Taking kids out of school?!?!

[nu2dvc]

I have no problem doing this so long as it isn't creating anxiety for the child or a problem with the teacher. We have done it a couple times but this year may be close to the end. (oldest is in 3rd grade). I'm hoping we can get away with it until the end of elementary, with sympathetic teachers that help them play catch-up. But time will tell. We are lucky that our district sees the value in an educational family experience and tradition, which is what a WDW visit is to us.

Good luck with your decision!

 

[daisyduck123]

I've done it many times.

You can see by my signature that my family has been several times in May (oh that 1st week of May is the BEST!!). I would pull them out & we'd go for 8 or 9 days. Our last May trip I had a DD in 9th grade & a DS in 4th.

 

[AntePrincess]

I wouldn't. It's not a vacation if they have work hanging over their heads, and I remember vividly how awful it was spending study halls with the teacher privately tutoring me on everything I would miss or had missed. That was a fantastic and understanding teacher, too, come to think of it. The teachers that simply pretended I hadn't been on a trip did me now favors. (For the sake of comparison, the trip I'm recalling had me out for ten school days in 7th grade and had a far better claim to being educational than either WDW or the school I missed. It was spent sailing and touring rare habitats.)

I'd also caution that as fun as the trip might be, as good as the memories, and as great as the bonding among family: school age social lives move very quickly. A few days completely out of the loop can be devastating to catch up on socially if your child is either popular or especially if they are struggling. It might be vogue to say that that shouldn't matter, but friendships are important to everyone and evidence is, the social aspect of school (and everyday life, not to exclude the homeschoolers) is as important as the academic.

We reserve the longer trips for summer, and take short trips over long weekends or other breaks during the school year (or at least, that's what this family has always done barring that one long vacation during the schoolyear in my childhood, it hasn't exactly come up seeing that my child is turning three and is not in school). You still end up with awesome memories and great bonding, without undue stress on anyone. Fewer deals, I'm afraid, but the short trips are often pretty cheap anyway.

 

[smylie1]

I'll be taking my 6th and 10th grader out next month. It'll only be for 2 days though since it's the week of Veteran's Day holiday and there are 2 teacher work days that week. I don't think I'd take them out for a whole week, but I don't know, if it wouldn't hurt academically, I probably would.

 

[Luv Bunnies]

If school is in session, my kids are there. They don't miss school for any reason expect emergencies and illnesses. We take our vacations when the kids are off school. I understand that this isn't possible for some families, like if a parent is in the military and only gets certain weeks off. But we won't skip school for lower rates, smaller crowds, free dining or better weather. That's just how we see it.

 

[Cinderella94]

Absolutely do it! 4th grade & 6th grade aren't a big deal to miss--do it while they're young enough.

(This is coming from a junior in high school who was very upset when she had to stop missing school for vacations in 9th grade!)

 

[DizGirl20]

Thanks to everyone for your responses. I asked my oldest (6th grader) about the prospect and she hesitated (i.e. wasn't so sure she wanted to miss a week of school). Final payment isn't due til March so I guess I have time to mull it over some more!

Thanks again everyone - this is why I love the DisBoards!

 

[FWFans]

I have a 4th and 6th grader also. However our school district has a very strict attendance policy and will not allow them to make up missed work for a vacation. My boys are not "A" students and would have a hard time bringing there grades back up.
However, with that said, my 2 college students will be missing classes the Mon, Tues, and Wed. of Thanksgiving week to be with us in WDW. Nowadays, most of their college work is done online so they will still be able to keep up on their work. I'm excited to have the kids all together again !!!!

 

[OffKilterMom]

And mine are the same age as yours! Have done this twice before with no negative consequence, but they are good students and I make sure to get work done early so they don't fall too far behind. They're working on 2 projects now as a matter of fact, that are due while we're away so we can pass them in before we leave.

However, I do wonder if we'll feel differently when junior high starts next year. We'll have to see.

Kim

 

[CLR4321]

Here is a copy of my post that I did on another thread with this topic:

I say take her out of school for the trip, no matter what her school thinks about taking kids out of school for trips. It is not the school's place to decide if your child can miss school for a trip. It is the parent's choice, whereas the school's job is to educate your child. WDW also has many educational aspects. It's not like your kid is sitting watching mindless cartoons for a week or something. A trip is much different than parents who are negligent and just do not take their kids, or make their kids go to school.
Ask her teacher if he or she can put together some schoolwork that she would be doing in the classroom and ask if there is anything that she should plan for, so she doesn't feel behind when she gets back to school. My son is in kindergarten also, and his school is fine with us taking him out of school. We have taken him out for 5 days for the Sept WDW trip and 4 days for a trip to CA for my brother's wedding. We will be taking him out again for 8 days at the end of Feb/early March for the 4/3 deal plus a day at Universal. We are also driving, which will add 2 days (one stop each direction).
People are so concerned about their kids missing school, but seriously...it is not a big deal. Schoolwork can be done outside of a classroom, many schools even offer a homeschool option where you get your work once a week and turn it in to the teacher at the end of each week. I wouldn't worry about it. Enjoy your trip!

 

[WantToGoNow]

Yes, we will be taking them out but they are in 3rd and K this year.

But that said, what's the difference in a week of vacation and the week that dd5 just missed with an injury. She fractured her finger and required a lot of stitches last Sunday (it was actually called a partial amputation with open fracture) and was medicated with Tylenol with Codeine - she was not allowed to go to school while taking the meds and she was (still is) in too much pain to go without it. She goes to the Orthopedic surgeon Monday so I really don't know when she will be returning to school - if there's a good side to it, she's in Kindergarten and ds8 has been bringing home her work so she doesn't fall too far behind. Then she will be missing the week after Thanksgiving.

 

[diamondpixienc]

I don't see an issue w/ it and plan to do it as long as it will not effect their school work. I will be pulling mine out for our first trip for 8days and DS will be 2nd grade & DD will be in kindergarten. Their school has a pretty understanding vacay policy as well.

 

[jasminesmommy1]

I take them out a week and get assignments

 

[disneymom2one]

It may not be the school's place but they can certainly decide if the time is excused or unexcused. We did pull out in elementary for a day or two (never a week) but quit once middle school started. It's just not worth it - and the days would be unexcused. We also have a nine day a semester rule - excused or unexcused. My daughter missed 6 days (excused) with H1N1. She was a normal, healthy kid who got really, really ill. I'm glad we hadn't used any days up to that point (and had no vacation plans).

Here is a copy of my post that I did on another thread with this topic:

I say take her out of school for the trip, no matter what her school thinks about taking kids out of school for trips. It is not the school's place to decide if your child can miss school for a trip. It is the parent's choice, whereas the school's job is to educate your child. WDW also has many educational aspects. It's not like your kid is sitting watching mindless cartoons for a week or something. A trip is much different than parents who are negligent and just do not take their kids, or make their kids go to school.
Ask her teacher if he or she can put together some schoolwork that she would be doing in the classroom and ask if there is anything that she should plan for, so she doesn't feel behind when she gets back to school. My son is in kindergarten also, and his school is fine with us taking him out of school. We have taken him out for 5 days for the Sept WDW trip and 4 days for a trip to CA for my brother's wedding. We will be taking him out again for 8 days at the end of Feb/early March for the 4/3 deal plus a day at Universal. We are also driving, which will add 2 days (one stop each direction).
People are so concerned about their kids missing school, but seriously...it is not a big deal. Schoolwork can be done outside of a classroom, many schools even offer a homeschool option where you get your work once a week and turn it in to the teacher at the end of each week. I wouldn't worry about it. Enjoy your trip!

 

[mrsg00fy]

I would not pull kids out for longer than 1 day...maybe two...but not a whole week, and certainly not once they are on middle school or above. It would put too much pressure on the kids when they came back to catch up.

My kids do well in school, so it is not that I doubt their abilities...but why put the additional pressure of catching up on them?

I think it is unfair to ask the teachers to put in any extra time to accommodate with emailing or preparing separate lesson plans.

It also sends the message to the kids that school is not as important as vacation. School is my childrens' primary responsibility at this stage. It is their job to do well in school.

While family vacation time is certainly important....we take 3 trips a year....my tolerance for missing a lot of school time for a trip is pretty low. My kids typically miss one day a year for "trips". We schedule around their school calendar and for their fall break, we take the additional day at the beginning...which is when they are typically winding down for the following week off.

Kids only go to school 180 days a year....or a roughly 10 month calendar with days and weeks and summers off. There are many other times to schedule a trip.

Another consideration is that school districts can have pretty strict attendance policies. What if a child becomes sick and misses a big chunk of school? When you add a full week off for a trip on top of that, this makes for way too many days out of school.

 

[tadamom]

Go for it! We just took our 2nd grader out for 3 days and it was fine. The teacher sent him lots of work to do and he did a couple of pages each morning during b'fast while everyone got ready. In our school district, it is considered unexcused and 3 days is the limit before you have to meet with a social worker or we might would have taken him out for more.

 

[Navywifebreezy]

just one of MANY reasons we homeschool
I say take them out.

 

[mousebymarriage]

We have taken our kids out of school almost every year since they started pre-k. DD13 is in 8th grade and DS8 is in 3rd grade, both are excellent students and in advanced classes. They usually only miss a day or 2 for illness each year. I have never worried about taking them out and the school doesn't give us a hard time as long as it's not during standardized testing. They attend a small public school (250 kids Pre-k thru 8th grade). When my DD was in 4th grade she had a particularly difficult teacher and didn't want to be pulled out for vacation, we had no problem not going to Disney that year because we knew it would have been too stressful for her if we did. That is the only year she has ever made that request and has never regretted it, she feels it was the right thing for her to do that year. We are planning on taking them out again for a week in Feb (6th -13), they will miss 5 days of school. We are driving down and are planning to leave as soon as they get out of school on that Friday (the 5th). We were very careful not to schedule during standarized testing or any special class trips (8th grade goes to Boston for 3 days in the spring, plus they see a few plays, the opera and the symphony all in NYC).

Only you can decide if you should take your child out of school. When they are out sick and miss a few days do they struggle to make-up the work or have difficulty understanding the material in class that they missed? If so then i wouldn't take them out. Good Luck whatever you decide.

 

[Disneywed]

we are taking ours out for 6 days, they are in K & 1st grade...I figure doing it now is less of a big deal.

 

[stacy347]

I'll be taking the girls out for WDW in May. They are in 5th, 7th, 10th and 11th grades. The way the system here works is they get 7 absences per trimester (no excused/unexcused ~ an absence is an absence). Our trip will only pull them for 5 school days.
They can make up any work that the teachers will allow and luckily the teachers here are pretty good about that. We'll be getting most of the work ahead of time and since our drive to WDW is 18 hours each way, they'll have plenty of time to work on it.

I did make sure to plan the trip during the middle of a trimester when we aren't doing any important testing ~ there is no way the girls would agree to go anytime near finals.