taking kids out of school

[debilovesmickey]

Well I will add my 2 cents as a teacher.
I took my own kids out for WDW when they were 9 and 12 for 2.5 days at Thanksgiving time.
I think it matters if you are taking them out yearly or even more often.

At my school we are not allowed to give work ahead, the children must make it up when they return. In my kids' case their trip in 2001 was truly once in their childhoods, not an annual or semi annual trip.

I also think , as a teacher and parent, that I want kids to know school is important. I have had students tell me they have taken days off to decorate the Christmas tree or because they felt like a day off or have gotten dismissed to go to buy a gift for a birthday party. No matter what grade they are in, I think parents send messages about whether they value education or not by their behavior. Yes, family trips are very important and it is more crowded at Disney on school vacations. It is the only time I get to go, I know first hand!

I think it is up to each family to decide what is right for them .

Debi

 

[otisandmaggie]

Believe it or not, a trip to Disney is an excused absence in our school. Even if it wasn't, I'd probably still take them out. My kids are bright and I have witnessed how much time gets wasted in a day. If you take away lunch, p.e., recess, busy work, time spent in transit from one activity to another, you don't leave a HUGE amount of instructional time (I'm talking about a 1st and 3rd graders here) We have plenty of time in the car on the way down and back to take care of any make-up work. They do a project based on what they've learned on the trip within a couple of weeks of our return. We don't go every year, but probably would if we didn't have so many other places we want to go as well! Several of our kids teachers over the years have told us that it's really obvious that our kids have had lots of experiences and travel and it really helps them in their school work. I'm not saying we take them out for weeks and weeks every year, but if they miss a week total for the year to enable us to have some travel experiences they wouldn't have otherwise - I think it's worth it. We always talk to the teachers ahead of time to tell them what we'll be doing. We make every effort not to create any extra work for them. Every teacher we've had so far (6 in all for both kids) has been very suportive. My I did ramble on! Sorry!!!

 

[lam712]

We have taken our three children out of school for 3-5 days every other year or so for our family vacation for many years. When they were younger, my husband did not have enough seniority to take a summer vacation so we always planned an October trip which coincided with a long weekend off for some teacher inservice days. I believe you have to know your own family and whether they will be able to complete the work or learn the material on their own. All of our children are/were honor students and our daughter was valedictorian, so I do not believe our family vacations hurt them academically. However, our teachers always worked with us to help our students. My daughter's Spanish teacher had her bring back two Disney maps; one printed in English and one in Spanish to share with the class, etc. I think it would have been very difficult to do this without cooperation with school staff, so if you live in a school district that will not help, I can see where taking students out of school would be very difficult.

We are planning a Disney trip this August right before Labor Day so our two children who are in college can also go with us (and still enjoy free dining!). Our school starts August 19th and our youngest son will be starting his senior year. We were a little hesitant to take him out the week after school starts. However, he said he would prefer it this way so he can go the first few days to get his books/assignments. He believes that week will be mostly review and the more difficult work will start after Labor Day.

 

[PirateMaiden]

We'll be taking our DD out of her 2nd week of school again this year. We did it last year- 1st grade. We arranged with her teacher to take all of her work with us and she had to complete her assignments each day before we went off to the parks. It all seems to have worked out well as she has been student of the month each month this year. (Not that the trip had anything to do with her acomplishments, but it obviously didn't hurt.)

 

[srwarden1928]

At the school where I teach, only the first 4 absences in a semester can be excused with a parent note. This could include a trip. Beginning with the fifth absence, documentation is required. By board policy, if an absence is unexcused, the teacher has a choice of makeup at half credit or automatic zero. More than four days (and perfect attendance beforehand) could be devastating gradewise.

 

[moepanz]

this is so funny I was just checking my DS school calender for next Dec. He is starting kindergarden in Sept. I am a little concerend I do not know what the policy is for taking kids out for vac. Whatever it is it does not matter because we are going Dec. 2-9 either way. I just hope I don't get too much flak. Any suggestions on when I should bring it up to the teacher?

 

[jennifer03878]

I am taking my DS10 out of school in 3 weeks (it's the week after his April vacation). I am letting his school know this week. I am going to make sure that he gets all his school work that he missed so that he can do it on he plane and he will also write in his journal (he's done this the last 2 years that we have gone and it hasn't been a big issue). he's so far ahead of all the other kids in class that i don't feel bad his missing any classes and his school actually is OK with their going on vacation as long as they make up their classwork. This is his last year of Elementary school so this will be the last year we will be able to do this and we don't feel bad at all. This year it's going to be a total surprise for him. He isn't going to know he's going until we are going until we get to the bus to go to the airport. I doubt he'll miss school until we get back . He'll still get his homework done on time.

 

[TanyaLovesPooh]

We are doing it in October. My son will be 9th grade and daughter will be 5th. They miss maybe 1-2 days per year for being ill and are both always on the Honor Roll. They have been straight A students thru out school so I am not worried, they will be doing make-up work the on the drive there.

 

[DVCRob]

We snatch our kids out at the drop of a hat! My kids make all A's and they're smart like their mother. Now if they were like me....

 

[Tinkerspell]

We took the kids out of school for a week last school year. What week? Why the last week of school, when they aren't doing anything anyway but watching movies and cleaning out their desks. What was nice was it put us at Disney during value season, while it was warm, but not miserably hot. The kids had a blast. (Mind you, they were in 4th and 5th grades last year.)

This year, we're not pulling them out because my husband and myself are both in graduate school and we absolutely cannot get out of our classes whatsoever. Other than the heat of summer, the only time we can take them (that would need us to pull them out of school) is during finals week. Since DS will be in 7th next year, his first run of finals, we're not pulling the kiddos this school year or next. After that, who knows?

For the OP, I think the controversy lies in people who believe that school must take precedence and determine your schedule. I personally think that there are just as many learning opportunities outside a classroom as inside, and any educator worth their salt would acknowledge that to be true. Not everyone agrees, but such is life. They're entitled to think children should be in school without unnecessary absences, and I'm entitled to think that I'd like very much not to swelter in Florida and pay for the privilege of doing so.

Before the hoopla starts though, I do want to point out that I've worked as a special educator, homeschooled my children in the past, and I'm getting my graduate degree so I can teach college. I am passionate about learning and know the importance of education. I am just as passionate about going to Disney when it's a reasonable temperature outside.

 

[ntz4disney]

We have taken our kids to Disney twice during each school year since our oldest started Kindergarten. I have always sent in letters to the teachers well in advance and have requested a homework packet so she was not behind in her school work. I have never encountered a problem from the teachers OR the school principal. As a matter of fact with the exception of maybe 1 or 2 days in the school year, all of my child's absebt days were due to Disney vacations! If she was not a good student then I might reconsider when we go away and for how long ... going in the summer is not an option for us, way too HOT in Florida at that time of year

 

[yaksack]

My wife is a school nurse so she cannot take off in September, but if she could, we would take our kids out.

 

[tina_la]

We took our kids out last year for a little less than a week. Got a little flak from the school and they reported it because it was more than 5 days even though I talked to them about it first. Didn't matter to us, it was our first family vacation EVER and we had a blast. As I told my kids "you are my children and I am responsible for you not the school. " We are taking them out 5 days in September this year too.

BTW we did my son's work on the way up there. a week of work in about 2 hours and he recieved better grades when we got back on his tests than he did the week before in class. The teacher even wrote a note saying how impressed she was.

 

[yaksack]

We took our kids out last year for a little less than a week. Got a little flak from the school and they reported it because it was more than 5 days even though I talked to them about it first.

Who did the school report it to and what are the consequences?

 

[Unregistered]

I have always struggled with taking my kids out for vacation but decided to do it anyway this September. My youngest is 12. She is mildly autistic and struggles some, but gets decent grades. We are currently paying college tuition, room and board. The free dining plan offered in Sept. along with a 3 day business trip made it affordable for us to go then. We took the older kids every year, during school breaks for along time but stopped going when the youngest was 3. I want her to have a childhood Disney experience she will remember. Having only one left at home made me realize how fast kids grow up and how important family time is.
I have not told her school yet and imagine they will not be happy. I heard the principle give a speech last year that implied the kids with 4.0 GPA's were the same kids with perfect attendance. She then commended them for coming to school with sore throats and tummy aches. I could not believe it, lets encourage the kids to spread germs around and get a whole bunch of kids sick. Perhaps my asthmatic child would miss less school and not have blue lips for a week, if sick kids stayed home for a day or two. I will be taking her out for a 6 days even though I have anxiety about it. I am hoping she misses mostly review so early in the school year. If not we will deal with it and help her catch up.
She will have a family life time memory, that will stay with her a lot longer than 8th grade math.

 

[tina_la]

they said the school board but I have never been contacted and really that was as far as it went. Just telling me that by state law they were required to report any child that missed more than 5 days in a row. that was Sept of last year.

 

[chessie2008]

We took our dd out of 1st grade for a week last year. The teacher made a snotty comment about how it wouldn't work if everyone did that but that was all I heard about it. In Sept we will have to take her out of the 3rd grade and my ds out of kindergarten for the week. I really don't see it being a problem. Except for the days she missed in 1st grade for our trip she has only been absent 2 other days from Kindergarten to 2nd grade. I think if you know your child(ren) and that they can handle it and aren't usually ill too often you should have the right to decide that for them. We choose Sept because, besides the free dining, I really wanted her to be there for her birthday, a memory I hope she will never forget.

 

[dvczerfs]

We took our kids out last year for a little less than a week. Got a little flak from the school and they reported it because it was more than 5 days even though I talked to them about it first. Didn't matter to us, it was our first family vacation EVER and we had a blast. As I told my kids "you are my children and I am responsible for you not the school. " We are taking them out 5 days in September this year too.

BTW we did my son's work on the way up there. a week of work in about 2 hours and he recieved better grades when we got back on his tests than he did the week before in class. The teacher even wrote a note saying how impressed she was.

hi tina la!! couldnt of said it better myself!! my wife and i both work for a living to pay school tax's which are going up 10 per. every year for the next ten years. the last i looked out my front door there was an american flag flying so i think you should be able to take your kids on vacation when you want to. we do the same and our teachers are very nice and give my dd her work before we leave every year. takes the test the first day back in class with not a problem. she missed 8 days in dec and will miss 9 days in october.because of my work, we can only go in october or december.

 

[Unregistered]

I too am a parent who has chosen to take my dd out of school on occassion for our Disney vacations. I will be doing this again at the beginning of Sept. For us, combined with the FD and value season, it is what is affordable for my family. (The sharp increase in our gas, heating fuel and enormous school taxes indeed plays a part in our decision).
This year she will only miss the first day of school. Even if it were the first week of school, our district does not begin new lessons right of way. They are busy settling in, handing out text books, notices and other supplies. So for us this works. (By the way, our district does not approve of our decision concerning vaca. time during school days)
I also believe that traveling can be just as much an education as sitting in a classroom reading out of books, in some cases, perhaps even more educational than a classroom. We are all different families with different needs and for the most part, we all have good intentions. So parents, whatever you decide is acceptable for your family, go for it!

 

[Sgt.Tibbs]

and I am also taking my kids out of school for it. I planned our trip to coincide with a week that teachers have "convention days" on Thurs & Fri. so my DS9 and DD6 will really only be missing 3 days of school. They both do very well in school and I will talk to their teachers about sending work home for them to do while we are away.
I think that if we feel our kids can handle the make-up work and won't suffer academically, it's fine.