Taking kids out- free dining?

[PrincessTiffany]

Anybody taking their kids out of school for free dining at DW? I know this has caused great debate in the past I mentioned to my SIL that we plan to take our kids out for trips down the line and she freaked. She works for a school system and yelled at us for being 'bad parents'. I politely told her that it was our decision- then she brought up fines- and I once again told her, I'd be glad to pay

She went on and on about 'how much time kids get off' and how parents can plan trips during the summer. I told her I wasn't going to pay 4K for a trip in July, when I can book the same trip for almost 1/2 that AND have less crowds. In September airfare is over 100 bucks cheaper to Orlando than in July. Multiply that times 4 people and that's 400 right there.

IMHO-if your kids get A's and B's in school, and have no behavioral issues, taking a grade schooler out for 5 days isn't going to ruin their lives. If we have to pay a fine to the school for removing them- that's OK by me. I'd much rather go during free dining, when the crowds are much less, than fight it in July with every other 'good parent'.

First of all, if my SIL ever spoke to me the way yours did . . . omg, I would lose it! You just need to tell her it's none of her business. I wouldn't worry for one minute about taking your kids out. It's your decision and nobody eles's. We took all 4 of ours last year for Free Dining and my BIL and SIL took their 3 kids out and about 50,000 other families with school-age children appeared to do so also. We had a great time and don't regret it for one minute!

 

[Reagan&Co.]

We did it last year, and it did not phase my kids' education one bit. We even get the blessing of our school system, which gives out four "parent days" per year, to take your child out of school for any reason at all! That helped the minor guilt I felt beforehand, but once we got there.....and saw there were NO lines....and tasted all that yummy food......I WAS THRILLED WE WENT DURING THE SCHOOL YEAR!!!!

However, I have seen previous posters talking about how rough it is to take your kids out in middle and high schools, so we will try not to.......

 

[momof2mouses]

We decided, after much deliberation, to take our dd out of school year before last to go to WDW. We were very glad we did. Kids go to school 3/4 of the year. It is cheaper, less crowded and easier to take vacation from work in September for me and my dh. My dd's work did not suffer one bit and I feel the trip was very educational. Our school was very understanding and we plan to not only take our 5th grader out this year, but we are also taking our Kindergartener out as well. I just plan to make it ok with everyone involved ahead of time. I have heard in the past that you could get the absence excused if the children write an essay on what they learned on the trip. Not sure if this will happen here, but I am certainly going to try.

 

[disney_family_1247]

Wait, are you talking about a public school fining you for taking YOUR OWN children out of school? I've never heard of something like that; what state are you in?

Please take it from me (I have a Masters in Education if that makes you feel better), they are your kids; take them out when you want. You are not bad parents for wanting to spend time with your own children. It sounds like your SIL is a little to self-important in whatever position she holds.

Every day, I read something else that backs up my decision to homeschool

 

[asmit4]

Yes, some public schools make you pay a fine. The reason behind it is that some schools (maybe all) get a certain $$ amount PER person PER day each kid is in school. If your child is out due to a DW trip (not a sickness, or other 'good' reason) the school loses out on $$$ b/c of the parents negligence. If you are sick- that's 1 thing but they lose $$$ b/c parents remove their kids for vacations. Hence the fine to make up the $$$ lost.

I have no issue with paying if our district did that- they don't.

All I can say is that when I was growing up, I'd be taken out for 5 days in January and 1 day in May. The 5 days in January were for a ski trip to Colorado and the 1 day in May would be for a trip to Cedar Point. In addition, in HS, my mom kept me home for 1 day a year so we could have a 'mother daughter day'. WRONG?

Perhaps to some but here I am....
college educated, a decent job, rarely if ever late for work, and rarely miss work for anything besides vacation days allotted- I actually have 6 weeks of vacation time b/c I have a hard time finding time to use it! I am married, own a house, 2 cars and manage to pay the bills on time. Those 5 or 6 days a year didn't cause me problems then and I don't think I have any lasting problems either such as 'truancy' as an adult or lack of responsibility taken in other areas of life

Of course, each family is different, each child is different. If I wasn't an A student that graduated with honors, perhaps my parents would have felt differently. Perhaps if my child shows signs of trouble, I'd feel differently too.

 

[truedisneyfan]

We are taking DS(4) out of pre-k. We will let the teacher know ahead of time. I'm already trying to think of something to bring her back and the teachers aid. I'm not sure of the policy yet. He will be out for 5 days, but he will have been in school for 4 weeks. DH is started a new job next week. He will be gone from about 6:30am -6:30pm. DH, the kids and I will only have a little time each time to spend together. If it won't hurt him in school I say go for it.

 

[kyhardy]

DD9 will be in 4th grade next year and we will be taking her to Disney 2x during this school period. She goes to a private school & the teachers are very willing to give her the assignments to work on ahead of her trip so that by the time she leaves she hardly has any make up work to do. We just review before she gets back. This is soooo great. Although we have to be committed to helping her learn these lessons by taking on a bit of the teacher's role. May be harder once she gets to 5th grade which is "Upper" school there and they transfer teachers for each class. So far she has done great and has been invited to be on the academic team this year. DS16 however goes to public HS, (No private ones in our town) they are not in the least cooperative for any absence. Even Dr note excused ones. He always has flack from at least 1 teacher about make-up work. He has opted out of both trips to Disney this year because it is hard to keep up with his class work. Half of his classes are honor level. So I would say it depends on how it will affect the child. My personal feeling is that these are my kids and I will remove them from school whenever I deem is appropriate, & not when the school deems it so. I feel that I am the best judge of what is right for them. DD - no problem, DS - Disney during school isn't worth the stress and hassle for him. (Poor thing) Don't worry that he'll have no vacation fun. We'll hit the beach with him in July, when school's out. Plus he had his school time Disney trips when in private school just like DD is getting now.

 

[sardanem]

We are taking advantage of the free dining by going Aug 25-31. School will start Sept 3. My kids will be a Junior in HS, an 8th grader and a 1st grader. If I only had grade school kids, I would consider taking them out, but not at this age. We also have a very strict policy about unexcused absences. A trip to WDW would not be considered excused, so we will go and be hot in Aug and love every hot minute.

Lisa

 

[katied]

We took DNiece and DNephew out of school in April 2005 and in Sept. 2006. April 2005 was EASY. Kids were in 2nd and 4th grade, we planned ahead and had some schoolwork for them to do during the trip, but less than 1/2 hr per day per kid. The next year was very different. DNephew was in 3rd grade, DNiece was in 5th grade. We planned ahead with the school again, and took schoolwork with so they would stay up with their classes. DNephew had minimal work. DNiece had about 3+ hrs of school work/day. It really put a damper on her fun (and our fun, since we had to wake her up early every day, and try to revamp plans to allow her to have time to do her school work and still sleep at night). We learned a lesson - at least for their school - up to 4th grade was no problem. Starting in 5th grade, school became much more serious, along with the amount of homework. DNiece takes school very seriously, and is proud of her good grades. Skipping any of her work was not an option, so we will not be pulling her out of school again.

 

[Patti_C]

I took DN out of school last sept., she just started middle school. the teachers gave her all her work before we left so she could work on it. They all told her how lucky she was and to have a great time. My ds and bil who are both teachers would love to join me this year as i take my three grandaughters and daughter-in-law, but there is no way they can get out of work, they are thinking about paying my way if i take there three kids with me. ages 17,15 and 9. my oldest gd is going to start kindergarten 5 days before we leave. the only time i can afford to go is during free dining.

 

[pmama]

Yes we're taking DD7 out of 2nd grade for 7 days just two weeks into the school year. DD4 will also miss nearly 2 weeks from PreK just after starting. I too am a teacher although right now I just substitute Part time while I still have a preschooler at home. I really feel that it is alright through elementary. However, once they are in middle and high school it really would give your child an unfair disadvantage to miss more than a couple days of school. Thankfully my 2nd grader will have the same teacher in the fall so she will not miss any "getting to know you" time. The teacher has already been told we are going to be going and she only joked that it was fine w/ her as long as we brought her back a tinkerbell However, I've not yet admitted to her that it is 7 days. That is a little much but I figure we might as well take advantage of this time before the girls get older and before I return to teaching full time.

 

[Jack&Ryan'smom]

We just did it this past September. My thought was if we were going to go to Disney...I wanted my kids to enjoy it. We wanted minimal crowds and that's what we got. My DS was only in 1st grade, I don't think I would have done it if he was say in middle school. I did get worried as the trip got closer that I shouldn't be doing it...but I don't regret it at all. In fact, those have been the only 5 days DS has missed all year! I just wrote a letter to the school letting them know he would be away. While we were gone I had him write a journal that he gave to his teacher upon return. He had to make up some homework sheets when he got back but not that much.
I say do it...the beginning of the year is probably the best time to take them out, before things get crazy. Hey...free dining is a great deal...some people need to make their trip as budget freindly as possible. The young kids won't suffer. I'm glad I made the decision to go and I would do it again.

 

[garmich]

I'm surprised to hear that some schools have fines for unexcused absenses. I have never ever heard of that before. My kids (and myself) have never attended public schools, so that's probably why.
Personally, I would never even consider taking my kids out of school for a vacation, even for a WDW vacation. It sets a bad example about priorities. There are plenty of breaks during the school year, when vacations can be scheduled. And you have 2.5 months during the summer.
This year, we are going down for the last 2 weeks in August. We're coming back home on Labour Day weekend. These plans were made back in Nov 2007. Unfortunately, I just found out that my oldest son, will miss the first two days of high school. He'll be a freshman, and they will start 2 days earlier than I had anticipated, on August 28. My son is really disappointed that he'll miss freshman orientation. And I feel really bad about it, too. The high school that he will be attending, is currently under construction. It's scheduled to be ready for the start of school, however, there is the possibility that the opening may be delayed a week or so. So, we're hoping for that to happen. My younger son will not be affected, as he starts after Labour Day.

 

[Kim1964]

Our middle/high school has a pretty strict attendance policy, so I wouldn't take the kids out of school for free dining. Since that falls at the beginning of the school year, I wouldn't want to use up all the unexcused days that early and then have something unforeseen happen later in the year that would cause them to be held back, which is the penalty for missing too many days of school here.

Philosophically, I'm not opposed to taking them out of school for vacation.....if I won some kind of amazing, once in a lifetime trip to Europe or Asia or Africa that had to be taken during school, I'd risk it. As much as we adore Disney World, though, it doesn't meet the risk/reward standard.

 

[DisneyTigers]

Personally, I would never even consider taking my kids out of school for a vacation, even for a WDW vacation. It sets a bad example about priorities.

So, family time is not a priority? Personally, I hope my children learn that there are so many more wonderful things to learn and experience besides what the school system deems "important." Not that formal education isn't a necessity, but honestly, when they can do their make-up work for a week in a couple of hours and STILL make straight A's, it makes you wonder...

I am a former high school teacher, and we regularly pull our kids out of school for family trips. I think I have posted this before, but my oldest daughter (straight A student) was in two community plays last year and we had to pull her out often for matinee performances, in addition to our family trips. I was feeling a little guilty about it, and her teacher - a public school teacher of many, many years - said to me, "Education is more than 'school.' Education is also about life experiences, and there are SO many things to learn that you don't in any school. DON'T WORRY ABOUT IT!"

So, OP, go ahead and do what is best for your kids, and only YOU can determine that!!

 

[garmich]

So, family time is not a priority? Personally, I hope my children learn that there are so many more wonderful things to learn and experience besides what the school system deems "important." Not that formal education isn't a necessity, but honestly, when they can do their make-up work for a week in a couple of hours and STILL make straight A's, it makes you wonder...

So, education is not a priority? My kids are not in the public school system and they are not straight "A" students, so taking them out of school for 1 to 2 weeks to go on vacation and setting them back 1 to 2 weeks is not an option for us. Our family vacations are usually 2-weeks long.

We have plenty of family time throughout the year. I am fortunate to work very close to home, and we have family time every evening at the dinner table. We have never been deprived of quality family time just because of school. We have gone on numerous family vacations over the years, without the need to "skip" school.

And I wouldn't even think about having my kids do homework during their vacation. They wouldn't be able to complete 1 to 2 weeks of make-up work in just a couple hours, and certainly not while on vacation! I don't bring my work with me on vacation, why should my kids?

We all have our priorities and we're all entitled to an opinion. Obviously, ours differ 180 degrees.

Good day!

 

[MightyMom]

I'm surprised to hear that some schools have fines for unexcused absenses. I have never ever heard of that before. My kids (and myself) have never attended public schools, so that's probably why.
Personally, I would never even consider taking my kids out of school for a vacation, even for a WDW vacation. It sets a bad example about priorities. There are plenty of breaks during the school year, when vacations can be scheduled. And you have 2.5 months during the summer.
.

That's great that it works for you and YOUR family. It's great that YOUR family puts such a high priority on education. But please realize this does not work for every family.... and some families have complicated situations that do not always allow for family vacations during school scheduled times.

I value education as much as anyone else. Yet, I have chosen to take my son out of school during the school year. Contrary to what many might assume, I am not an irresponsible parent because I choose to "rebel against the system". I'm doing what I feel is in my son's best interest.

I'm tired of the school system dictating and bullying me into submission by threatening legal action if I do not bow to their impossible demands. And believe me.... their demands are not only impossible...... but irrational.

So... I hope everyone keeps this in mind when this topic arises. Please understand that EVERY situation is different. We don't all fit neatly into the school systems little box.

 

[DisneyTigers]

So, education is not a priority? My kids are not in the public school system and they are not straight "A" students, so taking them out of school for 1 to 2 weeks to go on vacation and setting them back 1 to 2 weeks is not an option for us. Our family vacations are usually 2-weeks long.

We have plenty of family time throughout the year. I am fortunate to work very close to home, and we have family time every evening at the dinner table. We have never been deprived of quality family time just because of school. We have gone on numerous family vacations over the years, without the need to "skip" school.

And I wouldn't even think about having my kids do homework during their vacation. They wouldn't be able to complete 1 to 2 weeks of make-up work in just a couple hours, and certainly not while on vacation! I don't bring my work with me on vacation, why should my kids?

We all have our priorities and we're all entitled to an opinion. Obviously, ours differ 180 degrees.

Good day!

Of course education is a priority...if you had continued reading my previous post you would have seen that I am a former teacher! And, so that I can make sure we do have quality family time year round, I am now a stay at home mom. My kids complete their homework immediately after school and then play with each other or their friends or participate in various activities.

School has never deprived us of family time, either, but there are opportunities to travel or participate in other activities that have arisen/will arise that are important for our family regardless of whether they neatly fit into scheduled school holidays. Getting out of the frozen North in January is one of those priorities!

The main point of my post, which I guess I failed to articulate, is that there are more important aspects to a well-rounded education than the legalistic attitude (which I'm not saying that you have) of "My child has never missed a day of school." When I taught at a private, academically rigorous high school, I can guarantee you that I had many students who never missed a day but were seriously lacking in the life-skills department. And I had students who traveled extensively during the school year who were straight "A" students and light years ahead of many of their peers in maturity and intelligence.

Parents, we all know what our kids can't handle or are not capable of, and if our kids couldn't handle missing school for other experiences, we wouldn't do it. Fortunately for us, ours can, so we will be taking them out for our big vacation next year, which will be our first family trip to WDW!

 

[DisneyTigers]

Please understand that EVERY situation is different. We don't all fit neatly into the school systems little box.

 

[kimgof]

I believe every family makes their own decision based on their kids, the school system and how they feel. To each their own.
We are taking our kids out for 1 week the end of September. It will probably be the last time during school, since my son will be starting High School the year after. He is a straight A student but I feel once he hits High School the classes are harder , he will be taking advanced courses, and therefore harder to catch up. So we grabbed this year and could only do it financially due to the free dining. Every family has their own reasons for going during school or not during school. We all love our kids and want them to enjoy their familily time and be successful in school. No one family is right or wrong.... just a different family.