Taking kids out of school for Disney

[JOEZ]

Ok, so up to this point we have not had to worry about taking kids out of school for any trips, however, we just planned our first Disney camping trip for November and my daughter will be starting Kindergarten this year. My question is should I expect the school to give me problems taking her out of school for 10 days for this trip?

 

[pennymom]

I've never taken my boys out of school for a vacation, but in December they'll miss a week of Kindergarten and second grade (look out WDW, here we come!). From what I've read here, most school districts are ok with it. I plan to tell their teachers a few weeks ahead and ask what, if any, work they should take, or if they should make it up when they return.

 

[mdoc]

I've heard of some school districts that are very hardnosed about pulling kids out for vacation, but we've never had a problem with our school district. They require something in writing if the kids are going to miss three days or more, but then they tell you to have a good time. Most teachers are accommodating and will give the child the work ahead of time. I wouldn't give a second thought to kindergarten, or to elementary school if your child is a decent student. Last Thanksgiving we pulled the kids out of school for a few days so we could string together 9 days to go to Fort Wilderness. My 3rd grader and my 7th grader only missed a day and a half because their schools had extra days off for teacher conferences, but my high schooler missed 3 days because they only had off for T'giving and the Friday after. She's a good student and the teachers were cooperative, but she still found it difficult to catch up when she got back. She'd never had a problem in elementary school, but high school was tougher. She's willing to do it again next T'giving, but she'll try to get work done ahead of time. I'd contact the school early to find out what their policies and procedures are, but I'd be surprised if you had any problems pulling a kindergartner out.

 

[cruising spud]

I am both a teacher and a parent.

My two cents:

As a teacher-taking a pre-high school child out of school-as long as you let the teacher(s) know about two weeks ahead of time, I don't see this as a problem. A two week notice gives the teacher time to get work ready and/or give the child some one-on-one instruction to show him/her what he/she will be missing. A note-I'd have you or your child (depending on the age of your child)mention this to the teacher about two weeks ahead of time, about a week ahead of time, and about three days ahead of time (some teachers remember better than others).

As a parent-I would never take a high school child out of school for more than a day or two. Too much work/instruction would be missed.

 

[mrsscooter]

We have pulled our kids out of school at the kindergarden,first and second grade levels. Our school has never had a problem with it because they have only been gone for about 5 school days. This year, however we are going in October and the kids will be in 2nd and 4th grade, but we will be gone for about 10 school days, so hopefully this will not be a big issue. In years past the teacher just puts together a work packet and has them fill out a journal while they are gone and then has the kids give a mini presentation when they get back. At one point the principal had called me and gave me the lecture about school, kids, absence, etc.........but I lectured her right back with ..Dad in the Navy, family time is at HIS discretion......deployed for most of the year, going to Iraq, etc........needless to say, we went and the principal asked for a post card...LOL

 

[Goofyseven]

We did pull our kids out of school to go to Disney. In the lower grades the teachers were ok with it and some even said they may get some knoweldge at WDW that they wouldn't at school

In the upper grades, we would talk to their teachers and get the homework assignments for the time missed.

 

[mistaroo]

My ds's kindergarten teacher not only didn't mind, but she thought it was a wonderful idea. She just told us what she would be covering. Our kindergartener kept a journal of the trip and shared it with his class when he got back. It was fun

Another consideration for me is how easily the child will transition back into the class. Depending on the child, it can be a rough transition back into school if they are taken out before they are settled in at the beginning of the school year. We made that mistake once and vowed never to take a Sept trip again!

 

[Cousin Ed C]

My wife was in second grade for 32 years. She always thought a week at WDW was a great experience and just had the kids do a Disney Journal instead of giving them extra work. Of course we now winter at the Fort!

 

[CampingBandit]

I don't know if it works the same in other states....but here in Illinois, the districts get their funding based on daily attendance. That's the main reason they don't like kids to be pulled out for "unneccessary" reasons (like vacations)...

We have taken the kids on vacations during school, at the most 5 days. That was in '05 to go to WDW. The following June '06 I pulled them out the last three days of the school year to go up to Wisconsin, and they made me sign a form that said it was vacation and the kids would be back in the fall....I thought it was very odd. Earlier that year my DD had pnuemonia and missed like 10 days of school total, so I think that was a factor....it must have been some sort of justification for the State.

Anyway, this year we are going Thanksgiving week.... our district schedules P/T conferences on M/T, Wednesday - Fri are holidays. So we're blowing off the P/T conference....Bad mommy. Plus on top of that, we're pulling them out Thursday, Friday the week before to drive down, and also Monday on the return trip. So they'll miss three official days.... can't wait for that reaction.

I figure, ok to do it while they're young, my 5th grader has the ability to easily catch up the missed stuff, pretty soon she won't want to be seen with us.

On a side note I once missed a week during high school to go to Hawaii with my family, it was mid February. I had a note 2 weeks ahead of time and had all the teachers sign it. At the end of the year my U.S. History teacher tried to fail me for having too many abscences....good thing I had that note...she didn't give me any make-up work and the principal took my side. Never did like her....scary that I still remember that.

I don't think I'll pull them out in high school...to many issues.

 

[Skyw]

My son will go to a Christian School next year and their policy is as long as it is with family they don't mind. You can actually pull your kid out for a "family" day. How cool is that.

This year, my son will have to do a journal and bring something back for show and tell. It will be fun for him.

 

[kc5grw]

Funding for Texas schools is also based on daily attendance. It can be a real P.I.T.A. when your kid misses a few too many days of school. We had serious problems with my youngest daughter's middle school because she had missed multiple days out with the flu and didn't get her Dr. note turned in on time. The missed days went on the record then ended up in truancy court. She had an A average in all of her classes. Once the stupid thing ended up in the courts it was a ridiculous mess, it took a year and half working with the school to get the thing removed from the court records. Like I said previously, my daughter had an A average in all of her classes at the time. This action was solely based on the fact that the district wouldn't be getting there precious funding for those days. It didn't have a damn thing to do with the welfare of the student.

Now back to the original question. I wouldn't hestitate to pull my kids out in the elementary years, but now that they're in middle and high school more than a day or 2 is too hard to make up and then you have to deal with the stupid school district.

 

[Shan-man]

My wife was in second grade for 32 years. She always thought a week at WDW was a great experience and just had the kids do a Disney Journal instead of giving them extra work. Of course we now winter at the Fort!

Wow, she failed 2nd grade 32 TIMES!??












Sorry, couldn't resist!

 

[ScrapperBelle]

I have 2 stepchildren and DH and I have one together. Out of all 3, my stepson was the "easiest" to take out of school. It didn't bother him as much to miss instruction time. Stepdaughter and DS, however, were different stories. They did far better if they were in school. They needed the instruction time far more than DSS did.

We did take the 2 stepchildren out when they were in 2nd and 4th grades for 1 week in May. I felt more comfortable taking them out at the end of the year because our schools will only count vacation abscences against you if you have already missed a lot of school. I wanted to make sure they made it through the year without any major illnesses before I took the chance of them missing school for vacation. After DSD started 5th grade, their mother wouldn't let us take her out of school anymore (which we agreed with) and I wouldn't take the others and leave her at home.

We took our son out for 1 week when he started Kindergarten. But it was really a week he didn't have to go because they divide them up into 2 groups for the first couple of weeks and they alternate weeks of attendance to break them in on starting school. We went on his "off" week, so really no problem, but I found out quickly that he benefitted from class time, so I wouldn't pull him out of school after that.

I think it is most important to know your own children and be totally honest with yourself about that. There were many times I was tempted to pull them out for a trip, but I knew that for them it wasn't the right thing to do. I also think Kindergarten would be fine for any child, just stay on top of what they're missing that week and they'll be alright.

Good luck. Hope you have a great trip!

 

[NLPRacing]

We've done it a couple of times. The last time was back in March. We pulled our daughter (1st grade) & son (3rd grade) out for three days before Spring Break. Teachers had no problem with it and gave us all their work so they would be caught up when they come back. We'd probably do it again, as long we're not having any school troubles (both kids get straight A's, no disciplinary problems, etc.) & at least until the kids get into junior high.

 

[auntie]

Funding for Texas schools is also based on daily attendance. It can be a real P.I.T.A. when your kid misses a few too many days of school. We had serious problems with my youngest daughter's middle school because she had missed multiple days out with the flu and didn't get her Dr. note turned in on time. The missed days went on the record then ended up in truancy court. She had an A average in all of her classes. Once the stupid thing ended up in the courts it was a ridiculous mess, it took a year and half working with the school to get the thing removed from the court records. Like I said previously, my daughter had an A average in all of her classes at the time. This action was solely based on the fact that the district wouldn't be getting there precious funding for those days. It didn't have a damn thing to do with the welfare of the student.

Now back to the original question. I wouldn't hestitate to pull my kids out in the elementary years, but now that they're in middle and high school more than a day or 2 is too hard to make up and then you have to deal with the stupid school district.

We have a strict enforcement in regards to absence as well. It really boils down to money.
I don't think it's the teachers that really mind when the kids miss school for family vacation...as much as district policy, which equals state aid and funding. At least in our experience. Our district has now adopted a policy where if in any one semester a child can't miss more than 9 days of school, for a total of 18 days in a school year. They reserve the right to not give credit for a class...which is high school can be a problem. They also require a dr.'s note for any absence more than 4 days in a row. They obviously want to prevent the "family vactions" by implementing this. We worked around it by scheduling a vacation during Memorial Day week..or should say the week prior since they had that Fri. off from school. Now..they changed that..and they only have the Monday of Memorial Day.
Thank Goodness..I've only got one more year of this to worry about it. However, college doesn't get any easier, and they sure can't miss an entire week of that. It's three misses from a class and that's it, you're out. At least in our experience.
So...my advise to you is GO! Do it while they are young enough for it to not be an issue. I would find out about your district policy regarding absence, before I'd even let the teacher know about it. You may be placing the teacher in an awkward position letting he/she know about a family vacation if it's against district policy. I think you're kids are young enough that it shouldn't matter..but if your district is strict on enforcing absences...you want to be sure before hit the road.
Good luck and enjoy your trip!

 

[cyberdeb]

Honestly it really depends on your kids, your family and the age and grade of the child. I wouldnt worry too much about kindergarten. I have taken my then highschooler out of school for a 10 day vacation to disney. I think it was really a matter of four days out of school. He wasnt exactly a great student, but it was a matter of a much needed vacation for his mental health that took precedent over school. He ended up dropping out of school for reasons totally unrelated to missing time at school but it was something we needed as a family and i would do it again in a heartbeat. Like another poster mentioned that the father was in the service and vacations had to be on his schedule. Well it is that way for our family as well and was a matter of a time when my self employed spouse could take the time off and because of the off season rates, made it affordable. I told the schools that if they didnt like it, sue me.

 

[TheFlame]

We homeschool so I ALWAYS excuse missed days that are spent at WDW!

When my kids were in government school and we had a trip to WDW planned, I always gave the teacher at least a month's notice of our trip. Not for her or the school's permission, just to help her get any work ready that we could take with us. I didn't really care what the school said, it was none of their business anyway!

 

[beagles7278]

Wow, she failed 2nd grade 32 TIMES!??

No, she only failed 31 times, the 32nd year she passed.



My daughter starts school in the fall and I often wondered the same thing.

 

[RocklandRVers]

This burns me up. Why should we as parents feel guilty for taking a child on a family vacation regardless of when. We have done it a couple of times including our very first visit as a family in May 2003. With both parents working its darn near impossible to get vacation time together during the key summer months and other school vacations so you have to take it when it comes. To us the quality family time was priceless. Did he miss anything? Not really. There were no tests and he was a good student so we didn't hesitate. Common sense would dictate however. If he was barely getting by we might have cancelled. But he worked hard for good grades and deserved a reward. As far as the school, they weren't happy but so what. The last I looked I was in charge and pay a lot of taxes for their salaries. Finally (and then I am off my soapbox) Disney is a great learning experience! Epcot, for example, is a place where you can step into several countries and meet actual people who are from there. Try that from a book in a classroom. Try going on a safari and seeing Giraffe, Rhinos, Elephants, a lion and lioness in a habitat as close to Africa as being there by scanning a computer. Not nearly the educational experience in my opinion.

 

[brendaziz]

Am I the only who finds mandatory journaling on a family vacation ridiculous!!!

Whenever I hear this stuff I just think- If my child WANTED to journal b/c they thought it'd be fun, then that's one thing. But I would NEVER forc emy kid to turn vacation into something that is WORK!
You would never expect an adult to do this when taking off time from work.
Unless we wanted to of course.
Then again, maybe I'll journal on my next trip!