Taking kids out of school? Please read!

[MickeyMonstersMom]

I posted this earlier in the Tips forum, but as the issue comes up here often, I figured it merited its own thread.

I am a teacher - used to teach 9th-12th grades, now teach 7th - and I've come to hate hearing that students will be gone for vacation. Why? Many, many students ask for the work, but only once in 9 years has a student actually handed in the work that I assigned.

When a student or parent informs me of an upcoming vacation, I put in at least an hour of extra work, figuring out which days the student will miss (we're on a rotating schedule, so this is a pain), copying and compiling notes, handouts, and assignments, and then annotating them with explanations of which to complete first, which items should be kept and which handed in, etc. Except for that one case, everyone has returned with blank (or lost) papers and NO idea what the class is currently doing. Then I have to help the (usually unwilling) student play catch-up and sometimes even deal with parents who claim that the low report card grade was a punishment because their child missed class (not, of course, because they did not complete the work and/or failed subsequent tests).

Last spring, a student told me she'd be gone for the entire month of May to visit a parent who'd been serving in the armed forces out-of-state. Understanding how important this trip would be for her, I forgave all her assignments except one research task that she would add to a group's project upon her return. I also reformatted (to be compatible with her dad's computer) the notes she'd need to study for our final exam and e-mailed them to her along with detailed instructions on the research task. Despite the fact that she had a month to do the work as well as computer access, she never bothered to print out the notes or even find out what topic she was to research. She returned 3 days before the Final completely unprepared and asked for an extension - how on earth could I grant it?? In addition, her failure to complete her part of the research task left her group with an incomplete project. Her average nosedived at the end of the year, where she had no chance to bring it back up.

As a parent, I understand the value of family time, and understand that you can't always go during school breaks - however, if you do take time off from school, PLEASE make sure your children complete the work that their teachers went out of their way to prepare. It will help keep the kids on track academically - and maybe help us teachers be less curmudgeonly as well!

[/rant] (Thanks for listening!)

 

[tinaluis]

I agree with you 100%. My oldest DD is only in 2nd grade (and my younger two aren't in school yet), but we've always asked for and completed whatever work her teachers have given us. Usually they just have her do the work when she returns, but I know there will come a time when they will prepare a package for her to work on while on vacation, and I will make sure she completes all assignments before returning. It's the least we can do.

 

[drgnfly30]

I am guilty of taking my kids out two years in a row. However, I always plan them around inservice days & the like so they miss as little school as possible. I also ask for AND return all the assignments given... there is enough down time at the hotel to do at least a couple of things each night.
just my two cents..
Christine

 

[poohbear2]

As a parent I understand the need for quality time. However, as a teacher I also am aware of the problems that can occur. I am a sixth grade science teacher and many times students will miss labs/experiments and presentations that help so much in the learning of the material. Parents just need to be aware that some required learning is hard to make-up. I don't have a problem with students leaving for a short time;however, I just want parents to know that even the brightest students may suffer somewhat.

 

[TmnsnMD]

Well, we took our family vacation in Oct 2001. Our DS was in 6th grade and overall was doing pretty well. We checked with his school even before the school year started. Most of the teachers gave us packages for our 9 days at WDW. We worked on the homework/classwork each day (approx 30 min - 1 hour). There were a couple of sheets that we were not sure about so we did not complete them. When we got home, everything was put in folders, one for each teacher -- and he handed everything in the 1st day back. The sheets we had questions on, he put in the folder with a note about his questions and requested help whenever the teacher could (be it after school, before school or during scool - he had a study hall). I do have to say all the teachers were GREAT about helping with any questions he had.

I do have to say that even doing the work each day - it was still a game of catch up when we got back. Being in class does help, you hear everyone else discuss the lessons and what not. He did not suffer grade wise, but he did feel like he missed something. All worked out fine, it was at the end of the marking term, so new lessons were started when we returned.

Now we have a trip set for 2004 -- but this time it will be during Aug. We feel that 8th grade will be hard enough without him playing catch up again.

I have to say if we could do a during school trip again we would. The parks were empty, temps in the low 80's - everything was GREAT!

I would not change our going during school for anything (it was our 1st time and we were able to do everything) I don't think we will do it again. I did LOVE going in Oct.

I do agree that if you ASK for the work you should at least try to completed as much as you can.

I also mailed each teacher a thank you note the day we left on our trip for all their help.

TmnsnMD

 

[mom2smjn]

We are farmers and the only time we have to go on vacation is the true winter months...but we can't afford the christmas/spring break prices so we always take the kids out of school. Our children ALWAYS finish the work they are given PLUS I make them keep a journal of what the saw and learned and did to hand in as well. ALL of the kids are on high honor roll and our trips have never hindered their grades. As a matter of fact the principal of the middle school said that she feel if they have good grades, are not disipline problems, don't miss school regularly THEN she feels that a family vacation is the BEST thing for the student. As quality one on one family time is so limited and why not reward an excelling student?

However this said, next year my dd enters high school...we are not planning a trip because we thought this would be a serious adjustment period and wanted to be sure she was still doing as well.

 

[MickeyMonstersMom]

I wonder if we Disney nuts are simply a different breed than the average vacationer - it seems as though we are much more conscientious about keeping up with school while away.

mom2smjn, I noticed in a different thread that you went to Six Flags this summer - are you closer to Darien Lake or Lake George? I discovered that season passes at Darien Lake cost only $45 while those at Lake George were $60 or $65 - both season passes are good at any Six Flags (in fact, we used ours in New England), but it really pays to shop around when ordering them. And then as long as you go to the park twice, you've made your money back on the season pass. Just a tip!

 

[crisi]

MMM,

Thanks for the extra effort. My two aren't in school yet, but I remember when I was in school. My parents lived far away from their families and we were pulled yearly to travel "home." In addition, I spent a number of winters fairly ill with my sister bringing my work home for me. Not all teachers bother to do the extra work to provide homework.

I also know that not all school work can be made up. As poohbear2 said, science labs are hard to make up - except for a few "kitchen" labs. A good friend of mine is a junior high art teacher, and most kids are not going to be working on a pottery wheel or with oil paint at home - and the art history part of the lessons is still done from slides - hard to move those slides into a take home format. A subject like Math builds from one lesson to the next - and is difficult to learn from a book - and most of us parents don't remember enough of the FOIL method to teach it. Missing a week worth of math can throw you so you never catch up - or throw the whole class off time while they wait for you.

Thanks again.

 

[mom2smjn]

Originally posted by MickeyMonstersMom


mom2smjn, I noticed in a different thread that you went to Six Flags this summer - are you closer to Darien Lake or Lake George? I discovered that season passes at Darien Lake cost only $45 while those at Lake George were $60 or $65 - both season passes are good at any Six Flags (in fact, we used ours in New England), but it really pays to shop around when ordering them. And then as long as you go to the park twice, you've made your money back on the season pass. Just a tip!

We went to Darien but even with the somewhat lower ticket cost many rides required $$ as well as any of the extra fun things like the rock wall and such. I also found it was laid out terrible and just not nearly worth the money. We were on the giant ferris wheel and one of the kids said"this is fun but it is sure not Disney" Dh and I commented that just the overall feeling is so vastly different....give me wdw any day!

 

[Yzma and Kronk]

I cannot believe some parents don't take their kids education seriously enough to complete the assigments given - that just shocked me!
How rude and stupid of the parents!
I'm taking DS out of 3rd grade for 5 days soon and have advised her that she will be working on the assignments during the travel time to/from WDW. Anything else will be completed before she arrives back to school.

 

[helenm29]

I also agree with you 100%! if parents are going to take their kids out of school they need to take responsibility for having their kids do their work! on the other hand, it would be nice if they would give the kids a day or two before they go on their trips to do some of the work so that they could injoy their trip! the teachers here DO NOT give any kind of deal on the homework---however much is do from everyone else is what YOU will GET!
I realize you have to account for each student and their work to get paid but this is also supposed to be fun for the kids so when we return from our trip we usually do it on a weekend so that they can get whatever hasn't been finished already done!

 

[Jordan's MOM]

Thanks for sharing. How very sad that some parents ruin what could be a wonderful travel oppertunity for many others. We would never consider not getting and completing ALL the homework/schoolwork that is required by DS teachers when we take him out to travel. We have always been thankful for teachers putting forth the extra effert to get these things together and think it would be an insult to the teachers not to finish the work. They also get a WDW gift from us.In the past most teachers have given us the work ahead of time and we got a lot of it done before we even left. We also always leave a day to complete work on our return from the trip and before return to school. We had not had good success with doing any work at WDW it's self, but do take advantage of all the education experences at WDW.

Jordan's mom

 

[~Sparkly~Zoe]

I make sure that mine do the work when we go away. In fact the best time to do soem of it is on the plane ride! It's also up to the parent to make sure that the child gets the work done.

 

[becjlek]

I will not take our middle school son or high school son out of school for a vacation. We spend a lot of time together everyday so they are not missing out on quality family time by being in school. How would parents feel if the teacher took a week off for vacation during the school year?

 

[beattyfamily]

Originally posted by becjlek
I will not take our middle school son or high school son out of school for a vacation. We spend a lot of time together everyday so they are not missing out on quality family time by being in school. How would parents feel if the teacher took a week off for vacation during the school year?

This parent wouldn't be bothered in the least if a teacher took a week off for a vacation during the school year!! Go for it!

Our best friend is a teacher in Boston for the past 12 years (she just started at a new school today!) and she is taking a week off next Oct/Nov to come to WDW and the Cruise with us!!!!

To each his own. As long as you aren't hurting your kids by taking them out, it's no one's business but ours. You only live once. As long as I'm not making extra work for my children's teachers, then there's no problem, IMHO.

Personally, I will probably stop taking my children out of school for vacations when they are in about 5th or 6th grade...we'll see.

 

[AirForceRocks]

We took our kids out for a week in 2002 (grade 2 and K at the time), and neither had any problems. Our school policy is that how ever many days the kids are out, they have that many days to turn in any assignments/homework. They did some of the work before we left, and the rest when we returned home.

They will be missing the first 3 days of school next school year, and I don't anticipate any problems at all.

But I agree that it is irresponsible of parents to not make sure that the kids do the work and turn it in after returning to school.

 

[miche61]

We will be taking our 3 kiddos out of school for our WDW trip this winter. Our school has taken on the policy that no work will be given before vacations, it is too hard on the teachers. I understand this, especially since oldes DD is in 5th grade this year. We are also given so many days to make up the time per the time missed (2 days to make up per day lost). Our youngest 2 are in 2nd, and Kindergarten. They have only been a part of our family for three years, and we think our vacations are a great bonding experience. That said, next time we take our vacation, it will probably be during a regular school break.

Vacations are so great for family time. School also is very important. As a parent, I have to remember to weigh what's in the best interest for my kiddos.

 

[Disneybelle66]

I agree with you all,when we go on vacation our children know AHEAD of time they are EXPCTED to do ALL their homework. We explained to them,that many children never get to go on a family trip let alone DISNEY WORLD!! So, if Mom and Dad worked hard ALL year long to afford this trip,they can work extra hard for a week or so doing their work. So far so good!!

 

[nuts4sn00py]

I think everyone has to do what is best for the family. I took my kids out of school during a testing week, so they wouldn't miss much in the classroom. DD was in 2nd grade & DS was in Kindergarten. While both had homework, DD gave us a hard time about doing it, while DS did all his with no problem. I have come to realize that DD has a much harder time with school overall & therefore won't be taking her out of school again, unless it is only for a day or two. Some kids just can't afford to be away from school, while others do just fine. You have to be honest with yourself & your child. Not every child can make up that lost classwork & need the discipline of school. Once again, it's an individual decision & one that shouldn't be made lightly. JMO Kathy

 

[Paull117]

I remember my parents took me out of school to go see WDW. For the most part it was not a problem for the teachers. I was lucky though my parents took 4 days to get there, and riding in a motorhome with a table mad it easy. Man did that help pass the time when my dad had to see the biggest ball of Mud.
I do recall one teacher gave me so much homework when I got back I was ahead of the class by about a month LOL.

Paul