Taking teen out of high school for a week

[ChisJo]

Talking to my step-son, he is all eager to be taken out of school for a week to go to WDW and USO. Even with his great grades and his amazing school record, I don't know if I feel comfortable taking him out of high school for that long in May. To the parents who have done this, please tell me your experiences. Did you get your children to do their homework while on vacation? We would have no problem getting him to do some homework as we will have access to email and internet. Did they have a problem catching up when they returned? We still need to talk to his instructors about our plans as well. Any advice?

 

[greengeen]

We have been going to WDW for over 20 years, two of our three sons are in college and one in high school now. I would never take a high school kid out for a week. Ever. School is too important at that level.

 

[drag n' fly]

I took my kids out of high school for a trip....never again. At my kids school in Calgary, if you miss you school you have to play catch up when you come back. This isnt about missed work they missed important concepts. Good luck with your decision.

 

[Disney Daniel]

Disclaimer: Having been on the DIS for more than a decade I can tell you that this can become a very heated topic so with that in mind I will give my experience. Keep in mind that this was only my experience and "your mileage may vary" so to speak.

I am now 26 and was taken out of school to go to Disney for time periods ranging from 5 school days to 9 school days every 2 years ranging from grade primary to 12th grade (months included March, April and May). In the younger grades my teachers would give me the homework in advance and my parents would help me to do it either before or during the trip so that I was pretty close to where I needed to be upon my return.

Once I got to high school, some teachers gave me work in advance, others did not. I did what I could before I left, read what I knew was upcoming on the plane rides there and back and caught up on what I missed when I returned.

In my experience I had no problems with this and turned out fine (graduated salutatorian, went to university, got a masters degree and am now gainfully employed in my chosen field). However at the high school level, I will say you have to be a pretty serious student to do this and be willing and able to teach yourself the material from the book (or have the means/ability to seek assistance from a tutor/parent if possible) if your teacher does not assign the work. Also, I realize many schools are much more strict with their attendance policies than they were when I was in high school. In my case my parents wrote a letter to the school excusing me for the time missed and the case was closed.

Again, just my experience.

 

[LSmith]

My kids miss between 30 and 40 school days per year due to travel. We have been travelling like this for almost 20 years. We have one finished univerisity and two in middle school. So far this school year my kids have missed 25 days due to travel and will miss at least 10 more.

My kids are top students in their grade level at their school of 800 plus students. Both kids medal every year in the TDSB swim meets. My daughter is also on the U of T track team at 13 years old and one of the top sprinters in her age group.

I say this not to boast about my kids. Let's face it, absolutely every single kid is equally great and special in their own way and nothing irritates me more than someone telling me how great their kid is and how much they love them more than the rest of the parents love their kids and they have a special bond, makes me want to hurl.

It drives me crazy that people think a week or two of missed school is going to make or break a student/person. School is not the be all and end all of education or life. There is so much more to education than sitting in a classroom.

Seriously, 5 days missed of school is Not going to change a kid's education.

 

[kwannabee]

this is my ds first year of junior high and i spoke to his teachers in september and told them we would be going to florida...tried to get work ahead and make sure he had to time to get whatever he could done before hand. but i seemed to be more worried about the whole thing than they were...one teacher said that he would never expect a kid to do homework on a vacation like this and that there would be plenty of time to catch up what he missed, but i guess every teacher is different. We did discuss that perhaps ds could goto homework club for a couple weeks after we get back if he needed it.

So honestly im just not that worried about it...life is short...but maybe thats just me

 

[sjsjbrook]

Last year I took my dd 16 out of grade 11 for 9 days in total to go to Disney world and on a cruise.

Now she didn't have her Biology or math class that term, but she did have her English class.

She had to do some extra work when she returned to catch up, but she still manage to get over 80.

Of course I was nervous when she missed a few more days (5) when she was sick.

In the end you really have to know your child and how much it would affect them.

Next years trip was schedueled right over her midterms for University. We thought about leaving her behind, but are now thinking about moving the trip so we all can go together(of course this means normal May or June, Summer or Christmas or March Break)

 

[Applemomma]

I think of it this way....what would happen if they got sick for a five day stretch? Same issue of making up work. Though of course being sick is different from deliberately not being in class but...

It really and truly comes down to your kid. If they are the kind that makes an effort to do what they can on either end of the vacation to get the work done, and if they are willing and able to ask for help from someone if they don't understand the material when they get home then go for it.

As they say, life is an education, it doesn't always come from the classroom. This trip my daughter and I are doing it alone, with her calling the shots; I expect it will give her a bigger confidence boost then sitting in class ever would

 

[ChisJo]

Thanks for the responses. This is something we have to discuss in more detail with his mom anyways, but as a person who is responsible for him for part of the time, I just want to make sure that I am looking at this from all angles. He is a great kid, and he is on the honour roll, hardly misses school, is on a provincial rugby team (that he can only stay on if he keeps his grades up), has a part time job, and is such a wonderful kid that I can't help but want to see him smile all the time, which is why we want to take him back to Universal and DisneyWorld.

Because of his rugby schedule throughout the summer, its hard to get away for 10 days which is why we want to take him in April/May. I will want to talk with his teachers and make a decision from there. If we went around Victoria Day in May, he would actually only miss about 4 days, and we would still get 10 days all together in Orlando. Not the end of the world, and hopefully, he would be able to make up some things anyways. Honestly, I would make sure that he would do some homework on the plane anyways - I know....mean step mom, but if thats what we have to do so we get to get away, then so be it. I know he would do it to get time away anyways. We only get to see him 6 weeks of the year, and this would actually be in addition to our other days with him. I want him to have memories with us not only at Christmas and in summer. He is so special to us and as we watch him grow we realize how much time we missed with him because of the distance between us, so taking him out of school for 4 days doesn't seem like such a huge issue, does it?

Anyways, thanks for the advice....I have some decisions to ponder.

 

[hockeymomNS]

My kids are 24 & 18. The youngest took his first trip to Disney when he was 11 months old. We have gone every two years, usually in January. Obviously, we had to take them out of school. The only time it was an issue (and I can't think of a better word), was the year my oldest had calculus, physics and chemistry in that semester. He says that it was a bit rough catching up, although he is a high honours over achiever. He did catch up, and from then on, we booked when we knew their schedule, even if it meant going when we didn't want to. That only happened once btw.

 

[drag n' fly]

That pretty well sums it up then why my kids had trouble. They are not straight A students on the honour roll, athletes and super achievers. They are regular teenagers who need some tutoring just so they can make the cut into the engineering program at University. As you can see my situation is pretty much different from everyone elses so that's why I dont pull the older kids out for trips anymore.

 

[jelo]

When my dd was in grade 11 we went for her first time in May, because that's when her birthday is!
We had to pay extra for all the textbooks and binders she brought with her, they were so heavy! She did try to get the work done, but only got 1/2 way thru.
She had one day to complete it before the Monday return and she almost pulled an all nighter stressing out over it!
She's a struggling honour student and works hard to keep her grades up, so she was worried.

When she returned to school only one teacher accepted the work. Most told her the work was so she didn't fall behind, for her benifit...they weren't going to mark it.

Needless to say. she was pissed!

We are going this March, the week before the break so she'll have 5 days to get any work done needed.

 

[LSmith]

That pretty well sums it up then why my kids had trouble. They are not straight A students on the honour roll, athletes and super achievers. They are regular teenagers who need some tutoring just so they can make the cut into the engineering program at University. As you can see my situation is pretty much different from everyone elses so that's why I dont pull the older kids out for trips anymore.

Really? Regular teenagers that are going to be engineers? I have worked for 20 plus years with almost every kind of engineer and I can tell you each and every one of them has been at least extremely intelligent if not borderline genius.

Maybe you are underestimating your kids.

PS. I don't care what educational level my kids report card stated, I would still travel with them.

 

[pigletto]

My kids miss between 30 and 40 school days per year due to travel. We have been travelling like this for almost 20 years. We have one finished univerisity and two in middle school. So far this school year my kids have missed 25 days due to travel and will miss at least 10 more.

My kids are top students in their grade level at their school of 800 plus students. Both kids medal every year in the TDSB swim meets. My daughter is also on the U of T track team at 13 years old and one of the top sprinters in her age group.

I say this not to boast about my kids. Let's face it, absolutely every single kid is equally great and special in their own way and nothing irritates me more than someone telling me how great their kid is and how much they love them more than the rest of the parents love their kids and they have a special bond, makes me want to hurl.

It drives me crazy that people think a week or two of missed school is going to make or break a student/person. School is not the be all and end all of education or life. There is so much more to education than sitting in a classroom.

Seriously, 5 days missed of school is Not going to change a kid's education.

This.

Obviously it's up to the parent and what their student can handle. I have 5 brothers and sisters who all traveled extensively in high school, missing 2-3 weeks per year.
Every single one of them is in or graduated from University. Two have Masters degrees and one is in med school.
Family vacations are not the make or break scenario that people chalk them up to be. If your child is struggling, or it is exam time, or their course load is too heavy, then make your decisions accordingly. It's just about common sense.

We'll be taking dd out in May, and making sure she stays caught up. She's an A student (with a B in French) but even if she wasn't.. missing a week of the 9th grade is not dooming someone to a life of mediocrity.

 

[RadioMom]

My husband just took our daughter to the Dominican for a week. Her teachers knew ahead of time and we did not ask for special favors. She knew what she would miss and what would have to make up. She prepared as best she could before she left and caught up upon her return.
She had a pretty decent course load this semester so I wasn't too concerned (including a travel and tourism class). Next semester she has a heavy course load and I wouldn't have allowed her to go because she would be too stressed trying to catch up. She's an honour student and works really hard on her school work. I don't think even she would have gone.
However, what she learned on this trip was invaluable. She spent a lot of time with the villagers of Samana, swam in a coral reef, zip lined through the jungle and sat through a rather scary earthquake! All things that she never would have learned in a classroom. I'm a big believer in the works being an educational experience. You know your child best. Do what you think will benefit him the most regardless of other peoples opinion.

 

[hockeymomNS]

I do have to add that until high school, unless your child has learning issues, there is no way a week of school can cause any serious issues. We went to the DR last Feb with 46 people including some kids who were missing school. We had a conversation around the pool one day on this topic. I am a firm believer that family time with no phones, video games, friends etc beats anything a kids can get out of one week of school.

 

[August2010]

I am one who does take kids out of school for travel. I feel life is too short not to. Travel and life experiences is just as important as school. My oldest is in grade 12 and we are pulling him out next week. He will miss the first week of the 2nd semester. Every year he misses 1 week of school. My younger 2 are 5 and 2 and attend a daycare full time so I am not concerned with what they miss. They attend daycare all year so they are definately entitled to a break.

I am glad though, that others DO NOT take their kids out of school. It makes WDW less crowded for us that do!!! So hopefully it doesn't catch on too much!

 

[canadianjovigirl]

I too pull my kids out and the schools have always been fine with it. My kids have always made up the missed work upon their return and done okay. I to beleive that family time and the experience that travel gives you is something special and not something gained i a classroom. We do make sure we dont go during exam weeks and try to schedule it so the kids miss as little days as possible.

 

[WestWind]

I totally agree with August2010 in the above post.

We have always taken our children out of school for Disney trips. We have gone at times when they don't miss school, but we don't hesitate to take them out of school for trips.

We work with the teachers before we go to get advance work they can do before we go or while we are away. Most teachers have no problem with this and agree the life travel experiences are important. For some classes, our children even connect live to the class using our notebook computer and the internet!

Sure, part of their trip is spent doing school work but not enough to be an issue. We have had no issues with this.

 

[Disneyof3]

I have taken as well my kids out of school for 1 week every March since 2004 for our disney trips. I can't afford to go on peak time. I'm saving ourselves $2000.00 by going on a cruise a week before March Break, not including hotels and flights. This how ever will be our last trip for a while but only because my son will be in grade 11 next year and we must start using trip money for college. I also believe the above posts regarding being sick for a week. I always ask for work to be given and so far I have had no problems with any teachers including high school ones. My kids will have a lifetime of memories to look back on. Now if my kids were in college/University then that would be another total different story.