Taking kids out of school for vacation

[ChicosWife]

I would. Life is short. Childhood is shorter. Plus, I would try to get as much make-up school work done before the cruise so no one would have to worry about it. However, I would have a reading time every day, plus some math problems every day. IMHO there is so much more to learn about than what is taught in the classroom.

 

[ChicosWife]

Ours are super strict - no vacations during the school year - otherwise it is considered a non-excused absense and 5 consicutive days will be reported to the truency office and a court date is set. Parents have to initial a paper stating that they have read and understood that information.

Dang!!!! That is strict!

 

[msmama]

I'm taking my son out for 2 weeks next month for our EBPC cruise. No one would be able to convince me that he would learn more sitting for two weeks in a classroom than he would sailing through the Panama Canal. He's in 6th grade which is still elementary school in my district, otherwise I probably wouldn't do 2 full weeks. I do plan to take his math book with us (where it will probably sit unused and taking up space). They're learning about early civilizations this year and we'll be in Mexico, so... I think hands on ruins are a better learning tool than a book.

We have a brand new administration this year so I have no idea how they'll react, but...I also don't really care. He's my kid, I'm going to do what I think is best for our family. He's an excellent student and loves school, but loves vacations slightly more.

 

[scrappinginontario]

I've taken my daughter out every year of school for cruises and Disney trips. Latest trip was last month, she missed 6 1/2 school days and she is now in Grade 5.

I was chatting with her principal last week and admitted that I was a bit nervous when I went into the school to pick her up early so we could catch our flight. She laughed and said, 'This is Elementary school! Her bit of time away will make no difference in what College or University she goes to. She will experience so many things on a family vacation that we would never teach her in a classroom. Go and have fun!!'

Phew! It was then that I admitted next September's trip was already booked.

 

[lilsonicfan]

We took ours out for 3 weeks for the EBTA. I won't say they "learned" a ton but they had a great life experience on the vacation. I am tempted to take them out for 2 weeks again for the WBPC 2021, but for the rather high cost I too would not take them out once they start high school (gr. 8 here)

 

[bearette]

I am a teacher in California and I agree to talk to the teacher, but don’t wait. Let them know right away because if you want a work study where they do not loose credit for being absent they need to have work to complete on the trip. My kid’s school requires two weeks notice so check with your child’s teacher.

I also suggest not taking out a struggling student, but sometimes a day or two doesn’t make a big deal if you are willing to make up and assist with the work that was missed. The kids who miss and parents who don’t help them is more of a problem.

 

[mcd2745]

We personally never did it. I know all the teachers/principals we've had have been very much against it. I never really had a problem with them taking that stance - with one caveat. If, as teachers/principals, you are so against parents taking kids out of school for vacations (WDW, DCL, or where ever), then it should be mandated at the school that there is to be no work of any kind given over the various breaks. If teachers are assigning all kinds of work for the kids to do over Xmas break, February break or Easter/Spring break...then why should parents wait for those breaks and pay the substantial premiums that come with it? It's not really a break then, and is not all that different from taking them out during a school week.

 

[brentm77]

We did it all through elementary school, but have eased off as the kids grew older (though we still take them out a few days for short trips). Both are straight A students and still take school seriously.

I don't buy into the idea that you are teaching your children that school isn't important by taking a week off or that they are "shirking their responsibility." Something can be important and you can still take a short break from it. I have a responsibility to my employer, but I can still take off time from work. Lighten up, life is short and will be gone before you know it.

I know a few teachers find it a personal offense that we would disrupt the education like that, but most of their teachers were understanding and excited for them. I am a huge fan of education (I hold an advanced college degree myself), but there is so much more to life than sitting in a classroom. Seeing the world and even just learning to relax and have fun as a family is very valuable too.

To the extent is disrupts a classroom, I guess I am not too sympathetic. We all have disruptions at work and we are all expected to deal with them. None of my children's teachers hesitated to miss school when they needed/wanted to, and having a substitute teacher for a week or more was extremely disruptive to the classroom, but somehow everyone survived. If I were a teacher, I would like to think that I would be glad for my student and see if there was a learning opportunity the student could take from the trip.

If the best time of year for you to travel is during school, I wouldn't hesitate.

 

[DCLCrazy64622]

Would you take a younger elementary aged kid (2nd grade) out of school for a cruise if you felt it was significantly better for your family financially? How many people do this?

We are homeschoolers so we always support family time and work around classroom time. I say go for it! They’re only little once.

 

[ray3127]

We personally never did it. I know all the teachers/principals we've had have been very much against it. I never really had a problem with them taking that stance - with one caveat. If, as teachers/principals, you are so against parents taking kids out of school for vacations (WDW, DCL, or where ever), then it should be mandated at the school that there is to be no work of any kind given over the various breaks. If teachers are assigning all kinds of work for the kids to do over Xmas break, February break or Easter/Spring break...then why should parents wait for those breaks and pay the substantial premiums that come with it? It's not really a break then, and is not all that different from taking them out during a school week.

Your logic makes sense! FWIW, my wife and I both teach and don't mind the trips our students take at all. And we have no choice but to take our kids out, as we live and teach in different school districts.

I strongly concur with the above poster who said life is short; childhood is shorter. We already feel it slipping away, and as long as our kids are good students and understand the importance of school (we're teachers, duh...) we will be taking them out for family trips.

 

[starvenger]

So this Jan we're having the kids miss the first 2-3 days coming back from Christmas break. I dont feel too bad about that. And a few years back we pulled them around CDN Thanksgiving for a DCL + WDW vacation, but now that they're older I would personally feel pretty bad about that. So now if I hve them miss days it will likely be around the winter break or the start of school.

 

[KMarston]

We may have taken them out early on a Friday in elementary school to get a head start but we never took them out in Middle or High School. Not because we didn’t want to but they were involved in activities that often took trips and one of the rules was that you have no unexcused absences. They had amazing opportunities to travel with school, especially High School so we vacationed when they had holidays.

My DGS starts kindergarten next year and I’m already bummed that it will mess up the week in January that we take him to Disney.

 

[MonaMN]

We have done it a few different years of elementary. This may be our last (5th grade) - we are pulling our kid out for five days in January. She is a good student and has not had any issues.

 

[surran12]

Would you take a younger elementary aged kid (2nd grade) out of school for a cruise if you felt it was significantly better for your family financially? How many people do this?

We have done his for 4 of our 5 Disney cruises and will be doing it in 2021as well. Honestly missing 5-7 days of school to save thousands of dollars means we are able to go on other vacations each summer as well, which means more opportunities to create lasting memories. Though 2021 will probably be our last time since after that one our oldest will be in high school and we feel that it would be hard to miss that much time then.

 

[Husker Mike]

My position is "it depends". We're pulling the kids out of school for the afternoon before spring break to head for Orlando; I don't think they are going to miss much that last afternoon. (Can't imagine that there's much retention of ANYTHING taught in those final hours before spring break.) A few years back, we also pulled our kids out of school for 3 days around spring break for a trip to Hawai'i, and our justification was that they'll experience more than they'd get in class. They were also in 1st and 3rd grade at the time.

But as a general rule, I wouldn't feel right pulling the kids out of school for a trip that's completely within a school session. I don't care how much money I might save by doing it; school is important, and I want my kids to understand that too.

 

[BuzzLightyearInTampa]

Would you take a younger elementary aged kid (2nd grade) out of school for a cruise if you felt it was significantly better for your family financially? How many people do this?

Yes! We did this often when DS was in elementary school. The first week of December was a prime example. A week before or two weeks after was at least 50% more expensive. We told the teacher beforehand and he got his assignments early. We just made sure there was no standardized testing going on and brought the teacher a DCL mug from the cruise and it worked out fine. Once he got into middle school, though (especially 7th to 8th grade), we sucked it up and switched to summer or Spring Break.

 

[BuzzLightyearInTampa]

And, not for nothing, DCL's business model (and WDW's as well) absolutely depends on people being willing to take their kids out of school to go there. Otherwise, they would shutdown during the school year.

 

[MrsDuck]

Definitely.

PS. I'm a teacher.

 

[MrsInsG]

I'm a mom and a middle school teacher and I whole-heartedly endorse vacations during the school year. School is important, but so is family time. Many of my students return to home countries for the months of December or January to visit family while many others take a week-long vacation at some point due to parental vacation times. My husband and I are taking our 6th and 9th graders out of school for three days in November (there are two teacher work days that week) to sail the Fantasy; it's our 20th anniversary and I will use my personal days to cover the five days I'll miss. Life happens; take the time together when you can.

 

[MrsInsG]

We personally never did it. I know all the teachers/principals we've had have been very much against it. I never really had a problem with them taking that stance - with one caveat. If, as teachers/principals, you are so against parents taking kids out of school for vacations (WDW, DCL, or where ever), then it should be mandated at the school that there is to be no work of any kind given over the various breaks. If teachers are assigning all kinds of work for the kids to do over Xmas break, February break or Easter/Spring break...then why should parents wait for those breaks and pay the substantial premiums that come with it? It's not really a break then, and is not all that different from taking them out during a school week.

My district has a strict policy against any work assigned to be completed over a break. Work can be assigned a few days before and can't be due until a week after; I think it's a great policy.