Taking kids out of school?

[Lovemy3babes]

I hope I'm not opening a big can of worms with this topic. If so, please forgive me. What's the longest time period you'd take your kiddo out of school to go to Disney? Or any vacation for that matter I guess. I just can't seem to find anytime that seems to jive with days off from school, flight times, value season, etc. So, I think we might take them out for three days total. I hate to do it though. So, I'm really slacking on even booking our trip. Thoughts? What have you done/or plan to do?

 

[DisneyDotty]

You'll get lots of responses on this one. Be prepared.

I was a firm believer in not taking kids out of school for Disney (or most other vacations.) But then I goofed on the calendar and ended up pulling my kids out two days before Winter Break. Believe me, I agonized, especially since my kids' district considers vacations unexcused absences, and I wasn't about to lie and call them in sick. Anyway, turned out they made up work in the first hour upon their return (don't get me started on that!)
I have learned never to say never, but believe this is a personal matter between you, your kids, and your school. I did find it helpful to be upfront with my kids' teachers and cooperate with them in doing the makeup work. Also, I was willing to take the consequences, whatever they might be.
Good luck! And have a great trip!

 

[Hannathy]

A lot depends on your kids ages, but 2days isn't a big deal for almost any age. More than 2 days in a row can be a problem if they are older or in an advanced academic program then it just gets so overwhelming for them to make up. You will get a lot of responses including folks who take them out for 2 weeks, but I know my DD could never miss that much in her program so we are going in August and 2yrs ago at Easter- which turned out great believe it or not. I wouldn't stress over 2 days we missed that much after Xmas this year one on purpose and the 2nd when the weather didn't cooperate and she was fine at school.

 

[AshAlytwins]

We have taken our out for the last 4 years. Last year they were in the 7th grade, and when the teachers are given plenty of advanced notice , they didn't have problems. They usually miss 5 days in November and last year in the beginning of December. They are both straight a students and we only go with the understanding that they have to get the work done and maintain their grades.

 

[MomofCKJ]

We are going Fri 12/15-Fri 12/22 so my then 4th grader and 1st grader (little guy will be in preschool) will miss 6 total days of school. I am not that worried because:

A. they never miss days at all ( I have very healthy kids!)
B. they are missing the week before Christmas when I know they do a lot of movies, games and parties
C. the older one especially is extremely bright and could do her week's worth of stuff on the plane ride down.

I know a lot of families in our town who do pull their kids and they have said the school (elementary) has been very nice and wishes them a good trip without giving them a hard time.

Allyson

 

[hezreck]

It all depends on your kids and how good of students they are. We took my DD out for 5 days in 1st grade and we are planning a trip next year when she is in 3rd grade. She will be out for 6 days this time. This will probably be our last trip during school, because I'm afraid she will miss too much in the older grades. Plus, in our district once they get in the 4th grade there are a lot of proficiency tests and standardized tests. She can't miss those.

So far she has no problems in school and is a VERY good student, but if I ever felt she would fall behind or miss something important in school I would not take her out.

Our district allows 5 days excused for vacations, but they are not strict on it, so 6 will be excused too.

 

[hollyb]

Ours will miss 2 days in May of this year for a mini family vacations. Next year they will miss at least a week if not more for a Disney vacation. Life is to short not to have some family time. I do not lie to the school about going on vacation. They legally have nothing to say about it. I think when the kids get into high school then we will have to rethink our vacation plans. I know they will get swamped with too much homework then.

 

[gomomgo]

We live in NJ and guess what, next November (during Jersey week), my daughter is scheduled to be in school only on Mon and Wed. She will be off on Tues, Thurs and Fri. It's just too much to resist! We're pulling her out and going for the whole week. In a former life I was a teacher and was always against pulling out for vacations but that was before I had kids and recognized that under the right circumstances it's okay to break the rules!
As long as your child is not gone for weeks and will not suffer or fall behind from missing the work then, have fun!

 

[TLC371]

When we go and we take any of my boyfriend's kids with us, they are out of school for a week. We have no choice but to go during the school year (my boyfriend's mom has 2 timeshares, one every September, the other every other October, so we go when she has those, and unfortunately they are in the school year). We always send notes to the kids teachers, asking for homework assignments and anything they might need to keep them from falling behind while we are gone on vacation.

 

[Lovemy3babes]

Thanks everyone! I guess 3 days isn't a huge deal but I still worry. I'll talk to the school and see how they handle "vacation abscences".

 

[Bobenna]

When we went in Novemeber we took our DDs (1st grade and 3rd grade) out for 5 days. I also was a firm believer that I would not take my kids out of school for vacations - but my husband never has off the same time the kids do. I decided to bite the bullet and do it this year - wasn't bad at all. I (well, actually the kids) told their teachers and they sent home all the work they would miss while we were away.

 

[islandbeachnut]

We just returned from an extended stay at the WL and my kids missed 8 days of school. It was not a problem for them, they made up the work with no problem. The teachers didn't seem to have a problem with it either.

 

[DaisyD]

We've taken DD out for 9 days at the longest. We generally do 14 days of missed school a year for our twice yearly trips. This year we are moving our May trip to June to keep the missed school days down to 9 or so.

 

[ckoncurat]

Our public school district will excuse 5 days per year for vacation. I feel Ok about that, although we don't go every year. This year we took two days off to go skiing.

 

[AllNamesTaken]

This school year I took my kids out for 5 days to go to CA, and another 3 days to go skiing. They've also each been out sick a few times and my son missed another 5 days due to pneumonia(sp?). They are in 1st and 3rd grade. IMO at this young age it's no big deal. They make it up before and after the trips. They will remember the trips for the rest of their lives. There is something to be said for life experiences!! Yeah, I know, they can have life experiences during vacation weeks right? Sure, for twice as much money and twice as much time standing in lines!! No thank you!!

 

[Caleb's Mom]

My DH works in a factory and if he wants some guaranteed days off he needs to ask for them by January 31 of the year. DS new school year will begin in mid Aug. but the calendar for that 06-07 school year won't come out until May!!! What's the hold up??? I'd very much like to match our vacay days to the school's scheduled days off so DS doesn't have to miss any school but their calendar comes out 4 months to late for us to do that.

 

[estherhead]

When you said "longest time" I thought you were going to say 2 weeks or something. 3 days for most kids would be fine. And I agree with the others about being upfront with the teachers. And respect that it might mean more work for the teacher so if they aren't cooperative, be completely OK with that.

 

[daisyduck123]

We spent 9 days in Disney in January (DD11 & DS7 missed 4 days).

We're going back in May for 9 days (they'll miss 6 school days).

My kids are in 7th & 2nd grades. We love Disney in the off season. We have a fabulous time. 10 years from now they won't remember what they learned in school in any specific week, but they will remember their family vacation.

 

[ashlynn_j_m]

This is the first time I'm taking my DD(7) out of school and it will be for 6 days, we are going a Tuesday-Tuesday, because of DBF's work schedule. When I told her teacher, she said that's fine, I'll have her take a journal and she can write about her trip.

 

[AllNamesTaken]

10 years from now they won't remember what they learned in school in any specific week, but they will remember their family vacation.[/QUOTE]

Bravo for you! I completely agree!!

I can't figure out the quote thing for the life of me!!! Sorry.