Taking kids out of school for Disney

[Shan-man]

Am I the only who finds mandatory journaling on a family vacation ridiculous!!! ... You would never expect an adult to do this when taking off time from work.

On the contrary! I certainly expect TCD to do extensive journaling as he vacations... whether he likes it or not!

 

[ftwildernessguy]

We have taken the kids out of school for annual FW trips from Kindergarten thru senior year of high school. The school district wouldn't dare comment on this since I pointed out to them the ridiculous number of days they gave off for band trips to WDW, football playoff games, teacher's conferences, etc. They always got their assignments ahead of time and were always ahead of the rest of the class when they returned. They both graduated with honors and attended college. In fact, my son will be graduating from RPI in a month with degree in electrical engineering.

 

[auntie]

We have taken the kids out of school for annual FW trips from Kindergarten thru senior year of high school. The school district wouldn't dare comment on this since I pointed out to them the ridiculous number of days they gave off for band trips to WDW, football playoff games, teacher's conferences, etc. They always got their assignments ahead of time and were always ahead of the rest of the class when they returned. They both graduated with honors and attended college. In fact, my son will be graduating from RPI in a month with degree in electrical engineering.

You know..I never thought of that. I guess they still get state aid if the kids are on school related trips, that's why they don't make a big deal about those kids missing actual school days in the building.
I think I've mentioned this but my brother(attorney) had a case once where he represented a family with a student who was an honor student but had exceeded the number of absences allowed. The district didn't want to let him graduate. Yet, he had a medical exuse for all of his absences.
WHY is this? Turns out... if you exceed the number of absences(which in our district is 18)....the DISTRICT is obligated to provide a tutor to the student. Of course the school district wants no part of having to pay for that. So they are sticklers on enforcing the attendance policy. So, this attendance policy is really to protect the school districts pocketbook, and not have to provide tutors to kids who are truant. Only...they could have actually picked a truant kid who just didn't like to go to school to make an example of, they might have had a better shot with that.
I personally think that even in high school..with enough planning, and picking the right time, a child can miss some school for a family vacation. It's all in the timing. Time is precious..soon they'll be in college and working, and the opportunity to get the entire family together at the same time, well it just won't be as easy.

 

[gillenkl]

Depends on your child and the school requirements. My one child goes to private school and they allow 8 days of vacation per year - I think you have to let them know a month in advance. We like to camp 2 full weeks at the Fort so that isn't enough time off school and since I'm paying tuition I also want my monies worth. I'd discuss with the school and teacher.

 

[Tigger0624]

3 of my boys are in school right now- but in pre-k, 1st and 4th grades. Our distric does have a strict policy on attendance- but we did take the boys out for the 4 days prior to spring break this year for our week at the Fort. Only my oldest had work to make up which he elected to do when he got back instead of bringing it on vacation with us. I did get a letter from my younger sons school warning of too many absences- but I dont worry about that too much. We took this trip with my parents- who the boys dont get to see nearly enough anymore. We went from living 5 blocks away from them to over 1000 miles away- and instead of seeing the kids every day, they get to see they maybe every 3-4 months. When we saw the opportunity for not only DH, but my mom and dad to all have the same days off- we held on with both hands! That week in Disney was priceless to all of us and I would do it again in a heartbeat...

 

[BibbidyBobbidyBoo]

We've done it a few times.
It's always been at the very beginning of school (Texas schools are fine with this- they just 'ghost' them into their classes but they really just don't register them until the first day they attend therefore they aren't losing funding. Weird and hard to explain but they were always super fine/no problem with them missing at the beginning of the year) or at the very end (like the last 2 days one year- and we ALL know -atleast around here- that they do no learning whatsoever in those last two days. Those days are spent on end of year parties and general "nothingness" while the teachers get final grading done, making sure all school property is turned in, etc.) and one time an extra few days around Thanksgiving holiday which they also didn't have a problem with considering those days were also not really spent intently learning.

In all cases we told them way ahead of time (because we always knew way ahead of time- like 1-2yrs ahead of time LOL) and in younger grades they didn't even have to make up work (I remember once when Ruby was in 4th grade all the teacher asked was that she write a journal and then share a "report" about her trip with the class upon her return- which she did... oh and the teacher asked if she could come LOL) and when Ruby missed the first few days of highschool for the repo cruise last year they just gave her until the end of the first grading period to turn in any missed work.

It really does depend on the children- really at any age- on whether or not they can handle it and not fall behind. I would think that kindergarten would be the one grade that is the LEAST likely to cause problems- considering it's not even mandatory in some states (or maybe all states? I'm not sure). The only time I could think that would be a problem would be if the child is likely to fall far behind. I dunno. In my experience all 3 of my kids were ahead of everyone else when they started kindergarten anyway -so it was for sure not a problem at that age. Also we were fortunate that our chidren (all 3) had NEVER missed another day of school throughout the years EXCEPT for the few times they missed for vacations like every other year- so their perfect attendance otherwise probably helped matters. A child that has missed a lot in the past or recently due to illness or other reasons they might be less likely to be accomodating of them missing more for a vacation- ofcourse because missing too much school increases the risk of the child falling behind.

Now I homeschool my kids- so this is no longer a worry for us. And it's a good thing too since we are leaving for vacation this year on May 22nd so we wouldn't have been able to take this vacation- they'd have missed too much school. Also our TA in 2010 would have been a problem as well.

 

[tabbybizgan]

I'm pulling my kids out for 6 school days for our cruise....

What....do they get some kind of prize for perfect attendance when they finish high school????

My daughter was in the hospital 5 months last year, missed 2 months of 2nd grade, 2 months of 3rd grade, so what's another 6 days???? She gets a tutor daily after school, and math academy this summer, so we're good on that home front.....

After what we've been through as a family, we deserve a vacation this year, no matter what time of school year it is.

I spoke with my kids teachers, and they weren't too upset....
They were thrilled! (hoping to get some souvenirs when we get back)

 

[JOEZ]

Thanks so much everyone! I feel better about doing this now, however, I guess I need to talk to the school. We are really excited to do the camping thing this time, although I'm not looking forward to the long drive with a 2 year old and a 5 year old, but it will be worth it I suppose!

 

[Brumeiser]

I was starting to worry about pulling my second grader in the fall for our Thanksgiving Trip. The school gave me a rough time this week for pulling him out of school for a 2 day trip to Kalarahi with the special code someone posted on the budget board. They basically said well you know it will be a unexcused absence but he will be able to make up the work. I thought man if I get a hard time for him missing two days what will it be like missing 6 days this fall? I am not concerned about him missing school or be able to make it up because he is one of the top students in his class. Plus my son knows that on this trip he will have homework to do and one of his obligations will be to make the work up. The only thing my son is worried about is how he will get his twenty minutes of reading in a day while he is gone. But I was thinking couldn't he read while we are waiting in line? That could be a possiblity. Again thanks everyone for reassuring me it is ok to take him out. I want my son to experience Disney at least once in his life at Christmas.