Taking kids out of school

[Pooh's Pixie]

Do many of you take your kids out of school for vacation (Disney of course)? My kids are little (7, 5, 3) and it hasn't been an issue. They hardly ever miss other than that and they take work with them to do so they don't fall behind. However, I was wondering from other DISers when it might become a problem, if ever, or if people think it's a bad idea in general (even for WDW!!!!!!!!!!)

 

[Beth76]

I don't see it as a problem, as long as it's not all the time and the kids won't suffer in school. Just because you have kids in school why should you have to travel during peak times only? What I don't like are the people who take their kids out for reasons of education. Come on. If you want to go on vacation, go on vacation. But, don't try to justify it by saying it's "educational".

 

[Blueeyes101817]

I know everyone has different opinions on this...i dont have kids, but my parents always took us out of school for vacations...We did trips every other year, and i skipped a week in high school in 9th, 11th, and 12th grades...I had no problems catching up at all...
In fact, i am in college now and have taken a week off every semester, except this one, for a vacation..Next semester will be my senior semester and i will be going away on a cruise for a week...As long as i can make up the work, it doesnt bother the professors..
Im so happy that my parents took us on these trips, even though it meant missing school-the teachers were usually fine with it as well

 

[Disney Ella]

You know you're going to get some people telling you that you are a bad parent for wanting to pull your kids out of school. Education should be the most important thing in their lives and what message are you sending by pulling them out of school for - gasp! - fun.

My kids missed a week in first grade, three days in third grade and two days in fourth grade for Disney trips - and still managed to be A/B students. Obviously if the kids weren't doing well, I wouldn't take them out of school. My kids still talk about their trips, but I don't remember them ever going on and on about one particular day at school.

As the kids get older and school gets harder, we'll probably be traveling during peak season with the rest of the world. I really don't see taking kids out of school as a problem when the kids are as young as yours.

 

[SleepyMom]

I know there are lots of opinions on this subject here but for us we don't have a problem taking them out.

Our schools have always worked with us to get them as much homework before we leave as possible (sometimes we've gotten it early enough that it is done before we leave) and then when we get back we make sure they get whatever was left done right away. Usually they have to keep a daily journal as well.

Our first trip (December) our DD's were in Kindergarten and 8th grade, the next trip (September) they were in 3rd and 11th grade. I thought it might be harder for our older DD since she was a junior in HS, but it wasn't. The next trip (November) was younger DD and I alone, she was in 5th grade.

For us it just made sense, my oldest DD is from my first marriage and she spent summers with her dad, so we couldn't plan a vacation then. The added bonus of lower crowds and better temps didn't hurt either.

Truly I think it depends on each family, their kids and their circumstances. Thankfully both of our girls are wonderful students, so it never bothered them. Plus our schools were great in getting things ready before we went.

 

[hemispheredancer]

I have no problem taking my 2 out (5th, 2nd graders). Their teachers have already been notified of our travel dates. There is no excuse if they do not prepare work for my children. Every year we go and take the kids out. They do a little bit of homework each day and finish whatever is left on the weekend we come home. No, you are not a bad parent if you take them on a family vacation and take some work with you!!

 

[sha_lyn]

Be forewarned this subject usually get pretty heated.
IMHO it becomes a problem when you ignore the schools rules or expect "special" treatment for you child.
In some districts it is almost impossible to take kids out of school for unexcussed absenses. It can mean anything from them not being allowed to make up any work, to automatic failure, to having DEFACS called.

Personally I do think it is a bad idea if it is more than 1-2 days.

My biggest pet peeves on the subject are the arguments "But we need to spend quality time with our children" or "the school has no say so in what we do as a family"

Family time does not have to occure at WDW for a week during the school yr.

When you enroll your child in a school you agree to abide by their rules. If they have a rule agaisnt unexcused absences then yes they do have a right to fail your child (not allow make up work etc)if you take them out of school for vacation.

 

[Sandy V.]

For us, once our kids were in middle school and beyond, taking them out for more than a day or two created difficulties. It wasn't hard for them to make up the homework (although it WAS time consuming), but my teens felt that they missed quite a bit of lecture material that was difficult to pick up from someone else's notes.

 

[georgina]

Not since they started high school. DD missed 2 days in 7th grade due to a family vacation, but those were the only 2 days she missed the entire school year. It is hard to make up what is missed from 6 or 7 teachers, in honors and AP classes, etc.

We did take them out for up to a week in elementary school.

 

[ChrisnSteph]

We take our dd out every other year for our Disney cruise. It's only a week, and the teacher gives her a week's worth of assignments to complete. She's basically put on "home study" for that week so that the school gets credit for her being there. I really don't see it as an issue unless she had poor grades, in which case I don't think I would do it. This topic becomes heated when you get the "I would never" responses that imply that taking your children out of school for vacation means you're a bad parent. Baloney.

 

[mickeyboat]

I will preface this by saying lots of people disagree on this topic. And what you choose to do with your family is none of my business, whatever works for you is fine with me. I am completely comfortable agreeing to disagree.

My girls are in K, and I debated for a long time about taking them out of school in April to visit my father in Phoenix. Plane fares were decent to go the first week of April, but out of my comfort zone over April vacation.

I decided against going. I didn't want to send the my kids or the school the message that I think at trip to Phoenix is more important than school, especially since the school district gives me plenty of time to vacation with my kids.

Having said that, there may be situations where I might be willing to take the kids out of school for a family vacation. I just have not encountered it yet.

Denae

 

[Beth76]

Their teachers have already been notified of our travel dates. There is no excuse if they do not prepare work for my children.

Wow. I absolutely agree that you should take your kids out of school for vacation if you want. I absolutely DO NOT agree that the teachers should have to prepare work for your kids. That is not their job. I think it should be considered a nice favor if your teachers do that for you. And I would be bringing the teachers a very nice present also.

 

[Marseeya]

Be forewarned this subject usually get pretty heated.
IMHO it becomes a problem when you ignore the schools rules or expect "special" treatment for you child.
In some districts it is almost impossible to take kids out of school for unexcussed absenses. It can mean anything from them not being allowed to make up any work, to automatic failure, to having DEFACS called.

Personally I do think it is a bad idea if it is more than 1-2 days.

My biggest pet peeves on the subject are the arguments "But we need to spend quality time with our children" or "the school has no say so in what we do as a family"

Family time does not have to occure at WDW for a week during the school yr.

When you enroll your child in a school you agree to abide by their rules. If they have a rule agaisnt unexcused absences then yes they do have a right to fail your child (not allow make up work etc)if you take them out of school for vacation.

I agree with everything you've said here.

Personally, I won't take mine out unless it's an emergency or something serious. BUT, my kids struggle academically and it would be totally unfair for me to make things any worse on them by having them miss valuable in-class time.

 

[Marseeya]

Wow. I absolutely agree that you should take your kids out of school for vacation if you want. I absolutely DO NOT agree that the teachers should have to prepare work for your kids. That is not their job. I think it should be considered a nice favor if your teachers do that for you. And I would be bringing the teachers a very nice present also.

I remember over a year ago someone (a teacher) posting how much extra work it involved for him/her to prepare makeup work for the students who had to miss schools due to vacations. I don't think the poster begrudged the student the extra work, but I think it's worthwhile for parents to realize how much work it is for the teacher to have to do on their own time instead of taking the attitude that it's owed to them.

I'll search and see if I can find that post, but I probably won't be able to. I don't remember who wrote it or even where it was.

 

[Buckalew11]

We just got back from taking DD (6th grade) out of school for 1 week. She asked all her teachers for her work and we went down for the Marathon and did a week of vacation while we were there. No problem whatso ever. I just got her progress report back and she had all A's in a pretty hard school. Now if she was struggling, I wouldn;t even think of taking her out of school. However, since K we have taken her out for a week every single year but 1.

I think the educational part comes up because some schools want you to come up with educatonal value to your trip to try to excuse it. That happened to me way back in the 8th grade and I'm 40 so it has been going on for a long time!

WDW is a fun trip but you also learn things there too. DD is learning about fossil fuels in science now and she is recalling a lot of the Universe of Energy, LOL, (dinosaur soup, anyone?! LOL) It probably depends on your kids when it comes to that. I don;t learn and retain much from WDW but DD does.
I think Deb's site has a educational section that may give you some ideas & make you feel less guilty about it (if you feel guilty that is, I don't).

I am thinking middle school and high school will be harder to do. We don't plan on taking her out for next year's marathon trip.
As long as you know what kind of parent you are then I wouldn;t let anyone's thoughts bother me in the least.

 

[mrsltg]

We're facing the same situation next year when our older daughter begins kindergarten. She will miss 8 days of school to celebrate her fathers 40th birthday on a once in a lifetime vacation. I have no qualms whatsoever about doing it. In late May of next year she will again be pulled out of school (this time for 2 days) as she and I are in a wedding party and the wedding is on a Friday. Again, no qualms.

I'm not big on absences for no reason but a vacation, to me, is a valid reason. I don't know how we'll handle vacations going forward, but we will evaluate each circumstance and determine what is right at the time.

Good luck, and have a great vacation!

Erin

 

[janet715]

Do many of you take your kids out of school for vacation (Disney of course)? My kids are little (7, 5, 3) and it hasn't been an issue. They hardly ever miss other than that and they take work with them to do so they don't fall behind. However, I was wondering from other DISers when it might become a problem, if ever, or if people think it's a bad idea in general (even for WDW!!!!!!!!!!)

We took our son (now in grade 3) out of school for a week in 1st and 3rd grades to go to disney. His teachers were very good about it. We brought along some schoolwork to do on the plane (worked out good since there was a delay on the way back) and some nights in the hotel. He also got lots of reading practice from signs to ride instructions to menus. It has never been a problem. It probably also helps that we go in september when they are still reviewing lessons from the year before.

 

[Buckalew11]

I don't expect the work assignments before I go but, of course, I want them before I go. It never seems to be a big deal at our school. I think the teachers do lesson plans so they know what they'll be doing for the next week anyway. (I know my sister who teaches does lesson plans ahead of time) Only one teacher didn't give DD homework (before or after the trip). I am not so sure what is up with her but there wasn't anything given to her to make up. She made the comment that if she gave DD work before we left that DD would be too far ahead when she returned. Of course, this came from her most unorganized teacher so...

 

[In a hurry]

I have no problem taking my 2 out (5th, 2nd graders). Their teachers have already been notified of our travel dates. There is no excuse if they do not prepare work for my children. Every year we go and take the kids out. They do a little bit of homework each day and finish whatever is left on the weekend we come home. No, you are not a bad parent if you take them on a family vacation and take some work with you!!

Wow! I hadn't realized that teachers were servants to be ordered as you please! Anyone who put it to me in those terms would not only not receive the work, but their child would earn one big old fat "zero" for every assignment missed. We are doing you a favor when we help you out. I am not required to do a darn thing about your poorly timed vacation.

 

[In a hurry]

To the OP, your kids are young, and they should be fine. You should be able to keep them up to speed on missed information.

Have a lovely vacation.