Taking my daughter out of school for trip---please help!!

[jcat2312]

We are debating whether to go back to WDW in August before school starts or mid September. If we went in September, we would have to pull our DD out of 1st grade for a week.

We pulled her out of her 2nd week of Kindegarten for our recent trip in September and it took her a few weeks to get caught up.

Are lighter crowds a good reason to pull her out in September?


****Please, no flames****

 

[Yensid_MD]

The lower crowds are definitely worth it. We do. However it is important to work with the teacher on perhaps what you can do to help prepare for the time she will miss. Also the first few weeks of school are review....at least that is what I tell myself.

 

[staci]

Well your gonna get a lot of opinions on this one!!!!

Heres mine:

I wont hesitate to pull my children out of school for a vacation, AS LONG AS IT DOESNT HURT THEM ACADEMICALLY. School IS a priority for me, but family time is important too. You said dd took a few weeks to get caught up last time. Was that becuase the teacher made her do a lot of makeup work, or was it becuase she missed information and was behind the kids for awhile?

I would think about whether or not it will have a negative affect on your daughter's education. If you think no, then go ahead and have fun, but remember you may have to help her get caught up upon returning home. But if you think it really may have a negative affect, I would just go a month earlier in August.


*edited for a spelling error should have read it through before I posted

 

[PlaneJoy1]

Just be thankful you have the option! In plublic schools around here you get reported to child protective services on your 5th absence. My understanding is they make NO EXCEPTIONS. Once the report is made, I'm not sure what happens though.

We homeschool so we don't have to worry about a 'set' holiday/vacation schedule.

I would say, if your child doesn't suffer academically then take her out. Perhaps the teacher can give you her assignments ahead of time for you to work on while driving/flying or taking a break.

 

[mamacatnv]

It's first grade! Go for it, I pulled my son out for vacations until he hit High School, now that is a totally different scenario and we don't let him miss school for anything. This is why this year we are off to WDW during the Christmas/New Years chaos break as it is our only choice.

I took my dd out of the 2nd week of 1st grade this past August for our annual summer vacation after her school went year round in July , other than a few comments about how important the 1st couple of weeks were from the office staff - mind you not from her teacher but the school secretary , Mrs. Sourpuss, with my response being that 1 week is a drop in the 1st grade bucket and that I hoped the rest of the year would not be a waste as she was implying that without the 2nd week all was doomed in her academic career!

I believe in the kids going to school, but in this day and age family time can sometimes be so hard to accomplish that something or someone has to give a little and 1 week of 1st grade is not going to cause irreperable damage.

IMHO-MamaCatNV

 

[thelionqueen]

September is one of the least crowded times @ WDW (not the mention the cheapest). But it is Hurricane Season if that matters to you at all (doesn't to me). I took my son out of school for 9 days in October and got a lot of grief for it. My son is also very advanced for his age and does not have any problems in school.

But I heard it from everyone. Trust me, I didn't care, and he didn't suffer at all from it. We did homework on the plane and wrote a trip report to share with his class.

Family time is the most important thing in our family and I think it is supremely important in shaping the kind of people children become. Education is also very important to me, don't get me wrong, but I think if you start with the family, everything else eventually will fall into place. Just my .02.

Good luck. Also, keep an eye out for the free dining package in 2006. I have a feeling it or something better will come along due to the major hurricane season we had this year, just a heads up!

 

[TammyJ]

Well your gonna get a lot of opinions on this one!!!!

Heres mine:

I wont hesitate to pull my children out of school for a vacation, AS LONG AS IT DOESNT HURT THEM ACADEMICALLY. School IS a priority for me, but family time is important too. You said dd took a few weeks to get caught up last time. Was that becuase the teacher made her do a lot of makeup work, or was it becuase she missed information and was behind the kids for awhile?

I would think about whether or not it will have a negative affect on your daughter's education. If you think no, then go ahead and have fun, but remember you may have to help her get caught up upon returning home. But if you think it really may have a negative affect, I would just go a month earlier in August.


*edited for a spelling error should have read it through before I posted

Just wanted to say I agree.

 

[bettyann29]

No flames here... that was a thought that I previously had.. You will get mixed emotions on the board... I thought about it for next year, but decided to wait until the Monday after school gets out for the summer and then we are going for 10 days.. if I took them out of school, we wouldnt be able to take that long off.. it just wouldnt be possible and I wouldnt want to take them out for more than a few days.. The first time we went to WDW we did it over Springbreak.. We went on a cruise this year, but again over springbreak.. One year a few years ago we went on a cruise and I did take them out of school for 4 days I think but it ended up that schools were closed for 3 of those days due to a freak ice storm.. so they only missed one day.. In past I wouldnt have thought twice about it but my kids are getting older and it will be harder to take them out of school and it not affect their schoolwork.. My oldest DD is in middle school and my DS is headed there next school year so I will have one left in elementary.. To me if I was looking at it and deciding, lighter crowds wouldnt be a reason for me but if the price was a big difference than Id do it if it meant that there might be a chance that we wouldnt be able to go if didnt go that specific week.. but thats just me.. WDW is busy most of the time, so you're still running a chance that there will be crowds.. We have been over SB and it wasnt that bad.. as WDW moves the people on and off the rides so quickly..

 

[LOLA2]

I would definately go in September-October. I want this past summer week after daughter got out of school. Bad move. SOOOOOOOOOOOO HOT!!!
You walk out the hotel room and can barely breathe. My whole family was miserable fighting horrible crowds in that kind of heat. We couldn't wait to get back to our villa to the A/C. So I look at it this way blowing 3,000.00
for unhappy memories or miss one week of school. Come on how many kids come home from an average week of school and learn that much that is going to be life affecting. I have been down during halloween and week after Thanksgiving both geat weather and low crowds.

 

[daisyduck123]

1st grade teacher here.....I say go in September! It should only take her a few days to get back in the swing of things & after a week it will be like she hadn't been gone at all.

BTW, I'm taking my own DD11 & DS7 out for a week (to go to Disney) in January & then again in May. I'll never go during school vacations....too crowded.

Have a great trip & don't forget to bring the teacher back a little souvenir!

 

[Laurabearz]

I would wait until she has at least 4 or 5 weeks of school under her belt before pulling her. That way she will have the routine down, and it will be easier for her to jump back into things.

And I agree with the others who said.... it's 1st grade. Then again if it took her a few weeks to catch up in K... maybe that should be taken into consideration... ya know??

 

[jazzyjess]

I took my son (5) out of sr. Kindergarten this year in the 2nd week of September - best time to go! He did not miss the 1st week (when he met his new teacher etc) and really, if the teacher tells you what they will be reviewing, you can do it with him in a fraction of the time it takes him to learn it at school!

Now for September, it was a great month. Hot, weather was great (no rain!) and crowds were minimal. We went on all the rides in MK in 4 hours and still had time to go back to the hotel, have a swim, get showered and dressed for dinner at Epcot, and then back for bed before 8pm (for the son, not for me!)

GO FOR IT - he still talks about all the cool things he learned, especially in Animal Kingdom's affection station.

 

[jmsvss]

My kids are in 6th and 9th grade and I am taking them out for 5 days (we'll have 7 nights at WDW because of weekend plus they have Monday off). School is a priority but at times it totally consumes us. My kids are in two different school districts. Until this year they coordinated spring breaks and other time off, but not this school year so we are left with no time except the week between Christmas and New Year where the are out of school at the same time. I have two kids that are already in college - we rarely see them but it seems like just yesterday that they were little kids. My 9th grader will have his drivers license soon and then ... It goes by so fast.

Two years ago we went on a cruise - the six of us - right before Thanksgiving. We had to take them out for a couple of days. The kids had a wonderful time. It was almost all family time and we have such great memories.

In the big scheme of life they are only with us a short time and it is important to build happy memories. I think WDW in September is a much happier place than in August.

With proper planning I think you can take your kids out of school. I probably would not take a senior out of school but any other grade is doable - with planning.

My 2 cents

 

[Principessa1284]

I would definately recommend it if the threat of hurricanes doesn't scare you. My mom took my brother out of school once a year or so to go down to disney, and it didn't hurt us, and that was up through my senior year off high school (still graduated with honors and such). As long as we showed that we wouldn't fall much behind, she didn't mind. We did catch up work on the drive / plane ride there and back. I would say go for it.

 

[Panthra529]

I hesitated to post here because it really looks like I am going against the grain. But what the heck.....here it goes......I taught 1st grade for 4 years before I took a position in the medical field. (I loved teaching, but I became burnt out really fast due to district politics.) Anyway, I have to say I disagree with those saying "it's only 1st grade", especially by daisyduck123 (no offense) 1st grade is one of the most important grades in grammar school. This is where the kids get their foundation for the basics. They learn to read and write sentences etc.

Also, when I was teaching, I spent the first month really getting to know the children and their abilities and how I could best help them learn. I think the first month or two of first grade is the most crucial! Plus, if you child only went to half day kindergarten (that is how it is in my neck of the woods), they now have to adjust to a full day, getting to know other students and teachers. It is a huge deal to try to get 1st graders adjusted to a set schedule, and to interrupt that in the beginning might be difficult for your child.

I agree family time is super important and very precious. None of us get enough family time. But we have to take the time we do get and make the best of it. I don't dobut that you do being that you are so concerned! LOL! Just remember, if the teacher gives your child the work she will be missing, that won't be much fun for her to do the work while on vacation. Even if the teacher gives her an extra week to make up the work once she is back, that puts a huge amount of pressure on a child. It may seem like printing letters and numbers, and doing basic addition would be easy to catch up on, but like I said, add that to the stress of just being in 1st grade, that can be a lot for a child.

My recommendation, if you really want to go in the off season to avoid the crowds, try to pick a week when there are teacher conferences. A lot of times they fall back to back, or coincide with a holiday (at least here they do). This way your daughter won't be missing a whole week, and she will have the whole first month to get acclimated. I am just trying to think of a good compromise for your daughter's teacher and your family.

Okay I am stepping off my soap box now. Hopefully no offense was taken, this was just my opinion. Now you definately have both sides of the coin! LOL

Good Luck in your decision.

 

[AnaheimGirl]

I've not been in August, so I can't give you first-hand info, but I remember reading on the DIS that the end of August was pretty light as far as crowds are concerned. So, if you're able to go at the end of August without taking dd out of school, you may be able to get the best of both worlds.

I'm going to go against the grain as well, and say that I really don't like the idea of taking kids out of school for vacations. However, that's easy for me to say, living in an area with year-round schools, and getting nice long breaks in the fall, winter and spring as well as summer. If my only choice was the heat and crowds of summer or the crowds of December, I might consider taking dd out of school as well.

You know your child the best. If you think she can handle it, go for it. Like someone else said though, consider the time it took her to catch up in kindergarten. School just gets harder and harder the older they get, so keep in mind that it might take her longer to catch up in first grade.

Whatever you decide, good luck and have a fun trip!

 

[Whosemom]

I'm with some others on wondering what you meant by it taking her a few weeks to get caught up in kindergarten. Plus, I do think that kids are getting settled at the beginning of the year. We pulled our dd out the last week before schools let out for Christmas...as a teacher, I have to say, no matter how hard you try, you don't accomplish much that week, and the trip was cheap too. And, my goodness, we just lapped some of the main attractions...in fact they just let us stay on some things. Don't know if that's an option for you, but thought I'd mention it.

 

[roliepolieoliefan]

We pulled DS out of first grade this year at the end of September for a week for a trip to WDW. His teacher gave him his homework before we left.

I do have to say though, DS goes to a very small Catholic school and knew his teacher prior to 1st grade, plus if I thought he was behind the other kids, I would NEVER do it.

Next September, we are doing a 7 night DCL and 3 night WDW, so he'll be out of 2nd grade longer. He knows though, if his grades fall behind this year, the trip is cancelled. Everytime he brings his school work home, he says, look mom I got an A, the trip is still on for next year, right?

 

[jcat2312]

Thanks for all of your advice...

We have decided to go in August. This way, DD won't have to struggle to make up her work during school....

 

[staci]

I hope that you and your family have a wonderful trip! Have a great time planning!