cattywampus
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Apr 15, 2010
- Messages
- 534
Same thread, different date. There will always be those that are aghast at the thought, super rule followers and those that are intimidated by school policy. I'm not any of those. 
Know your kid. Have a good relationship with your teacher and understand their opinion of your child's learning process and any struggles.
At the end of the day, these are your kids. Do what you think is right. I refuse to allow school districts to own my kid. I will partner with them, but I am the parent.
I took DS out of school twice per year for trips since Pre-K (not necessarily all full weeks, but some trips were). He's a California kid that knows every inch of Disneyland, has gone to WDW, taken three trips to NYC (visiting museums, going to the theatre, learning to hail a cab at age 8 -- will go a third time in Dec), Washington DC, San Francisco, etc. Some of these trips have been on school breaks, but a large number involve some missed school days. He turns 10 at the end of the year and, in this parent's opinion, has a good mix of school knowledge and life experience. I have seen so many kids get out of college and not be able to function in the real world, even though they were at the top of their class academically since preschool. It is hard to get into college -- I get that, but they have to have family and life experience balance.
DS is in 4th grade and we just got end of year test scores -- he tested way above his grade level in math and English, so missed time has obviously not interfered with his schooling. If those results were different or his report cards dropped, I might rethink missing time. It might also change as he gets older, and we will continue to evaluate.
His teachers have always been encouraging and kind, but I would not change my mind, unless there was a very good reason (like he began struggling). If they are just closed minded and think a child should never miss school, regardless (like some on this board), we would have a problem that I would not hesitate to take as far as I needed to in order to resolve. Once again, this is my kid and I'm responsible for ALL of him -- not just school.
As a side note, we used to do Disneyland the week before Labor Day, which meant he did not miss school. For no good reason, they moved the start date back a week this year. Super smart since it is typically one of the hottest weeks. I'd like to see the increased air conditioning bill for the district (it's a very large district) for the last week in August vs the typically gloomy week it replaced in June, all the while they fire teachers due to budget cuts. School calendars have become a moving target that serve the adult employees, not the kids or families. So many Districts (not the teachers - they are usually great!) are out of touch and generally poorly run.
Know your kid. Have a good relationship with your teacher and understand their opinion of your child's learning process and any struggles.
At the end of the day, these are your kids. Do what you think is right. I refuse to allow school districts to own my kid. I will partner with them, but I am the parent.
I took DS out of school twice per year for trips since Pre-K (not necessarily all full weeks, but some trips were). He's a California kid that knows every inch of Disneyland, has gone to WDW, taken three trips to NYC (visiting museums, going to the theatre, learning to hail a cab at age 8 -- will go a third time in Dec), Washington DC, San Francisco, etc. Some of these trips have been on school breaks, but a large number involve some missed school days. He turns 10 at the end of the year and, in this parent's opinion, has a good mix of school knowledge and life experience. I have seen so many kids get out of college and not be able to function in the real world, even though they were at the top of their class academically since preschool. It is hard to get into college -- I get that, but they have to have family and life experience balance.
DS is in 4th grade and we just got end of year test scores -- he tested way above his grade level in math and English, so missed time has obviously not interfered with his schooling. If those results were different or his report cards dropped, I might rethink missing time. It might also change as he gets older, and we will continue to evaluate.
His teachers have always been encouraging and kind, but I would not change my mind, unless there was a very good reason (like he began struggling). If they are just closed minded and think a child should never miss school, regardless (like some on this board), we would have a problem that I would not hesitate to take as far as I needed to in order to resolve. Once again, this is my kid and I'm responsible for ALL of him -- not just school.
As a side note, we used to do Disneyland the week before Labor Day, which meant he did not miss school. For no good reason, they moved the start date back a week this year. Super smart since it is typically one of the hottest weeks. I'd like to see the increased air conditioning bill for the district (it's a very large district) for the last week in August vs the typically gloomy week it replaced in June, all the while they fire teachers due to budget cuts. School calendars have become a moving target that serve the adult employees, not the kids or families. So many Districts (not the teachers - they are usually great!) are out of touch and generally poorly run.
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