading this post, because it is a topic me and DW talk about frequently when we talk about upcoming vacations. It sounds like Alabama and Georgia are similar in thier stances towards unexcused absences and the No Child Left Behind act. It seems to me that the teachers understand the unexcused absences, it is the administration and the county school system administration that have issues. I believe that it is all due to concerns about absences relating to test scores (whatever the standardized tests are) and the funding they recieve from thier performance. I dont believe for a second they care about my child missing out on the actual learing process. It is also my opinion that the strict rules are meant to target the families that let thier kids stay home because the kids wake up and say I dont feel like going today and rack up 6 unexcused absences by November. In other words a few people runing it for the rest of us. I know my child, we are responsible parents (at least I think we are), and if I thought for one minute my child's education would suffer from missing a few days I wouldnt take him out.

Wow, I better stop because this is turning into more than I wanted. The above is just my opinion and if you want to flame me then feel free.

ITA -- couldn't have said it better myself!

 

[DisneyBride'03]

I believe you stated your thoughts very eloquently, you have a valid point, I agree, and I would not take my kids out either if I thought it would hinder their performance at school. Here's a fire extinguisher, just in case....lol...

 

[leighe]

Ok, I started reading this post, because it is a topic me and DW talk about frequently when we talk about upcoming vacations. It sounds like Alabama and Georgia are similar in thier stances towards unexcused absences and the No Child Left Behind act. It seems to me that the teachers understand the unexcused absences, it is the administration and the county school system administration that have issues. I believe that it is all due to concerns about absences relating to test scores (whatever the standardized tests are) and the funding they recieve from thier performance. I dont believe for a second they care about my child missing out on the actual learing process. It is also my opinion that the strict rules are meant to target the families that let thier kids stay home because the kids wake up and say I dont feel like going today and rack up 6 unexcused absences by November. In other words a few people runing it for the rest of us. I know my child, we are responsible parents (at least I think we are), and if I thought for one minute my child's education would suffer from missing a few days I wouldnt take him out.

Wow, I better stop because this is turning into more than I wanted. The above is just my opinion and if you want to flame me then feel free.

I'm a teacher and I totally agree with this. I am very criticial of our school system administration in general. High stakes testing and accountablity (both NCLB and our state system of CATS here in KY) are totally numbers/data driven. Well, a lot of the value of what goes on in a classroom cannot be measured or quantified. But bureaucracies only respond to numbers - which is why I have actually heard an administrative employee from our district say, "Yes, we wish we could teach them all to read and write but what is REALLY IMPORTANT is getting test scores up." People who aren't in classrooms daily but who make decisions for schools simply do not seem to understand that true education cannot always be measured by data or printed up on little charts that fit oh-so-neatly in a binder.

And yes, a few irresponsible parents ruin it for all the responsible ones. I think most of you would be surprised at just how many people out there would be willing to let the school system (or government) raise their child.

Rant over now!

 

[stargrazer]

OK, I was really just reading this post because I'm bored, but for whatever crazy reason (boredom is fogging my brain I suppose), I'm going to risk a flame. I would never take my kid out of school for vacation, Disney or otherwise. My DD is a straight A student so it's not academics that bother me, it's the fact that there is a bigger lesson here, a lesson about priorities. School is important, and required, and school policy states that you can't miss more than 3 days in a row without a doctors note or it is unexcused. As a matter of fact, every year we shoot for perfect attendance. We don't always get it cause I won't send her sick, but it highlights the importance of education in our house.

If I cave on being in attendance now, what am I going to say to her when she's in HS and wants to take a three day trip to so and so to do such and such and 'you let me do it when you wanted to take me to Disney?' Not only that, if every parent were to take every kid out of school whenever they wanted for a vacation, it would completely wreak havoc on the school calendar. So if it's ok for me, why not for everyone else?

I know it's not easy or convinient, but so is the way with life.


That said, if you want to take your kid out of school for a week for vacation, I'm certainly not going to think any less of you, or get worked up about it, but I also don't think the kid should be able to make up all the work/get the same credit as the children who were in attendance.

Sorry....long...boring...opinionated....

 

[bzzymom]

I have taken trips during the school year with DS who missed a week of K, 1, 2 and 3rd grades. This year, we went in August free dining, didn't have to worry about it. DS is an A/B student. He attends a private school which is good about vacations. I work in a place where I can't always align vacation time with school break. I feel that it is important to have a nice get away with your family. It helps me not burn out from my high stress job, and well as bring our family together.

 

[Sunny37]

OK, I was really just reading this post because I'm bored, but for whatever crazy reason (boredom is fogging my brain I suppose), I'm going to risk a flame. I would never take my kid out of school for vacation, Disney or otherwise. My DD is a straight A student so it's not academics that bother me, it's the fact that there is a bigger lesson here, a lesson about priorities. School is important, and required, and school policy states that you can't miss more than 3 days in a row without a doctors note or it is unexcused. As a matter of fact, every year we shoot for perfect attendance. We don't always get it cause I won't send her sick, but it highlights the importance of education in our house.

If I cave on being in attendance now, what am I going to say to her when she's in HS and wants to take a three day trip to so and so to do such and such and 'you let me do it when you wanted to take me to Disney?' Not only that, if every parent were to take every kid out of school whenever they wanted for a vacation, it would completely wreak havoc on the school calendar. So if it's ok for me, why not for everyone else?

I know it's not easy or convinient, but so is the way with life.


That said, if you want to take your kid out of school for a week for vacation, I'm certainly not going to think any less of you, or get worked up about it, but I also don't think the kid should be able to make up all the work/get the same credit as the children who were in attendance.

Sorry....long...boring...opinionated....

No flames here...makes perfect sense to me.